Lehmanns Media

What Lehmanns Media does

Lehmanns Media GmbH is a Cologne-based specialist bookseller founded in 1980 (operating for over 40 years), serving primarily medical, veterinary, scientific, and legal professionals and students across Germany. The company operates an omnichannel model combining 15 physical retail stores located in major German university and medical hubs (including Munich, Berlin, Dresden, Hannover, Heidelberg, and Regensburg) with a comprehensive e-commerce storefront at lehmanns.de and free shipping within Germany. Its catalog spans physical books, eBooks (over 2 million titles via the tolino eReader ecosystem, also accessible through Thalia), audiobooks, and a journal/database subscription service providing access to over 30,000 national and international print and online journals and newspapers.

The company operates an in-house publishing imprint (Lehmanns Media Verlag) producing specialist titles in medicine, veterinary medicine, natural sciences, law, humanities, and select fiction/non-fiction, and runs a Medshop for medical equipment (stethoscopes, diagnostic instruments, anatomical models, practice clothing). A dedicated B2B layer serves institutional customers through specialized portals — lehmannsbib.de for libraries, lehmannspro.de for hospitals, law firms, accounting firms, and the public sector, size.lehmanns.de for journal subscriptions, and lehmannsoa.de for open access services — with custom procurement workflows and billing. Marketing and customer engagement run through over 100 topic newsletters, Facebook, conference and congress presence (DIVI 2026, AGMB 2026), gift vouchers, and the PremiumCard loyalty program (10 points per euro spent, redeemable for rewards).

Commercially, Lehmanns generates revenue through one-time sales of physical books and eBooks, recurring journal/database and institutional subscriptions, hardware sales via Medshop, licensing and royalties from its publishing imprint, and freemium loyalty mechanics. The company is privately held as a GmbH with no disclosed parent, no venture or institutional funding rounds in the input data, and no public listing; ownership is described as independent. Headcount is in the 251–500 range. No AI/ML capabilities, no proprietary technology platform beyond standard e-commerce and tolino integration, and no patents or regulatory actions are disclosed.

Name

Lehmanns Media

Legal name

Lehmanns Media GmbH

Website

https://lehmanns.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Lehmanns Media is a Cologne-based specialist bookseller (est. 1980) offering medical, veterinary, scientific, and legal books, eBooks, audiobooks, journals, and medical equipment to professionals, students, and institutions across 15 German retail stores and dedicated B2B portals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialist Book Retail

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130), Periodical Publishers (513120), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

E-book Subscription & Bundling Services (MPAJAMAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Digital Magazine & Newspaper Subscription Platforms (Paywalls, Membership) (MPAJAMAD)

Keywords

• Specialist bookselling
• Medical textbooks
• Academic publishing
• EBook distribution
• Institutional library services

Headquarters

HQ city

Cologne

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Retail Book Sales: Physical and digital sales of specialist books across multiple categories including medicine, veterinary medicine, psychology, law, natural sciences, and literature
2. eBook Sales: Digital sales of over 2 million eBooks through tolino integration
3. Medical Equipment (Medshop): Sales of medical equipment including stethoscopes, diagnostic instruments, clothing, and anatomical models for medical professionals and students
4. B2B Services: Institutional sales to libraries, hospitals, law firms, companies, and public sector through dedicated B2B portals (lehmannsbib.de, lehmannspro.de)
5. Publishing (Lehmanns Media Verlag): Own publishing program covering medicine, veterinary medicine, natural sciences, law, humanities, and fiction
6. Journal/Database Subscriptions: Access to over 30,000 national and international print and online journals and newspapers through size.lehmanns.de portal

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Lehmanns Media is a German specialist bookseller and publisher operating since 1980, selling physical and digital books, eBooks, audiobooks, journals/databases, and medical equipment focused on medical, veterinary, legal, and scientific subjects. The company combines an online e-commerce platform with 15 physical retail stores across Germany and dedicated B2B services for institutional customers such as libraries, hospitals, law firms, and public-sector organizations. It also operates an in-house publishing imprint (Lehmanns Media Verlag) and a journal/database subscription service with over 30,000 titles.

Product overview

Lehmanns Media operates a multi-format specialist bookselling and publishing platform, offering a unified catalog across physical books, eBooks, and audiobooks alongside specialized B2B services. The core offering consists of Bücher (physical/digital books), eBooks (via tolino integration offering 2M+ titles), Hörbücher (audiobooks), and Zeitschriften/Datenbanken (30,000+ journals and databases). Adjacent offerings include Medshop (medical equipment), the Lehmanns Media Verlag (in-house publishing), B2B-Services for institutions (libraries, hospitals, law firms), and loyalty (PremiumCard) and subscription programs. The company serves medical professionals, students, and general readers across 15 physical store locations in Germany.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Lehmanns Media Verlag: Publishing division producing medical, veterinary, scientific, and educational texts
• Medshop
• PremiumCard

Quantifiable outcome

• Free shipping within Germany on all orders
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• DIVI (Deutsche Interdisziplinäre Vereinigung für Intensiv- und Notfallmedizin)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Conference presence at DIVI 2026 Congress (December 2-4, 2026 in Hamburg). Lehmanns Media operates a stand at the congress offering relevant medical literature and journals. Stand managed by Lehmanns Media München.
• AGMB (Arbeitsgemeinschaft medizinischer Bibliotheken)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Conference presence at AGMB Jahrestagung 2026 (September 3-4, 2026 in Oldenburg). Lehmanns Media participates with a stand offering library-focused literature and services.
• ADAC LuftrettungminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2026Endorsement partnership for 'Fälle Luftrettung' textbook. ADAC Luftrettung is listed as recommending the air rescue case studies book published by Urban & Fischer/Elsevier.
• ÖAMTC FlugrettungminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2026Endorsement partnership for 'Fälle Luftrettung' textbook. Austrian automobile club's air rescue service recommends the air rescue case studies.
• Schweizerische Rettungsflugwacht RegaminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2026Endorsement partnership for 'Fälle Luftrettung' textbook. Swiss air rescue service recommends the air rescue case studies.
• HELI Flugrettung SüdtirolminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2026Endorsement partnership for 'Fälle Luftrettung' textbook. South Tyrol air rescue service recommends the air rescue case studies.
• European HEMS & Air Ambulance Committee (EHAC)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2026Endorsement partnership for 'Fälle Luftrettung' textbook. European professional organization recommends the air rescue case studies.
• DRK BergwachtminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2026Endorsement partnership for 'Fälle Luftrettung' textbook. German Red Cross mountain rescue service recommends the air rescue case studies.
• ARS Alpine Rettung SchweizminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2026Endorsement partnership for 'Fälle Luftrettung' textbook. Swiss Alpine Rescue recommends the air rescue case studies.
• tolinocoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration partnership for eBook distribution. Lehmanns.de offers over 2 million eBooks through the tolino platform, allowing customers to read on tablets and smartphones via tolino apps and devices. tolino is a major German eBook ecosystem also available at Thalia.
• Trusted ShopsminorOthersCustomer review and trust seal provider for e-commerce credibility. TrustedShops certification X8072B5D561B0645119C591222C2884C9 provides buyer protection and review badges.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Thalia: Germany's largest bookstore chain, operating omnichannel retail across physical stores and thalia.de. Directly comparable to Lehmanns Media — same specialist + general book mix, same tolino eBook partnership, overlapping medical/academic and institutional buyer overlap.
• Schweitzer Fachinformation: German specialist book and journal supplier focused on law, economics and academic libraries, with deep B2B institutional procurement capabilities. Closest direct competitor to Lehmanns' lehmannsbib.de / lehmannspro.de B2B portals and the 30,000+ journal subscription service.
• Hugendubel: Major German bookstore chain combining physical retail with a large online platform. Comparable to Lehmanns on the omnichannel general + specialist book side and competes for the same German medical-student, professional and gift buyer.
• Mayersche Buchhandlung: Family-owned German bookstore chain with both physical and online presence. Directly comparable on omnichannel book retailing in Germany and overlapping with Lehmanns on the academic and general customer segments.

Broad incumbents

• Amazon Germany (Amazon.de): The dominant digital-first book, eBook and journal retailer in Germany with deep logistics and Kindle ecosystem. Competes with Lehmanns for every consumer and increasingly for institutional buyers, but at vastly greater scale and with a different cost structure.
• Weltbild (Verlag & Versand): Large German general-interest book and media retailer (online plus catalogue heritage). Overlaps with Lehmanns on the consumer general-book, gift-voucher and audiobook SKUs but lacks Lehmanns' specialist academic depth.
• Springer Nature: One of the world's largest academic and scientific publishers, including the Springer book programme and the SpringerLink journal platform. Competes with the Lehmanns Media Verlag on publishing and with size.lehmanns.de for institutional journal spend.
• Elsevier: Global academic publisher and owner of ScienceDirect, ClinicalKey and Urban & Fischer (a key German medical imprint whose titles appear in Lehmanns' catalogue). Competes with Lehmanns at both the publishing and journal-subscription layers.
• Pearson: Global publishing and education company spanning higher-ed textbooks, professional titles and assessment. Comparable to Lehmanns' academic, language-learning and examination-preparation book categories, and competes for institutional library budgets.

Others

• Tolino Media (Deutsche Telekom / Thalia consortium): Operator of the tolino eBook ecosystem that Lehmanns relies on for digital distribution of 2M+ titles. Functions as a platform partner and partial channel competitor, defining the rules of digital book access for the German specialist retailer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/LehmannsMedia
• Xx.com/Lehmanns
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lehmanns-fachbuchhandlung

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lehmanns Media