Helbing Lichtenhahn

What Helbing Lichtenhahn does

Helbing Lichtenhahn Verlag is a Swiss legal and tax publishing house headquartered in Basel, in operation since 1822 under its current name since 1903. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Munich-based Verlagsgruppe C.H.Beck, acquired in 1998, and employs approximately 40 people. The publisher specializes in authoritative commentary on Swiss civil law, commercial law, tax law, criminal law, and public law, with outputs in both German and French to serve the German-speaking and French-speaking Swiss markets.

The company operates a multi-format publishing platform anchored by the flagship Basler Kommentar ZGB/OR series — a four-volume, approximately 14,000-page commentary on the Swiss Civil Code and Code of Obligations — alongside the Kurzkommentar concise commentary series, the TEXTO portable statutory collections, professional journals (ius.focus, Die Praxis, sic!, ZSR, SZZP, Der Steuerentscheid), continuously updated loose-leaf collections (Loseblattwerke), and the legalis.ch online legal database. The company publishes more than 100 new titles per year, maintains both print and e-book editions, and offers combined Print + E-Book bundles delivered via scratch-code access, plus an Open Access publications program.

Revenue is generated through one-time sales of commentaries and textbooks (CHF 298–CHF 698 for major titles, up to CHF 2,078 for combination packages), recurring subscriptions to periodicals and the legalis database, and bundled Print + E-Book packages. Distribution is primarily direct-to-consumer via the company's own e-commerce platform (helbing.ch), which supports German and French storefronts, customer accounts, wish lists, and shopping cart functionality. Customers include practicing lawyers, courts, tax advisors, legal academics, and law students across Switzerland.

Name

Helbing Lichtenhahn

Legal name

Helbing Lichtenhahn Verlag

Website

https://helbing.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1822

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Helbing Lichtenhahn is a Basel-based Swiss legal and tax publishing house, wholly owned by C.H.Beck (Munich) since 1998, producing 100+ new titles annually including the flagship Basler Kommentar series, journals, loose-leaf collections, and the legalis online database for Swiss legal professionals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Publishing

NAICS

Book Publishers (51313), Book Publishers (513130), All Other Publishers (513199)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Legal & Regulatory Publishing (Case Law, Statutes, Treatises) (MPAJACAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Law & Legal Studies (EDAGABAH)

Keywords

• Legal publishing
• Legal commentaries
• Swiss law books
• Tax law publications
• Legal reference works

Headquarters

HQ city

Basel

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Book Sales: One-time sale of legal commentaries, textbooks, and reference works in print and e-book formats. Products include the flagship Basler Kommentar series spanning nearly 14,000 pages across four volumes.
2. Periodical Subscriptions: Subscription-based access to legal journals including ius.focus, Die Praxis, sic!, ZSR, SZZP, and Der Steuerentscheid. Trial subscriptions available at CHF 38.00 for 3 issues plus online access.
3. Bundle Sales: Combined print and e-book packages offered at preferential prices, allowing customers to purchase physical books with digital download access via scratch codes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Helbing Lichtenhahn is a Swiss legal publishing house that publishes and sells authoritative commentaries, textbooks, handbooks, journals, loose-leaf collections, and statutory compilations covering Swiss civil, commercial, tax, criminal, and public law. Its flagship Basler Kommentar series spans roughly 14,000 pages across four volumes on the Swiss Civil Code and Code of Obligations, and the firm also operates the legalis online legal database as a wholly-owned sub-brand.

Product overview

Helbing Lichtenhahn is a Swiss legal publishing house specializing in law and taxation, operating as a unified multi-format publishing platform. The core offering consists of the Basler Kommentar series (comprehensive four-volume commentaries on ZGB/OR), Kurzkommentar (concise commentaries), and TEXTO (portable statutory collections). Supporting products include Journals (Zeitschriften) for current legal commentary, Loose-leaf Collections (Loseblattwerke) for continuously updated reference materials, and Bundles combining Print + E-Book formats. The legalis sub-brand provides an online legal database. With over 100 annual new publications in German and French, the company serves the Swiss legal community with comprehensive coverage of civil law, commercial law, tax law, constitutional law, and related fields.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Basler Kommentar ZGB/OR

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• C.H.Beck (Munich)coreOthers · 1 January 1998Since 1998, Helbing Lichtenhahn has been owned by the C.H.Beck publishing group based in Munich, Germany. This parent company relationship provides the publisher with the backing and resources of a larger European publishing house.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/helbing-&-lichtenhahn-verlag-ag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Helbing Lichtenhahn