Office profile
Bayer Headquarters & offices · Leverkusen, Germany
Bayer · Leverkusen, Germany
A 190-metre glass half-oval with a skin that breathes, opening onto a park in the city Bayer has called home since 1912.
The Helmut Jahn headquarters, the benefits Bayer offers in Germany and more than 160 years of office history — then the business. Every number from Bayer's own reports, careers pages and the designers' project pages.
- 190 mlong glass headquarters, opened 2002
- 1912Leverkusen becomes the headquarters
- ≈ 5,000Bayer people in Leverkusen (2025)
- +30 daysextra time off in the years before retirement
Sources: Werner Sobek project page · bayer.com history timeline and Leverkusen site page (2025) · bayer.com/de-de/deutschland/karriere (Work-Life-Harmony)
Companies / Germany / Pharmaceuticals & crop science / Bayer
THE HEADQUARTERS · KAISER-WILHELM-ALLEE · 2002
A glass half-oval with a skin that breathes
Chosen through an invited international competition, Helmut Jahn's headquarters is a semi-elliptical building that opens south toward a park. Two fully glazed shells form a protected cavity that lets fresh air in through operable windows and shades the offices; convectors in the raised floor condition the air as it enters. A 15 m-high glass entrance hall and a 117 m-long glass-and-steel pergola face the street, and in front of the building a bosque of clipped sycamores and a round reflecting pool echo the Bayer logo.
- Design: Murphy/Jahn (Helmut Jahn)
- ≈ 190 m long, double-skin glass façade
- GFA 23,100 m² (≈ 248,646 sq ft)
- 15 m-high glass entrance hall
- Landscape: PWP Landscape Architecture
- Opened October 22, 2002
Inside the double glass skin
Helmut Jahn's 2002 headquarters wraps its offices in a double glass façade that ventilates naturally; stairs and walkways run inside the light-filled layers.
The entrance hall and pergola on Kaiser-Wilhelm-Allee
A 15 m glass entrance hall and a 117 m pergola lead from the street to the building.
The park side: sycamore arcade and the round pool
PWP Landscape Architecture laid out the park side with a sycamore bosque and a round pool.
Facts: Jahn project page “Bayer Headquarters” · Werner Sobek project page “Bayer Headquarter” · PWP project page · Bayer press release, Oct 22, 2002
Leverkusen
| Building | Address |
|---|---|
| Headquarters (Konzernzentrale) | Kaiser-Wilhelm-Allee 1, 51373 Leverkusen, Germany |
Source: bayer.com Imprint. Bayer says its old administration building stands directly opposite the new headquarters. · See them on the map ↓
Source: Werner Sobek project page (GFA, length, dates, award) · Jahn project page (size, floors, awards) · PWP project page · Bayer press release, Oct 22, 2002 (opening, cost). The two size figures come from different measures and do not match.
Benefits (Germany)
Collectively-agreed employees aged 57 and over can take up to 30 extra days off on top of their holiday.
A long-term account where employees save time and pay components to take long breaks later.
Swap part of a bonus for extra days off.
Base salary plus four variable components tied to performance and company success.
Employee share programme, an employee fund and jubilee bonuses.
Retirement savings with the Bayer-Pensionskasse and Rheinische Pensionskasse, which also offer home-building loans.
Job ticket, company bike leasing, showers for cyclists and car sharing.
A Corporate Benefits programme with discounts from more than 150 brands.
Source: bayer.com/de-de/deutschland/karriere/deine-benefits (Finanzielle Sicherheit, Work-Life-Harmony) · Bayer job posting 562949978475264, Leverkusen (2026). Number of holiday days and parental-leave pay are not published on these pages.
How Bayer describes working there
12,158 people left in 2025, counting resignations, layoffs, retirements and deaths (14.0% in 2024).
An operating model introduced in 2024 that relies less on hierarchy and more on employees making decisions themselves; tracked in a global “Ownership Pulse” survey.
Share of employees worldwide whose working conditions were set by collective bargaining agreements in 2025.
Group-wide in 2025, down from 2.14% in 2024. In Germany Bayer follows an equal-pay rule: same job, same pay.
Among the top 450 executives at year-end 2025; 44.2% across all management levels.
Time off, reduced hours and free, anonymous counseling for employees caring for a relative, plus advice for parents planning parental leave.
Source: Bayer Annual Report 2025, Sustainability Statement S1 (Own Workforce: Strategy; Metrics and Targets) · bayer.com/de-de/deutschland/karriere (Finanzielle Sicherheit, Work-Life-Harmony)
Who works here
employees (full-time equivalents, Dec 31, 2025)
employees in Germany
work in Leverkusen
of managers are women
Source: Bayer Annual Report 2025, Earnings Performance (FTE) and Sustainability Statement S1 (headcount by country and gender) · bayer.com Leverkusen site page (2025). Shares calculated by eciffo.
Compare Bayer with: Johnson & Johnson
Office history: from Barmen to a glass half-oval in Leverkusen
- 1863 Founded in Barmen
On August 1, 1863, dye salesman Friedrich Bayer and master dyer Johann Friedrich Weskott founded “Friedr. Bayer et comp.” in Barmen, today part of Wuppertal, to make and sell synthetic dyes. The workforce grew from 3 people to more than 300 by 1881.
Source: bayer.com, History of Bayer (timeline)
Plaque marking Friedrich Bayer's house, Heckinghauser Straße 162, Wuppertal-Barmen · Frank Vincentz GFDL (self made) / CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons - 1878 Elberfeld becomes the headquarters
Elberfeld was the company's headquarters from 1878 to 1912. Carl Duisberg built a research laboratory there that set standards for industrial research.
Source: bayer.com, History of Bayer (timeline)
A Bayer share issued in Elberfeld, 1908 · Unbekannte Autoren und Grafiker; Scan vom EDHAC e.V. / Public domain · Wikimedia Commons - 1891 A factory on the Rhine
Elberfeld had become too small, so Bayer bought Dr. Carl Leverkus's Alizarin Red factory north of Cologne, then more land along the Rhine, and developed the site systematically from 1895.
Source: bayer.com, History of Bayer (timeline) · Leverkusen site page
Panorama of the Leverkusen works by Otto Bollhagen, Villa Römer · Michael Kramer / CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons - 1912 Leverkusen becomes the headquarters
By 1912 Leverkusen was Bayer's headquarters, under Carl Duisberg, who led the company as General Director from 1912 to 1925. It has stayed there ever since.
Source: bayer.com, History of Bayer (timeline) · Leverkusen site page
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 1925 Part of I.G. Farben
Bayer, with its sites in Leverkusen, Elberfeld and Dormagen, became part of the newly founded I.G. Farbenindustrie AG.
Source: bayer.com, History of Bayer (timeline)
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 1951 Refounded in Leverkusen
Farbenfabriken Bayer AG was newly founded on December 19, 1951 and given the Leverkusen, Dormagen, Elberfeld and Uerdingen sites. By 1963 Bayer had nearly 80,000 employees.
Source: bayer.com, History of Bayer (timeline)
The Bayer works in Leverkusen from the air, 1964 · Bundesarchiv / CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Wikimedia Commons - 2002 A new headquarters by Helmut Jahn
After an international competition, Bayer opened its new headquarters on Kaiser-Wilhelm-Allee on October 22, 2002: about €50 million for a building where 275 Bayer AG employees worked. The old administration building stands directly opposite.
Source: Bayer press release, Oct 22, 2002 · Jahn project page · bayer.com Leverkusen site page
The new headquarters on Kaiser-Wilhelm-Allee, 2009 · Atamari / CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons - 2023 A memorial beside the headquarters
Bayer unveiled a memorial right next to its headquarters for the victims of forced labor at I.G. Farben's Lower Rhine sites during the Second World War.
Source: bayer.com, History of Bayer (timeline) · Finkelstein Foundation news, May 8, 2023
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
Map: how the headquarters moved
From Barmen and Elberfeld, today both part of Wuppertal, to the Rhine at Leverkusen. Bayer has been in Leverkusen since 1891 and headquartered there since 1912.
- 1 · 1863Barmen (Wuppertal) — Founding of “Friedr. Bayer et comp.” — town centre shown; no street address published
- 2 · 1878Elberfeld (Wuppertal) — Headquarters 1878–1912 — town centre shown; no street address published
- 3 · 2002Kaiser-Wilhelm-Allee 1, Leverkusen — Headquarters in Leverkusen since 1912; Helmut Jahn's building since 2002
Places and years: bayer.com history timeline and Imprint · Locations: OpenStreetMap
What Bayer does
Bayer started in 1863 as a maker of synthetic dyes. Today it works in health and farming under the mission “Health for all, Hunger for none”: seeds and crop protection, prescription medicines, and over-the-counter health products.
Three divisions: Crop Science, Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Health.
Where the money came from · sales by division, 2025
Source: Bayer Annual Report 2025, Business Development by Division
Source: Bayer Annual Report 2025, Earnings Performance and Economic Environment (average exchange rate) · dollar figure calculated by eciffo
Chief executives
Chairman of the Board of Management (CEO) since June 1, 2023; introduced the Dynamic Shared Ownership operating model.
Chairman of the Board of Management from May 1, 2016.
Chairman of the Board of Management from April 2002 to September 2010; opened the new headquarters in 2002.
Founders: Friedrich Bayer and Johann Friedrich Weskott (1863).
Source: bayer.com history timeline and Board of Management page · Bayer ad-hoc release, Feb 24, 2016 · Bayer media release on Werner Wenning's successor as Supervisory Board chairman
Bayer: questions people ask
Where is Bayer's headquarters?
At Kaiser-Wilhelm-Allee 1, 51373 Leverkusen, Germany. Bayer has been in Leverkusen since 1891 and has had its headquarters there since 1912.
Source: bayer.com Imprint · Leverkusen site page
Who designed Bayer's headquarters?
Murphy/Jahn of Chicago (Helmut Jahn) won an invited international competition for the building. Werner Sobek did the structural and façade engineering, and PWP Landscape Architecture designed the grounds.
Source: Jahn, Werner Sobek and PWP project pages
How big is Bayer's headquarters?
About 190 m long with a gross floor area of 23,100 m² (about 248,646 sq ft), according to the engineer. The architect lists 122,500 sq ft (11,380 m²) over 4 floors.
Source: Werner Sobek project page · Jahn project page
When did the current headquarters open?
It was officially opened on October 22, 2002. Bayer invested about €50 million, and 275 Bayer AG employees worked there at the time.
Source: Bayer press release, Oct 22, 2002
What makes the building special?
A double glass skin: the cavity between two glazed shells allows natural ventilation and shading, and fresh air enters through operable windows and floor convectors. The architect says this cuts operating costs by 60% compared with a conventional system.
Source: Jahn project page
How many people work at Bayer?
88,078 employees (full-time equivalents) at the end of 2025, or 89,237 by headcount — 19,600 of them in Germany and 17,455 in the U.S. About 5,000 work in Leverkusen.
Source: Bayer Annual Report 2025 · bayer.com Leverkusen site page
What benefits does Bayer offer in Germany?
Variable pay with four components, the BayShare employee share programme, company pension funds, the BayZeit time account, swapping bonus for time off, up to 30 extra days off from age 57 for collectively-agreed staff, and a job ticket and bike leasing.
Source: bayer.com/de-de/deutschland/karriere/deine-benefits
Does Bayer offer flexible or mobile work?
Bayer Germany describes flexible working hours and doing some tasks from home. Its job postings say flexible work arrangements can be agreed with the manager, depending on the job.
Source: bayer.com Work-Life-Harmony · Bayer job posting 562949978475264
Can you visit the area around Bayer's headquarters?
Bayer says the Carl-Duisberg-Park and its Japanese Garden, inside the 480-hectare Chempark in Leverkusen, attract visitors all year round.
Source: bayer.com Leverkusen site page
Who is Bayer's CEO?
Bill Anderson, Chairman of the Board of Management since June 1, 2023.
Source: bayer.com history timeline
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