About Natur & Heilen

Natur & Heilen

Natur & Heilen is Germany's leading monthly magazine for natural health — the Munich journal for health through natural ways of living and healing. Published by the Natur & Heilen GmbH & Co. KG from Nikolaistraße 5 in Munich-Schwabing, it appears monthly with a distributed circulation of 102,300 copies (IVW 02/2024), including 76,575 subscribers — one of the highest-circulation and most renowned health magazines in the German-speaking world. Under editor-in-chief Anne Devillard — who joined the editorial team in early 1989 and decisively shaped the magazine's concept — and the publishers Paula and Karl Groß von Trockau (who took over the publishing house in 2018 from Hansjörg Volkhardt), the magazine reports from the holistic perspective on the traditional and new paths to health: the gentle medicine, the self-help, the diseases and complaints, the consciousness and spirituality. In 2026 the magazine celebrated its 40th anniversary — "40 Jahre Natur & Heilen: Qualität, die bleibt." In the German health press, Natur & Heilen is the natural-medicine institution: the monthly journal of the holistic health movement.

Overview

The magazine presents itself as the monthly journal for healthy living — the independent monthly that reports from the holistic view on the traditional and new paths to health. Its editorial program covers the natural-health spectrum: the gentle medicine — the naturopathy, the homeopathy, the phytotherapy, the traditional healing methods; the self-help — the practical health advice, the prevention, the nutrition, and the lifestyle; the diseases and complaints — the natural treatment approaches for the common and chronic conditions; and the consciousness and spirituality — the mind-body topics, the meditation, and the holistic worldview.

The readership is the German-speaking natural-health public: the health-conscious readers, the naturopathy patients, the alternative-medicine practitioners' clients, and the holistic-lifestyle community — with 76,575 subscribers the magazine's committed core. The magazine's authority rests on its independence and its 40-year continuity: the brand for the independent monthly that the readers trust for the holistic health information. The naturundheilen.de portal extends the monthly print into the online health information: the articles, the archive, the shop, and the newsletter.

The monthly rhythm provides the regular health briefing: twelve issues a year with the in-depth features, the practical advice, and the holistic perspectives. The 40th-anniversary program in 2026 — the jubilee issue with the botanical berry cover recalling the September 1986 first edition — documents the magazine's self-understanding: "ein gemeinsamer Weg" (a shared path) with the readers for four decades. The anniversary's trade-fair presentations — the jubilee stand with the magazine's history — brought the brand's four decades to the readers in person: the personal encounters that the 1987 trade-fair tradition began.

The Anniversary

The 2026 40th anniversary — "40 Jahre Natur & Heilen: Qualität, die bleibt" — celebrates the magazine's four decades: the 1986 founding, the 1989 Devillard editorship, the 1993 Schwabing house, the 1995 mergers, the 2000 newsstand launch, and the 2018 publisher transition. The jubilee retrospective — the historical covers, the editorial milestones, the reader community — documents the brand's continuity: the independent monthly that has reported on the holistic health for forty years, through the wellness waves and the medical debates, always with the quality that remains.

History

Natur & Heilen's history begins with Die Volksgesundheit — the traditional journal for all natural healing methods. When the journal threatened to fold in the late 1970s, the Amorbach printer and publisher Hans Volkhardt found in it the complement for his Gesundheitspolitische Umschau — the magazine for Heilpraktiker, natural-medicine doctors, health politicians, and parliamentarians that campaigned for the equality and cooperation of conventional and natural medicine. In 1984 his son Hansjörg Volkhardt took over the editorial work with the well-known book author and Heilpraktiker Gerhard Leibold; in 1988 he acquired the title rights from his father.

In 1986 the journal got its current name: Hansjörg Volkhardt renamed Die Volksgesundheit to NATUR & HEILEN — Die Monatszeitschrift für gesundes Leben — and founded the Verlag NATUR & HEILEN. The magazine was born: the first issue in this form appeared in November 1986. In early 1989 Anne Devillard joined the editorial team — the new editor-in-chief who has shaped the magazine to this day. Since 1993 the publishing house has resided in the yellow house at Nikolaistraße 5 in Munich-Schwabing.

The 1995 merger with the journals modernes Leben – natürliches Heilen and natürlich und gesund opened new readerships. Since 2000 the magazine has been available at the newsstand; the ZDB lists it in the German National Library and numerous state libraries. In 2018 Paula and Karl Groß von Trockau took over the publishing house from Hansjörg Volkhardt. The 2026 40th anniversary — "Qualität, die bleibt" — celebrates four decades of the holistic health monthly.

Coverage and Content

The magazine's coverage follows the holistic health reader's world. Gentle medicine forms the core: the naturopathic methods — the hydrotherapy, the phytotherapy, the homeopathy, the traditional European medicine; the new healing approaches — the integrative medicine, the mind-body therapies; and the practitioner portraits — the healers, the doctors, and the therapists. Self-help provides the practical dimension: the health advice, the prevention, the nutrition, the exercise, and the natural remedies for the everyday complaints.

Diseases and complaints are covered with the natural treatment perspectives: the chronic conditions, the immune system, the digestion, the skin, and the pain — the holistic approaches alongside the conventional medicine. Consciousness and spirituality address the inner dimension: the meditation, the mindfulness, the life crises, and the spiritual perspectives on health and illness.

The magazine's anniversary journalism — the 40-year retrospective with the 1986 jubilee cover, the trade-fair presentations, the reader community — documents the brand's history: the shared path with the readers.

Organization and Ownership

Natur & Heilen is published by the Natur & Heilen GmbH & Co. KG in Munich (Nikolaistraße 5, 80802 München; 089 380159; info@naturundheilen.de). The publishers (Herausgeber und Verleger): Paula and Karl Groß von Trockau (since 2018; previously Hansjörg Volkhardt). The editor-in-chief: Anne Devillard (since 1989). The distributed circulation of 102,300 copies (IVW 02/2024), with 76,575 subscribers, documents the market leadership among the German natural-health monthlies.

The commercial model is that of a consumer health magazine: subscriptions (76,575) and newsstand sales to the health-conscious public, advertising from the natural-medicine, nutrition, and wellness industries — and the online shop (naturundheilen.de/shop) with the subscriptions, the single issues, and the books.

Digital Presence

The magazine's digital home is naturundheilen.de, where the monthly print magazine's program extends into the online health information. The portal offers the articles, the electronic archive (with the archive articles from recent years), the online shop (subscriptions, single issues, books), the forum, and the newsletter. The 40th-anniversary pages — the jubilee retrospective with the historical covers and the trade-fair photos — document the brand's history online.

The natural-health networks — the Heilpraktiker associations, the naturopathy institutions, the wellness industry — form the ecosystem in which the magazine's content circulates. For 40 years — from the November 1986 first issue to the 2026 jubilee — Natur & Heilen has been the German natural-health monthly: the Munich journal of the holistic paths to health, "Qualität, die bleibt." The magazine's Schwabing house — the yellow building at Nikolaistraße 5 since 1993 — is the brand's physical home: the independent publishing house that the readers associate with the holistic health journalism, in the heart of Munich's Schwabing district — the publishing house that has embodied the independent holistic health journalism for four decades, from 1986 to today, without interruption.