History

An international success story

The publisher and attorney Heinrich Faßbender founded ARAG Rechtsschutzversicherung in 1935. His business idea was simple but revolutionary: “Every individual should be able to assert his or her rights, not just those who can afford it.” Today, ARAG is an internationally recognized corporate group and one of the two largest legal insurers in the world. And ARAG is also the largest family-managed enterprise in the German insurance industry.

History interactive

Follow ARAG’s fascinating history, from the earliest days in 1935 to its present position as an international family-owned corporate group.

Milestones in ARAG history

Year	Milestone
1935	Founded as “Deutsche Auto-Rechtsschutz-AG” (DARAG) with headquarters in Düsseldorf; renamed “ARAG, Auto-Rechtsschutz-Aktien-Gesellschaft shortly thereafter.
1949	Legal insurance expanded to include private and occupational coverage; company renamed “ARAG Allgemeine Rechtsschutz-Versicherungs-Aktien-Gesellschaft.
1962	Insurance program expanded into other insurance segments: ARAG acquires the composite insurer Terra AG, which is reincorporated as ARAG Allgemeine Versicherungs-AG in 1979 (headquarters in Düsseldorf).
1962	First step in international marketing of the successful legal insurance concept. The first international ARAG company is founded in the Netherlands. ARAG Rechtsschutz expands its insurance program in Germany.
1965	Acquisition of interest in Gisela Allgemeine Lebensversicherungs-und Aussteuer-Versicherungs-AG, which is renamed ARAG Lebensversicherungs-AG in 1981 (headquarters in Munich).
1984	Further expansion of the insurance program in Germany: acquisition of Bavaria Krankenversicherungs-AG, which is reincorporated as ARAG Krankenversicherung in 1990 (headquarters in Munich).
1989	ARAG Rechtsschutz enters the American legal insurance market with a subsidiary. ARAG is already operating in seven countries besides Germany at this point.
1990	Following the reincorporation of Bavaria as ARAG Krankenversicherungs-AG, four companies are now united under the strong ARAG brand name: Legal Insurance, Composite, Life and Health.
1997	Brokerage specialist Interlloyd-Versicherungs-AG is founded as a fully-owned subsidiary of ARAG Allgemeine.
2003	ARAG Slovenia is founded with headquarters in Ljubljana.
2006	ARAG plc launches business operations in Great Britain from headquarters in Bristol.
2007	Following the acquisition of shares in HELP Forsikring in Norway, the ARAG Group is now active in 14 countries.
2011	In December 2011 the ARAG Group has chosen an European legal form - a so-called Societas Europaea (SE). ARAG AG was converted into ARAG Holding SE and ARAG Allgemeine Rechtsschutz-Versicherungs-AG was converted into ARAG SE.