Komplementär

Komplementär is a German term with several related uses. As an adjective it means complementary or mutually supportive. As a noun it designates a type of business partner in a Kommanditgesellschaft (KG): the Komplementär, who runs the business and bears unlimited liability.

In mathematics and logic the term is used with the concept of a complement. The Komplement of a subset A within a universal set U is the set U \ A, consisting of all elements not in A. Two sets that are complements of each other are called komplementär; equivalently, A ∪ (U \ A) = U and A ∩ (U \ A) = ∅.

In color theory the term refers to complementary colors, which lie opposite each other on the color wheel and provide strong contrast when used together. Common pairs include red and green, blue and orange, and yellow and violet.

For corporate law, the Komplementär is a general partner in a KG who manages the business and is personally liable for the partnership's obligations, without the liability cap that applies to limited partners (Kommanditisten). The Kommanditist contributes capital and has liability limited to that contribution. The structure is used to combine active management with limited investor liability.