90th birthday: Reinhold Würth: Entrepreneur, art collector, diary writer

A few lines. Thoughts, observations, maybe a knowledge. Reinhold Würth, known as a “screw king”, has been holding his life in diaries for decades – it is probably one of the best documented merchant biographies in Germany. There is a lot to tell: from his father’s screw trade, Würth formed a global corporation with billions of billions. The entrepreneur from the northeast of Baden-Württemberg will celebrate his 90th birthday next Sunday (April 20).

In an earlier interview, Würth said about the lettering letter: “This is simple habit. And I didn’t think deeper why I do that”. But it makes sense. It is the document of an entrepreneur and historiography. After a maternity leave, “a student can certainly make a dissertation out of it”.

From apprentice to the entrepreneur

The story of Reinhold Würth begins on April 20, 1935. After war and school days, he started an apprenticeship in his father’s wholesale in Künzelsau (Hohenlohe district) in 1949. But he does not stay a apprentice for a long time: Adolf Würth dies only five years later. The then 19 -year -old takes over the small company – and expanded on a large scale in the following decades.

Today the Würth Group is considered the world market leader in the area of ​​fastening and assembly technology. The range includes more than a million products – including for craft and industrial companies. In addition to screws and dowels, this also includes, for example, tools and occupational safety items. Part of it is made yourself. For the group, more than 88,500 people recently worked – a good 27,400 in Germany.

“The seller is the most beautiful in the whole world”

Würth was able to make his company so big because he is a passionate seller himself. “The seller is the most beautiful around the world because they are constantly coming into contact with all the varieties of people who live on God’s ground,” he said. Würth often took the plane to his customers – and sat as a pilot in the cockpit.

Significant for Würth’s determination is his story about how he got to fly. On the way to an appointment, he was stuck in traffic jams. And thought: It can’t be. Without further ado, he bought a Cessna, made a ticket – and came closer to his destinations from then on.

One of Würth’s companion is Albert Berner. Both went to school together, later they became competitors. The Berner Group has a similar offer, but is many times smaller. In 1952, Berner had started an apprenticeship as a wholesale clerk at Würth. “Since I had a driver’s license, I was able to go to the field”. There he learned how to deal with customers and selling from the pike, he reports.

And he also has an anecdote ready: on a sales tour, the two men were appointed on Lake Constance. While Reinhold Würth was waiting for him, he met his wife Carmen. The couple has been married since 1956. “This story also connects us,” says Berner.

The former two-man company has made Würth a billionaire-it is one of the richest Germans today. “I wouldn’t do much differently than I did,” said Würth. Certainly there are one or two dreams that he might have liked to fulfill. “But I believe that the discipline is to be the task of the task of those who have a lot of money. I think I managed not to be corrupted by the money.”

At the headquarters, however, the group is more than an employer. The whole region is considered Würth-Land: for example, a nearby airport, a university, a symphony orchestra and a cultural and congress center are called the name. Würth is also art patrons – and continued to expand his collection. Finally, she comprised more than 20,000 works that are exhibited in several museums in his home country and at company locations abroad.

The family entrepreneur has repeatedly positioned himself politically in the past. A good year ago, for example, he made headlines when he advised his employees in Germany to vote for the AfD. In a five -sided letter, he warned possible protest voters at the time: “Just having a little fun in the joy and choosing the AfD out of resentment about the traffic light government is simply not enough.” Nobody has to go hungry or freeze in this country.

Success story also has corners and edges

But there were also less glamorous aspects in the promotion history of Würth: there was no works council at Würth in Germany, for example until 2019. Without damage to the workforce – the payment was rather above average, the working atmosphere intact. But with individual employee representatives, the group was always in the clinch.

The boss of IG Metall in Baden-Württemberg, Barbara Resch, said about Würth: “Today, there are courageous and democratically committed entrepreneurs such as Reinhold Würth.” A constructive dialogue and mutual respect are crucial for the well -being of the employees and the long -term success of the company. “This also applies to Würth.”

Generation change in the screw empire

Würth got out of day -to -day business more than 30 years ago. Even then, the company belonged to several foundations. Too often Würth had witnessed how other family businesses suffered or disassembled in the inheritance. But even after he left, the Patriarch woke up the development of his group. He always had the business figures ready. He was particularly pleased that 2023 the 20 billion border was cracked in sales. However, the group is currently struggling with the economic crisis. For 2024, Würth calculated with less proceeds and a drop in profits.

Würth was never completely away anyway: as chairman of the foundation supervisory board, he was involved in the important strategic course. Only recently – after more than 75 years of work – the family entrepreneur also drawn a line here: the grandson generation has been in charge since the beginning of the year. The word of the “old” Würth should still have weight in Künzelsau. But he doesn’t want to interfere: “I might be talking in a bit from the background. But I will hold back”.

Würth has not worried about the future of the group. In private, he now wanted to take it more casually and make a lot of private, he said. According to a spokeswoman, he celebrates his birthday in the family. At the end of April there will also be a ceremony in Künzelsau. It is quite possible that Reinhold Würth will subsequently noted his thoughts in his diary. Just as he has done in his life many times.