Status: 13.12.2021 11:08 a.m.
The courage to change is the key to a centuries-old success story of family entrepreneurs. Many of the companies that still exist today existed before the French Revolution.
The Family Business Foundation has published a list of the oldest family businesses in Germany for the second time. Among the oldest companies are big names and companies whose history dates back to the 16th century. Two years ago there were 35 companies listed, now the list has grown to 50.
The list is headed by the Coatinc Company, a company from Siegerland that specializes in hot-dip galvanizing. The Coatinc Company was founded more than 500 years ago by the guild master of the steel forge, Heylmann Dresseler, and is now in the 17th generation of the family. The founding date in 1502 is documented because Schmid Dressler had to pay a shilling to use a fireplace.
The courage to change is important for success
Almost all of the companies were founded before the French Revolution in 1789, and all of them have remained in the hands of the founding family without interruption: “For centuries, these companies were an anchor of stability and a solid rock. They are still today,” says Stefan Heidbreder, managing director of the foundation to publish the list.
The largest company on the list is the pharmaceutical company Merck. It ranks 16th with more than 58,000 employees. The history of the group goes back to the year 1668: The pharmaceutical company emerged from a pharmacy in Darmstadt. The courage to change is the key to success, says Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, Chairman of the Merck Family Council: “We have a tradition of innovation. Scientific curiosity and an entrepreneurial pioneering spirit remain the maxims of our actions.”
“That little bit of luck”
Other companies with a centuries-old tradition include the private banks Berenberg (1590) and Metzler (1674), the Saarland ceramics manufacturer Villeroy & Boch (1748) and the Franconian stationery manufacturer Faber Castell (1761).
The Heinz family’s company on the Bavarian-Thuringian border was also founded in 1622. The company, which specializes in glass, is now one of the world market leaders in the manufacture of perfume bottles. Carletta Heinz is now the 15th generation to run her family’s glass company. She says that you can only be successful over such a long period of time if you have the courage “to always dare to try new things and make decisions, even if they seem unpopular”. You also need the right instinct for employees. “And finally, quite simply, the necessary ounce of luck.”
Family entrepreneurs are burdened by the crisis
New this year were the Swabian candle maker, industrial and dental wax manufacturer Morsa, which has been owned by the Sallinger family for 14 generations. Because through the list of the Foundation for Family Businesses, many start to research and want to find out more about their own founding history.
But even centuries-old traditions do not protect against the current crises: The glass manufacture von Poschinger in Frauenau in the Bavarian Forest was founded in 1568 and is currently number three on the list. But now “production had to be stopped until further notice”. The effects of the pandemic, bottlenecks in the supply of raw materials and accessories, but also increased energy prices and the CO2 tax made this step necessary, explained Poschinger.