The reign of King Ludwig I of Bavaria was a time of intensive research into water glass (potassium silicate).

Eventually, the skilled craftsman and researcher Adolf Wilhelm Keim succeeded in mixing liquid water glass and mineral color pigments to create a paint that could withstand the climate north of the Alps while at the same time offering brilliant colors.

Keim obtained a patent for his mineral paints in 1878, thus laying the foundation stone for today's company KEIMFARBEN GMBH.

The first production site was near to the limestone quarry in Offenstetten (which belongs to Abensberg today) in Lower Bavaria.Headquarters in Diedorf Subsidiary in Alteno Keimfarben has two German sites in Diedorf (headquarters) and Alteno/Luckau and altogether eleven foreign subsidiaries in Europe (Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Poland, the Czech Republic) and the United States.

Authorised dealers are responsible for sales in countries where Keimfarben does not have its own subsidiary (Australia, Canada, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Russia).