Founded by Ludwig Krumm in 1856, the original name of Goldpfeil was Ludwig Krumm AG. Krumm's strategy right from the beginning was to concentrate on producing leather goods of the highest quality. Within twenty five years around 200 employees were working for the company due to the increasing demand from the British market and the Russian upper class, as well as in many of the countries in mainland Europe. In 1929 Heinrich Krumm, traveled on the luxury train named Golden Arrow in London, England. So impressed by the quality of service, Herr Krumm simply translated "Gold Arrow" into German and renamed his company Goldpfeil.
The company delivered its goods to more than 56 countries in the 1930s and shops like Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue in the USA offered Goldpfeil's leather bags and accessories as early as 1912. By the 1950s Goldpfeil had achieved the status worldwide of being among the world's elite leather goods producers, alongside brands such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel. In 1956, French designer Christian Dior entered into a licensing agreement with Goldpfeil to produce all of the Christian Dior handbags.
Goldpfeil operated its own boutiques in virtually every major city in Germany as well as in many countries around the world. Beginning in 1984 Goldpfeil opened ten Goldpfeil Shops in the US, including stores on Fifth Avenue in New York, on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California; Bal Harbor, Florida; Honolulu, Hawaii and Dallas, Texas. There even was a Goldpfeil Shop on the island of Guam in the Western Pacific.
Since 1998 the company expanded and became part of the Egana Goldpfeil Group which included premium luxury brands such as Joop and Comtesse and Salamander Shoes, the largest shoe company in Germany. Goldpfeil was also involved in a venture into the ultra premium watch business in Switzerland called Goldpfeil Geneve. Goldpfeil commissioned some of the finest watch makers in Switzerland to create their own unique designs for limited-production Goldpfeil watches. In Europe, Goldpfeil's leather bags and accessories were sold through Goldpfeil shops which were located in major cities throughout Germany including Frankfurt, Berlin and Munich. There also was a Goldpfeil shop in Paris, France. In the Asian market, there still are Goldpfeil Shops in Tokyo, Japan as well as Hong Kong.