Barakuda Watersport Gmbh was founded in 1949 in Hamburg, Germany by Hans-Joachim Bergann and Kurt Ristau, both ex-Navy Seals. The company began distributing Dräger Delphin II, the first regulator made in Germany built specifically for recreational use, unique for its single corrugated hose. Their catalogues, distinctive because gear was represented with sketches and not with pictures, were full of items of known brands, such as Cressi, La Spirotechnique, Mares, Nemrod. Barakuda brand in Germany became a synonym of diving gear, since when its founders established several clubs and diving centers with the same name, among them the Barakuda Club in Elba island; later, they created a travel agency proposing organized diving travels all over the world. They also engaged in launching the Delphin magazine, the company official authority. The company fast growth brought, in 1960, transferring to its new headquarter in Bucholz, a town not far from Hamburg where, finally, Barakuda began manufacturing its own diving gear line. Different items were born: the Gummibox housing, a diving telephone complete of dedicated mask, a series of single-hose regulators model Baramat and two-hose regulators model Monsun II in 1974, which substituted the Dräger Pressluftgeräte previously offered.
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In the meantime, the business cooperation began 10 years before with the Metzeler family, ex-owner of the same company, deteriorates and, from 1987 H.J. Bergann remains the only owner. In this period, the company develops largely, above all in the touristic and training fields by means of the Barakuda International Diving Schools organization however, dedicating more time also to diving gear production. Its high-quality diving suits represent its main business sector, supplied to more than thousand resellers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. However, the low-cost competition coming heavily from the Far East cause a moment of crises, convincing the management, in the 90s, to move its diving suit manufacturing plant in Poland, with much lower managing costs than in Germany. The other diving gear items continue to be produced in Bucholz, Germany.
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