Hymer Caravan Mattresses

Bespoke Hymer Caravan Mattresses

In the world of leisure vehicles, the name Hymer occupies a position not unlike that of Mercedes-Benz in the car market: a German manufacturer with an unshakeable reputation for engineering quality, premium materials, and a level of construction that most competitors simply cannot match. Whilst the brand is perhaps best known in Britain for its motorhomes — the B-Class integrated models, the Exsis lightweight range, the Grand Canyon campervans — Hymer has been building touring caravans since the company's very first day of production in the late 1950s. The Hymer Nova, in particular, has been in continuous production for over sixty years and remains one of the most respected continental touring caravans ever sold in the United Kingdom. If you own one, you already know that the build quality justifies the premium price. What you may also have discovered is that when the factory-fitted mattress eventually needs replacing, nothing from a standard British bed shop will fit.

The Hymer story begins in Bad Waldsee, a small town in the Upper Swabia region of southern Germany, where Alfons Hymer had operated a repair workshop since 1923. In 1957, his son Erwin partnered with a talented engineer named Erich Bachem to build their first caravan — the now-legendary Troll, which became the foundation of the Eriba Touring range that is still in production today. The new distribution company, Hymer AG, began mass-producing the Eriba-Troll range in 1958, and within a few years the model family had expanded to include the Puck, Faun, Pan, Familia, Triton, and Titan. The first Hymer motorhome, the Caravano, followed in 1961, and serial production of motorcaravans under the Hymer brand name began in 1971.

A pivotal development came in 1978, when Hymer engineers created the PUAL superstructure — a sandwich panel construction system that would become the company's signature technology for decades to come. PUAL uses closed-cell polyurethane foam bonded between an aluminium outer skin and a high-quality plywood interior wall, with special bonding technology replacing conventional screws and fixings. The result is a body shell that is impervious to water, resistant to decay, structurally rigid, and superbly insulated — a far cry from the timber-framed construction that British manufacturers were still widely using at the time. Every Hymer and Eriba touring caravan built since has used PUAL or its evolved variants, and the technology remains one of the fundamental reasons why Hymer caravans hold their value and their structural integrity so well over decades of use.

The Corporate Empire

In 1980, the Hymer and Eriba companies formally merged, and the combined group went on to absorb Dethleffs and TEC. Over the following decades, Hymer acquired Niesmann+Bischoff in 1996, Bürstner in 1998, and the Italian motorhome manufacturer Laika in 2000. In 2005, the group established Capron, which distributes vehicles under the Carado and Sunlight brands. By the time the €17 million Erwin Hymer Museum opened in Bad Waldsee in 2011, the group had become one of the largest leisure vehicle manufacturers in Europe.

Two further acquisitions are of particular relevance to British caravanners. In February 2017, the Erwin Hymer Group purchased the Explorer Group in Consett, County Durham — the UK's second-largest caravan manufacturer and the company behind the Compass, Elddis, Buccaneer, and Xplore brands. Then, in 2018, the American recreational vehicle giant Thor Industries acquired the entire Erwin Hymer Group, making Hymer, Eriba, Elddis, Compass, Dethleffs, Bürstner, and Airstream all distant corporate cousins within the world's largest recreational vehicle conglomerate. In the 2010/2011 financial year alone — before the Thor acquisition — the Hymer Group turned over €792 million with a workforce of 2,600, producing over 14,000 motorhomes and 6,000 caravans annually from factories in Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

The Nova — Hymer's Flagship Touring Caravan

The Hymer Nova is the model that most British owners will be looking for mattresses for. Introduced in the early 1960s as a fixed-roof alternative to the pop-top Eriba Touring, the Nova brought luxury and spaciousness to the Hymer caravan range whilst retaining the same uncompromising build quality and PUAL construction. Over the decades, the Nova has evolved through numerous generations, and the range has split into several distinct sub-ranges — the Nova GL, the Nova S, and the Nova LuxusLine — each offering progressively higher levels of specification and interior finish.

The Nova GL is the workhorse of the family. Described by Hymer as "strikingly beautiful, beautifully practical," it offers a furniture finish in warm wood tones (Trentino Pear Wood in recent years), Hymer's proprietary raum+system for optimised space and storage, a minimum bed length of 2 metres across the range, 1.98 metres of headroom, and multi-zone cold foam mattresses as standard. The PUAL body shell provides what Hymer describes as "optimal insulation, absolute stability," and a 51mm sandwich floor adds further thermal protection underfoot. Layouts in the GL range have included the 470 (a compact but generously proportioned two-berth), 485, 541, 545, 580, 585, and 590.

The Nova S sits above the GL as the premium flagship. The fully redesigned rear, high-class interior materials, and a sophisticated lighting concept give the Nova S the feel of a luxury suite on wheels. Available in the 620 and 690 layouts, the Nova S retains the raum+system and PUAL construction whilst adding touches like a Velvet Ash furniture finish, optional disc-spring bed frames for enhanced sleeping comfort, and an optional HYMER SMART-Multimedia package with LED televisions in both the living and sleeping areas.

The Nova LuxusLine bridged the gap between the standard GL and the S, offering premium features at a mid-range price point. The 465, 541, and 545 were the principal LuxusLine layouts. Practical Caravan's review of the LuxusLine 465 noted that the fixed bed measured a generous 2.0 metres by 1.45 metres, narrowing to 1.1 metres at the foot — a characteristic Hymer bed shape that we will return to in some detail below.

Earlier Hymer Ranges

Whilst the Nova dominates the used market in Britain, Hymer produced several other touring caravan ranges over the years, many of which are still in active use on UK parks and campsites.

The Hymer Swing was a mid-range caravan offered through the early 2000s in layouts including the 466, 505, and 530 (in KZ, KZG, and standard variants). These were four and five-berth family tourers with conventional fixed-roof construction and the same PUAL bodywork as the Nova range.

The Hymer Living appeared around 2005 as a contemporary-styled caravan in layouts 465, 480, and 530 (in FB, K, and LE variants). The Living offered two to five berths depending on the layout, with Hymer's trademark attention to build quality and winter-readiness.

The Hymer Feeling was a pop-top caravan — larger and more conventional than the Eriba Touring but sharing the same pop-up roof principle. Available in layouts 425 and 430, the Feeling offered up to five sleeping places with a front bed that tapered significantly from 1.30 metres at the wide end to 0.99 metres at the narrow end. The Feeling name later migrated to the Eriba brand, where it continues as part of the current Eriba range.

The Hymer Arctic Star was a specialist winter-touring model fitted with electric underfloor heating and Alde water heating systems — a serious proposition for owners who wanted to caravan through the continental European winter without compromise.

Current Status in the UK

It is worth understanding how the Hymer and Eriba brands are positioned today, because the distinction matters when searching for parts, accessories, and replacement mattresses. In the current UK market, the Hymer name is used exclusively for motorhomes and campervans — the B-Class, T-Class, Exsis, Grand Canyon, and the various Fiat and Mercedes-based panel van conversions. All touring caravans are now sold under the Eriba brand: the Eriba Touring (the iconic pop-top), the Eriba Feeling (the larger pop-top), and the Eriba Novaline (the fixed-roof range that carries forward the Nova tradition). The Hymer-branded Nova GL, Nova S, and Nova LuxusLine are no longer manufactured under the Hymer name, though the DNA lives on in the Eriba Novaline.

This means that the vast majority of Hymer touring caravans on British roads are used models — some of them decades old but in remarkably good condition thanks to the durability of the PUAL construction. The caravan may outlast several sets of mattresses, which is why we see a steady and consistent demand for replacements.

Why Hymer Beds Are Different

This is the section that matters most if you have arrived on this page with a tape measure in one hand and a growing sense of frustration in the other. Hymer touring caravans are German-engineered to metric dimensions, manufactured in German and French factories, and designed with a fundamentally different philosophy of interior space to any British-built caravan. The beds are not standard by any country's measurement system — and many of them are not even rectangular.

Take the technical data for a selection of Hymer Nova layouts. The Nova 435 has a front bed measuring 200 centimetres by 143 centimetres, narrowing to 110 centimetres at one end, with a rear bed of 194 centimetres by 144 centimetres narrowing to 79 centimetres. The Nova 465 offers a front bed of 200 by 143/110 centimetres and a rear bed of 200 by 145/110 centimetres. The Nova 495 has twin rear singles at 195 by 80 centimetres and 190 by 80 centimetres — note that the two singles in the same caravan are different lengths. The Nova 531 has a rear fixed bed of 212 by 141 centimetres. The Nova 540 has twin rear singles each at 200 by 85 centimetres.

The LuxusLine 465's fixed bed, as measured by Practical Caravan, is 2.0 metres by 1.45 metres, narrowing to 1.1 metres at the foot. The Nova GL 470's lounge converts to a double bed measuring a massive 2.01 metres by 2.10 metres — far larger than any standard UK double — or twin singles at 2.01 metres by 0.66 metres each. The Nova 540 SL's fixed bed has a corner cut off at the head end, which is unusual even by continental caravan standards.

Several things become immediately apparent from these figures. First, the beds are consistently longer than standard UK mattress sizes — 200 centimetres and above rather than the 190 centimetres of a standard British single or double. Second, many of the beds taper — they are wider at one end than the other, creating a trapezoidal shape rather than a rectangle. Third, even beds that appear rectangular have dimensions that do not match any standard size in either the UK or European measurement systems. A bed that measures 200 by 143 centimetres is neither a standard UK double (190 by 135 centimetres), a standard European double (200 by 140 centimetres), nor a standard king (200 by 150 centimetres). It falls between all of them.

The factory-fitted mattresses in Hymer caravans are multi-zone cold foam — a dense, supportive foam that is moulded to the exact dimensions of each bed platform and fitted with removable, washable drill covers. When new, these mattresses are comfortable and well-made. After ten or fifteen years of use, particularly if the caravan has been stored through damp winters, they compress, lose their support, and develop the musty smell that every long-term caravan owner will recognise. The drill covers are hardy, but the foam beneath them does not last indefinitely.

Motorhome Owners Welcome

Although this page focuses on Hymer touring caravans, we make mattresses for Hymer motorhomes and campervans as well. The same principles of bespoke German-metric sizing apply — perhaps even more so, since motorhome beds frequently incorporate French beds with angled corners, island beds with curved edges, overcab sleeping platforms with depth restrictions, and drop-down beds with weight limitations. If you own a Hymer B-Class, T-Class, Exsis, StarLine, ML-T, Grand Canyon, Venture, Free, or any other Hymer motorhome or campervan, we can make a mattress to fit. Please mention that yours is a motorhome when you contact us, as the bed shapes and depth constraints are often different from touring caravan beds.

What We Recommend

For the Hymer Nova range and the earlier Swing and Living models — particularly the compact two-berth layouts like the 390, 435, 465, and 470 where the beds convert from daytime seating — our CoolPlus™ memory foam mattress provides a significant upgrade over the original cold foam. The temperature-regulating foam manages the condensation and temperature fluctuations that are inherent in caravan use, and the lighter weight makes the nightly bed conversion noticeably less arduous than wrestling with a dense cold foam cushion set. For owners who tour through the winter months — and Hymer caravans, with their PUAL insulation and frost-protected plumbing, are some of the most capable winter tourers on the market — the CoolPlus™ is particularly well suited to managing the temperature differential between a warm interior and a freezing exterior.

For the larger Nova layouts with permanent fixed beds — the 541, 545, 580, 590, 620, and 690 — our Imperial Elite™ pocket sprung mattress delivers the domestic-grade sleeping comfort that a caravan of this calibre deserves. When the manufacturer has fitted disc-spring bed frames, solid wood sliding doors with draught excluders, and a multimedia system in the bedroom, the mattress should match that standard. The Imperial Elite™ offers individual pocket springs with a luxury quilted cover, providing support and comfort that rival the best high-street mattresses at a fraction of the price — and cut to the exact metric dimensions of your Hymer bed, including any tapers, corner cuts, or irregular shapes.

For the pop-up roof beds in the Eriba Touring and Hymer Feeling models, and for dinette conversion beds and occasional sleeping arrangements across the range, a reflex foam mattress provides the practical flexibility these convertible spaces require.

Every mattress we make is cut to your exact measurements in our Birmingham workshop and delivered free to any UK address. If you are uncertain about measuring a tapered or shaped Hymer bed — and there are more unusually shaped beds in the Hymer range than in almost any other brand — call us on 0121 663 6114 and we will talk you through the process. Order online using the product links below, or ring us with your dimensions and we will take care of the rest.