It all began in 1960 with a small pet shop opened in Ludwigshafen by Joachim Böhme, a pharmacist by training, insect specialist, and aquarist from Dresden, turning his hobby into his profession. When diseases affecting ornamental fish became a problem, he created a product called Punktol to combat "white spot disease," known in aquarist circles as "ichthyo." To launch this medication, which is still available today, he needed a brand name. He combined his initials, JB, with the initials of his then-location, Ludwigshafen. After the launch of the JBL brand, the company quickly became one of Germany's leading suppliers of complete product lines for aquariums, terrariums, and garden ponds. Its headquarters have been located in Neuhofen, in the Palatinate region, since 1984, and 180 people work on the company's 2.5-hectare premises. Currently, JBL supplies 60 countries worldwide with a range of over 1,000 products and more than 300 spare parts. Even today, under the leadership of Roland Böhme, the son of the company's founder, the brand places particular emphasis on research.