Software made in Germany

A story of quality, trust and reliability

‘Made in Germany’, these three words have the same implication worldwide – the product is of highest quality. Meaning well-thought-out design, thoroughly tested solutions and production processes as well as first-class customer service.

But has it always been this way?

Actually, the term ‘Made in Germany’ was implemented by the British government in 1887, August 23rd during the ‘Merchandise Marks Act’. It should warn British consumers of the cheap, German-imported products of bad quality. So the opposite of what we assume nowadays when we hear or read ‘Made in Germany’.

However over time German manufacturers improved their products due to consistent industrialization in Germany. And by the end of the 19th century the label ‘Made in Germany’ had undergone a complete transformation, now representing great quality, German craftsmanship and engineering. And this still remains to this day.

Over the next 200 years engineering and technology evolved a lot. The second industrial revolution brought electricity, chemistry, electrical and mechanical engineering. Followed by the digital age and its computers, mobile phones and software. It all reached a new level during the first internet boom in the 1990s.

While Silicon Valley was rising in this first internet boom, Germany hesitated.
So while founders in the Silicon Valley experimented, moved fast and took their chances, Germany played it safe because of laws and restrictions.

Still, there were a few founders that were excited and saw the importance and the opportunities. So, they started building software companies themselves.

One of them was our co-founder Stefan Richter. With his background in computer science he not only wanted to build great software he also wanted to found a company where he actually wanted to work himself.

So in 1999, he founded freiheit.com – the software engineering company – together with his co-founder Claudia Dietze in the midst of the first internet boom.

Since then, we have been delivering always on time, on budget, on target and on quality. Fast and in daily increments. For decades to last.

Despite all the rules and regulations in Germany, we always find a more efficient and effective way.

So for us, ‘Made in Germany’ is less about geography and more about a promise of how software is engineered. It means reliability. It means engineering quality. It means precision and responsibility. It means efficiency and discipline. It also means long-term thinking.
And perhaps most importantly: trust. When a client puts a business-critical system into our hands, they can rely on us to deliver what was promised.
That is what Software Made in Germany means to us.