1867 - 2017

150 Years of Ernstmeier A journal for the future

whose 150th anniversary we are celebrat-ing in 2017, set off with the avowed aim of attaining every businessman’s ideal of self-sufficiency. His business vision was to provide products that were in demand. An entrepreneur in the classic sense, he sought and found the people he needed to help him realize “his” ideas, ideas that underwent repeated periods of experi-mentation and re-alignment over the decades that were to follow. As a process, the development of these ideas became something like a source of energy, and pointed the way for the following two generations of managing Ernstmeiers to formulate their own visions and lead them to success. Indeed, within the fami-ly-owned business, the process itself almost became more important than its content. It is a master plan that has sur-

vived the transition from family manage-ment to a management board in 2002 and is maintained to this day as part of the Ernstmeier corporate culture. “Do”, “lead to do”, and “let do” are concepts that have survived in a dynamic, continu-ally developing business environment – open to changes regarding international business strategy and digitization, big on exports, good for employment statistics.

As Oliver Jackl, captain and first officer of the “Eratex” command ship says in his 2017 welcome address: “Our aim must be to sustain the vast store of know-how in this company while continuing to add to it. Only then will we be able to ensure that tradition in this company means guard-ing the flame, rather than worshipping the ashes.”

GUSTAV ERNSTMEIER,GRANDFATHER OF THE ABOVE-NAMED

BROTHERS AND FOUNDER OF THE COMPANY

“To make progress, you must always be prepared to set out, even if you cannot yet see where you’re heading.” Dieter Ernstmeier sent this calendar quotation, neatly cut out with a pair of scissors, to his brother Peter when he joined the management of the com-pany in 1968 at the age of 30. Along with his half-brother Carl-Gustav, he continued the tradition of Ernstmeier brothers in the company management in Herford into the third generation.

Cover: Gustav Ernstmeier / Back page: Wilhelm Ernstmeier

1867

1867: The Prussian contribution to the Paris International Exposition is the “Moorish Kiosk”. The main theme is the “History of Work”. 52,000 exhibitors from 41 countries and 15 million visi-tors attend. Steel-reinforced concrete, the hydraulic elevator, and Krupp’s “monster cannon” are particularly popular exhibits. Krupp’s presentation is very military.

Germany under Bismarck, the North German Confederation had just been established, the Biedermeier period is history, Karl Marx’s critique of political economy “Das Kapital” is published in Hamburg.

In these early days of the industrial revolution, the age of steam, a company takeover takes place in Herford, the cultural, administrative, and economic centre of East Westphalia:

Not a merger, but an acquisi-tion. The blue-dyeing and printing works are affiliated with their new textile finish-ing plant. Blue-dyeing and printing is a largely manual process, but the finishing is done with the aid of a textile finishing machine from England. Their products: blue-dyeing as a “commis-sion finishing” service and “hemming linen”, a smooth-finished fabric that is also used in bulk for packaging in the textile industry.

Soon, production is extended to encompass twill, as a basis for abrasives backings.

1869: The eight-hour working day becomes law in the United States. While August Bebel and Karl Liebknecht establish the Social Democratic Workers’ Party of Germany (SDAP) in Eisenach, the Deutsche Bank AG in Berlin is launched on the stock market, as is the Commerzbank in Hamburg.

The Ernstmeier brothers note that their initial premises are becoming increasingly cramped. The first small factory with 12 employees is opened on Komturstrasse in Herford. The demand for hemming linen is steadily falling, as more and more textile manufacturers resort to paper for packaging, which is cheaper. The commission finishing business continues. In 1875, the books show a significant production of emery cloth backing for the first time.

Napoleon III has long been ­defeated,­and­Wilhelm­I­is­the­first­Emperor of the “Second German Reich”. Chancellor Bismarck now holds the title of Prince (Fürst), and Berlin is the seventh largest city in the world. These are the years of the “Gründerzeit”.

In 1882, the Ernstmeier broth-ers break with each other. Gustav, known as the “white Ernstmeier” on account of his hair colour (which contrasts

with that of his brother Wilhelm’s, the “black Ernstmeier”), opens new and independent premises on Mindener Strasse. The new factory, which occupies the site of today’s head offices, operates under the name of Gustav Ernstmeier KG Textilveredelung (textile finishing), and comprises three rooms over two floors,

The brothers Gustav and Wilhelm Ernstmeier, both experienced businessmen in the textile industry, take over the blue-dyeing company Budde & Münter.

3 – 150 Years of Ernstmeier

1907

a separate administration office, and a small power station. It is also situated by a stream. The “Hundebach” supplies the water needed for the bleaching and dyeing processes. The start-up company is entered into the commer-cial register of Herford on January 10, 1883.

In 1888 the total sales of the Gustav Ernstmeier KG (hemming linen, abrasives backing, and other products) exceed 100,000 Marks. Following his coronation, the new German emperor Wilhelm II pays a courtesy visit to the Prince of Lippe in neighbouring Detmold, but does not stop at Herford. Instead, his train rolls sedately through Herford station, while His Majesty graciously waves from the window of his carriage in acknowledgement of the assembled delegation of Herford dignitaries. Wilhelm II knew Herford from attending a nearby military exercise one autumn at the tender age of four. No doubt his main memory of the day was of the unfortunate consequences of his overindulgence in plums…Further­ afield,­ in­ Arles­ in­ France,­ the­ painter­Vincent van Gogh severs part of his own left ear. Liberal indulgence in absinthe and a brothel fea-ture in the story. Van Gogh has his ear delivered to a young lady who works there and later volun-tarily enters an asylum.

Back at Gustav Ernstmeier KG, after 17 years in business, total sales exceed the half-million-Mark threshold for the first time in 1899.

Gustav Ernstmeier, the industrialist, is a patri-arch of the old school, always impeccably at-tired in his charcoal suit, complete with hat and wire frame glasses. He is someone who cares,

someone who is civically engaged, both for his workforce and for his home town, a man of “ integrity and principle” combined with business acumen. A city councillor, he is later appointed alderman of the Herford city admin-istration.His factory produces for important names in the industry, among them corporations such as Starcke and Klingspor, both of whom still have close ties with Ernstmeier in 2017, our anniver-sary year.

From 1903 onward, customers order emery cloth backing by the roll.1905 sees total sales exceeding the one-million-Mark threshold. The factory operates six days a week, Monday to Saturday, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the summer and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the winter. The lowest pay grade for the workers is 6 Marks a week. The price of pork is at 1 Mark and 50 Pfennigs per kilogram, while coal costs 1 Mark 20 Pfennigs for 50 kilograms. From Wuppertal-Elberfeld, BAYER have now been successfully marketing their new remedy against pain for some years: Aspirin.

In addition to the hemming linen, with which it all began, the product range now includes twill as an abrasives backing for some time. At the turn of the century, the company premises is extended accordingly, new machines are acquired. With the workforce now numbering 30, the company begins to diversify its portfolio still further, additionally producing pastry bags and fabrics for burial garments and coffin linings. Production facilities are extended still further in 1907, a year of record sales, with new premises on Bülowstrasse. The telephone in the adminis-tration office has an extension number: 21.

1913 Manufacturing of interlining fabrics for mens-wear begins. Lighting is now mass-produced in Germany in the form of incandescent light bulbs with the patented OSRAM filament.

In 1910, Gustav Ernstmeier is nominated for the Order of the Red Eagle, the second highest Prussian order. Working out of Herford, his acknowledged integrity, his business, and his services to the young and dynamic abrasives backings industry in Germany (he successfully petitions for a protective tariff on imported abrasive backing!), have gained him fame, and, of course, fortune.

His wife Johanne is given general power of attorney for the company, a rarity in the busi-ness world in those days. His eldest son, Gustav Jnr, is being comprehensively coached and made ready to assume his future role of company leader. He, too, is given general power of attorney, and joins his father’s company as a partner, now trading under the name of Gustav Ernstmeier OHG.

Herford, enjoying the status of an independent city since 1911, has a population of 33,000, and factory chimneys are beginning to appear on the skyline hitherto dominated by the steeples of its venerable churches. Bells in Herford are rung by the Herford Elektro Werke (HEW, founded in 1892), or, more precisely, by its electric bell ringing systems, which find­ their­ way­ into­ many­ notable­ churches­ in­ Europe, including the Cologne Cathedral, St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and St Paul’s Cathedral in London, to name just a few. The ship’s bell that sank with the Titanic in 1912 and was salvaged from a depth of around 3,900 metres in 1986 was not rung by an HEW mechanism.

On January 19, 1913, a little over year before the start of the First World War, our company’s founder dies. Business is continued by his widow Johanne, his eldest son Gustav Jnr, and his youngest son Carl Ernstmeier (his daughter Lydia never joined the company). Carl had origi-nally intended to follow legal training as a court judge in Herford.

Unlike his brother Gustav Jnr, Carl is able to travel before joining the company – for example, to England. Harrods­ in­ London­ boasts­ the­ first­ escalator or “moving staircase”, with shop em-ployees on hand to dispense free smelling salts and cognac to customers distressed by the “ordeal” of travelling on it.

Carl Ernstmeier has a congenital heart anomaly that exempts him from conscription – Gustav Jnr is less fortunate in this respect. When the latter is killed in France one month after the start of the war, the fortunes of Gustav Ernstmeier OHG suddenly lie in the hands of Carl, aged 24, who finds himself at the head of a company with 35 employees and a flourishing export trade with England, Italy, Holland, and Sweden.Well provided with raw materials, the company survives the war years 1914 – 1918. At the same time, replacement materials are used, such as paper instead of cotton, which lead to signifi-cant shifts in the market.

Almost half a million marks are invested in public war bonds. Current business is expanded, and 2 new stenter frames are installed.

In the first five months alone of 1923, the worst year of the hyperinflation in Germany, sales at

5 – 150 Years of Ernstmeier

Aged 24, Carl Ernstmeier

assumes the management of

the company

1923Ernstmeier total 1 billion and 361.5 million Marks. Banknotes in denominations of 10, 20, and 50 million Marks are in circulation by then. People use large bundles of notes for heating rather than payment.

Once the inflation years are past, it becomes necessary to react to the “shifts” in the market. The production of interlining fabric for the leather goods industry turns out not to be as economically rewarding as initially thought, yet provides the technical basis for introducing the next Ernstmeier product: bookbinding materi-al. The technical challenge here is to switch to the production of calico. Suitable cutters and a calender press (for 40 tons!) are acquired.

Calico is originally an English product, as is emery cloth. The German calico industry, which now also includes Ernstmeier, is firmly under the control of the “Association of German Cali-co Manufacturers” under which the book-binding materials manufacturers have organ-ized themselves. Carl Ernstmeier – sole owner of the company since the end of 1922 and now counting the company’s sales in Reichsmarks – not only gets the company accepted into this cartel, he also becomes president of the associ-ation in 1927. This happy state of affairs, so beneficial to the fortunes of the company, con-tinues until the calico cartel is disbanded by the Allies after the end of the Second World War.

Turkey and India are developed as new markets, and statistics for 1927 show a record sales figure of 2.9 million Reichsmarks. In the opinion of Ruth Möller, who joined Ernstmeier 39 years ago and managed the division for 8 years: „Bookbinding materials are the most attractive product Ernstmeier ever made.” At its height, there are 18 finishing qualities and 280 different colours to choose from.

Washable, nitrocellulose-based artificial leather, not too great a step to take from the manu-facture of calico, becomes a new field of activity of Ernstmeier. Target customers include the leather goods industry and kitchen furniture manufacturers. Three new machines and addi-tional committed and focussed employees, including one or two truly skilful chemists, are procured for the artificial leather production. This new field brings a pleasing sales develop-ment that helps the company survive the world-wide economic depression, showing a typically Westphalian attitude: OK, let’s do it.

In 1932, there are 6 million unemployed in Germany, and the Dow Jones Industrial drops to an all-time low of 41.22 points.

Technical and economic developments necessi-tate an expansion of all premises of the Ernstmeier business triangle on Eimterstrasse, Bülowstrasse, and Mindener Strasse in Herford. Environmental concerns first take hold in company policy: the latest investment, a silica gel machine, has a fume extractor. Distribution warehouses help improve the company’s posi-tion on the national and international markets.

The Second World War. How to keep a textile

The value of the German Mark declines so rapidly that a simple postage stamp ends up costing 1 billion Marks.

7 – 150 Years of Ernstmeier

1946

finishing company, family-owned, afloat during the war years? The Gustav Ernstmeier KG, as it is once again known, is not an armament manu-facturer. Carl Ernstmeier has to contend with a shortage of raw materials and with the other problems of a wartime economy. Textile fibres and fabrics are scarce commodities, and many employees have been conscripted. He uses his professional abilities and invaluable contacts (obtained through the calico cartel!) to the rele-vant ministries in Berlin. Business letters are signed off with „Heil Hitler!”Carl Ernstmeier relies on his experience in busi-ness. He manages to obtain a release for cotton consignments that he can use to manufacture the company product he can foresee the great-est demand for at the time: burial garments. Meanwhile, Hollywood releases Casablanca onto the world’s cinema screens – with Ingrid Bergman looking deep into Humphrey Bogart’s eyes. The latter’s part in what is probably the most romantic war­film­of­all­time­nearly­goes­to­Ronald­Reagan,­President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Starting in 1943, Ernstmeier begins receiving orders for services that are classed as being of strategic importance for the war effort, in the form of textiles for camouflage nets and snow tunics.

There are no carpet-bombing air attacks on Her-ford, and the last bombs fall on March 21, 1945. About 40 percent of the houses have some minor damage, while 7 percent are more heavily damaged and about 320 buildings are completely destroyed.

The Ernstmeier premises have escaped lightly, and there is now a porters’ lodge. Economically,

the company survives by drawing on its reserves, and closing shop for the time being. There is no coal, finished goods cannot be dispatched, roads and railways are destroyed. In April of 1945, American troops enter the city. Warning notices attached to the doors of the factories saying “Danger of Explosion” (nitro-glycerin!) are, thankfully, heeded and help avoid accidents and prevent looting.In the autumn of 1945, equipped with the necessary permit, the company resumes busi-ness operations, producing the bookbinding materials needed for the various identification documents issued by the administration of the occupying forces. Within a few years, all the identification documents, including passports, of the West German citizens are bound in Ernstmeier material. A textile quota voucher allows the company to start producing for the civilian population again; fabrics for hats and shoes and clothes are made. Slowly but surely, the production of all the different types of back-ing materials for the abrasives industry also gains momentum once more.

In 1946, Britain’s prime minister Winston Churchill addresses students at the University of Zürich end-ing with one of his most memorable quotations: „Therefore I say to you: let Europe arise!” Unfortu-nately, his vision of a united Europe never included Britain – perhaps he foresaw the outcome of the Brexit referendum vote (2016). Not­ long­ after,­ the­ first­ Polaroid­ Land­ Camera­provides instant snapshots of reality. Edwin H. Land, co-founder of the Polaroid company, is inspired to develop the instant camera by an elegantly simple question asked by his daughter Jennifer at the age of three: „Why can’t I see the picture now?”

The art of

coating

8 – 150 Years of Ernstmeier

1946

The art of

coating

1948

“Der Spiegel”, Germany’s answer to Time maga-zine in USA, runs an article on the black market in post-war­Germany­on­page­15­of­its­first­issue­on­4 January 1947: the price of butter on the rise ­versus­price­of­coffee­in­decline,­fantastic­profits­to be made on the Berlin diamond market.

In May of the same year, Gustav Ernstmeier KG takes possession of a Mercedes-Benz 170 V deliv-ery van, the second car in the fleet is a DKW limo.

The currency reform in mid-1948 introduces the Deutschmark in the Allied occupation zones, intended not only to replace the Reichsmark and the Rentenmark, but also to stop the barter economy of the black market. Textiles and fabrics are available once again – for good money, or in countertrade. Records show that Ernstmeier in Herford orders “at least 500 metres of calico” from the textile spinning com-pany in Augsburg, for manufacturing artificial leather covers for Telefunken portable radios. The order is to be paid for in the form of portable radio sets of the type Telefunken T 6445 GWK of equivalent value to the purchase price “as de-scribed in the enclosed brochure”. Ten years later, Grundig radiograms with the new stereo-phonic technology are beginning to find their way into living rooms all over Germany, along-side kidney-shaped tables and cocktail chairs.

25 years of “Wirtschaftswunder” – economic miracle –­begin,­and­continue­up­to­the­first­oil­crisis­in­1973.

The beginning of the fifties heralds a great innovation at Ernstmeier: PVC coating. The first scrim coating and setting machine is purchased for manufacturing PVC artificial leather. Large orders come from the procurement office of the

United States Armed Forces in Germany (for seating upholstery in army barracks), among other clients, but the civilian market for this tough, cheap material is growing, too. Different companies have different names for their prod-ucts, such as “Acella” or “leatherette” (which the leather industry protests against). Ernstmeier selects the name “Vistram C” for the upholstery material, which is developed in cooperation with Bayer. Another very success-ful product of the time is “era-elastic”. New customers are won in the German automotive industry. Petrol rationing is a thing of the past, and the following decade sees some of the most iconic cars produced in the history of the automobile, such as the Borgward Isabella, for which Ernstmeier products are used.

Elvis rocks – “Hound Dog” and “Heartbreak Hotel” are from this period. “Mach mal Pause” (have a break) is the Coca-Cola slogan through-out the period of reconstruction and the economic miracle – for example, as a full-page ad in the new weekly magazine “STERN”.

By now, Carl Ernstmeier’s eldest son Carl-Gustav has been released from internment by the US Armed Forces and is assisting his father in the management of the company to the best of his abilities. Learning by doing is the order of the day. The first tentative steps are taken along the road to a more professional marketing approach. Carl-Gustav’s two half-brothers from Carl’s second marriage, Dieter and Peter, are still at school.

Ernstmeier exports the products of its textile bleaching, dyeing, and finishing plants, as well as its artificial leather products, to Denmark,

10 – 150 Years of Ernstmeier

The next generation of management:

Carl-Gustav Ernstmeier

1967

1961Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Yugoslavia, and Romania. The company now has a workforce of 300, and the premises on Mindener Strasse have grown to six times their original size over the past 40 years.

In 1954, Carl Ernstmeier dies, aged 65, his passing much mourned by his workforce. An ardent huntsman during his lifetime, a last Halali hunt-ing bugle call is sounded over his grave at the funeral, while his many friends and acquaintanc-es from Herford and beyond pay their respects.

On­ a­ completely­ different­ note,­ 1954­ is­ also­ a­year of celebration in Germany: the West German national football team wins the world cup, an achievement that has a lasting impact on both post-war Germanies, East and West. The “Miracle of Bern” is accomplished in heavy rain, and using innovative boots supplied by Adidas that feature exchangeable, screw-in nylon studs.

These are known as the Adenauer years; Konrad Adenauer remains chancellor until 1963.

If the main innovation at Ernstmeier in the 1950s is PVC coating, in the “wild sixties”, as they are known in Germany, polyurethane becomes the “in” thing. New polymer coatings for new tech-nical applications (for example, bellows material for the engineering industry) are sold worldwide under the established trade name of “era”.

In these years, the company logo changes from “Ernstmeier” (above a key under a stylized roof) to era, in a more modern sixties design (see pictures).

1961: the Berlin wall is built, dividing the city for the next 28 years. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin­becomes­the­first­human­to­journey­into­outer space, followed 3 weeks later by US astro-naut­Alan­Shepard.­The­first­animal­to­orbit­ the­earth was Laika, a stray dog from the streets of Moscow, at an altitude of around 280 kilometres, in 1957, 90 years after Ernstmeier was founded.

Business expansion is the order of the day at Ernstmeier in 1964, involving the construction of a new subsidiary plant in Stolzenau. A signif-icant part of the profits of the main factory in Herford are invested in the new location on the Weser river. The structural fabric envelope of the huge air-inflated structure of the main hall is, of course, made by era. Special-quality fabrics, including artificial leather, are supplied from here to the automotive industry, makers of tarpaulin, awnings and marquees, producers of leather goods, upholsterers and makers of furniture, flooring, clothing and shoes.Consumers increasingly associate era products with Stolzenau, rather than Herford. Over the years, the Stolzenau branch invests in commu-nication as an instrument for gaining business impetus. Importance is placed on customer contact, advertisement, press and public rela-tions work, and sales promotion campaigns, as well as a quarterly company magazine “for employees and customers”, called “era intern”.

Procter & Gamble introduce the Pampers range of disposable diapers to the American mass market (400 are produced per minute at a manu-facturing­ cost­of­five-and-a-half­US­cents­each,­resulting in a sales volume boom from 10 to 370 million US dollars in 7 years).

1967

Back in the “old world”, Gustav Ernstmeier oHG in Herford celebrates its 100th year of “market presence’ in 1967. The introduction to the com-pany brochure The Art of Coating was contribut-ed by none other than Prof Karl Schiller, the then minister of economics in Kiesinger’s cabinet.

In the same year, Dr Christiaan Barnard performs the­ world’s­ first­ successful­ human-to-human­heart transplant in Cape Town, South Africa (50 years later and we still haven’t progressed to brain transplants…). Meanwhile, at the Interna-tionale Funkausstellung in Berlin (IFA), Chancellor Willy­ Brandt­ pushes­ a­ button­ and­ ­officially­ launches nationwide colour TV.

The Rattles perform at the Jaguar-Club in Herford. The Felsenkeller brewery (Herforder Pils) replaces­ the­ flip-top­ bottle­ with­ the­ half-litre­“Euro bottle”, which is in more widespread use at the time.

Another “International and Universal Exposi-tion” – the “Expo 67” as it becomes commonly known – is held in Montreal, Canada, under the motto “Terre des Hommes/Man and His World” and this time, Ernstmeier has a very visible pres-ence there. Over an area of 365 hectares (900 acres), exhibitors from 62 different countries attract more than 50 million visitors, among whom are Queen Elizabeth II, U.S. president Lyn-don B. Johnson, French prime minister Charles de Gaulle, Marlene Dietrich, and Grace Kelly.

Ernstmeier delivers some 15,000 square metres of PVC-coated polyester fabric for the roof of the German pavilion, designed by architect Frei Otto, with its 8,000 square metres of floor space. Most impressive. A great boost for Ernstmeier in

terms of brand awareness, sales and revenue, later to be commemorated on the 100-Pfennig postage stamp “Deutscher Pavillon Montreal”.Dieter Ernstmeier, by now in his 30th year and fully trained, chooses an auspicious time to join the company management: he takes his place alongside his half-brother Carl-Gustav, mean-while the veritable “grand old man” of the East Westphalian business landscape as well as a prodigious sportsman of diverse talents (figure skating, tennis, and later golf, always to near-professional standard) and his mother Liesel, who has been immersing herself in com-pany business since the death of her husband Carl. Women are certainly well-represented in Ernstmeier management, as demonstrated by Johanne, wife of Gustav Ernstmeier himself, some 50 years earlier.

Dieter Ernstmeier takes up his position of man-aging partner just one year before the first human “moonwalk” (the USA wins the moon race with Apollo 11), followed by Pelé scoring his much-anticipated 1000th competition goal (O Milésimo) on his way to world stardom as “the greatest football player of all time”. Represent-ing the third generation of family management, Dieter Ernstmeier continues to push the compa-ny’s standards still higher and lives his new role to the full: cosmopolitan businessman, patron of the arts, and an attentive, dedicated, kind and sympathetic ally of his valued employees.

In­Munich,­ the­first­German­McDonald’s­branch­opens, coincidentally on the same day as one of Germany’s most exclusive haute cuisine restau-rants: Tantris. The “Manifesto of the 343” appears in the magazine “Le Nouvel Observateur”, signed by 343 prominent women activists admitting to

13 – 150 Years of Ernstmeier

Dieter Ernstmeier has been steering the

company’s fortunes for over 30 years

1986

having had an abortion, followed a year later by a similar “manifesto of 374” in Germany.

In the 1970s, the Gustav Ernstmeier GmbH & Co.KG in Herford becomes better known as “era, your partner for tomorrow’s markets”, and as “The specialists – with the right solutions to your problems”, always working “ together with our customers”, as demonstrated in regional newspaper advertisements of the time. 1976 sees the first adverts for “ eratex bed pads”, a “modern solution for hospitals, care homes, and private households”. With the addition of “tex” for textiles, eratex becomes the new name for technical textiles.

Right up to the end of the 1980s, „Caution – building work in progress” is the order of the day at Ernstmeier. All the different company sites purchased and built upon over the years are developed to their limits – upward as well as outward. Between 1945 and 1988 alone, 15 major extension, conversion, and installation projects are realized, for which purpose several of the most eminent architects of the region are commissioned. Michael Jackson’s Thriller album is released, Wanna be startin’ somethin’ is the opening track and one of the album’s notable single releases. Thriller fast becomes the world’s best-selling album in the early 1980s, and still is in 2017, our anniversary year.

The city of Hanover becomes the symbol of Germany’s importance in the world’s technology industries, a result of its booming export trade. The first­German­electronic­typewriter­is­­presented­at­the Hannover trade fair in 1980 – a world away from the innovative „anti-cork-shredding” cork-screw presented 21 years previously. The “most

important industrial trade fair worldwide”, as it styles­ itself,­ first­ opens­ its­ doors­ in­ 1947­ by­ arrangement with the Allied military g overnment as a replacement for the Leipziger Messe outside the Eastern Bloc countries, in order to boost the economic advancement of post-war Germany. In our anniversary year, which, coincidentally, is also the 70th anniversary year of the Hannover Messe, some 6,500 exhibitors will be demonstrat-ing tomorrow’s factory technology. The 2017 Partner Country is Poland, and the organizers are confident­of­attracting­more­than­200,000­visitors.

1980­is­the­year­in­which­Volker­Schlöndorff’s­film­The Tin Drum, an adaptation of the novel by Günter Grass, wins the Oscar in the category Best Foreign Language Film. Twenty years after the Stolzenau branch is first established, Ernstmeier is named Supplier of the Year by Adam Opel AG, a major client of the artificial leather product group. The company management is ceremonially presented with a certificate and plaque, which is duly celebrated in a prominent feature in era intern, the company magazine for “employees and customers”.

Significant investments are made in new wash-ing, heat setting, and calender machinery at the Herford company, followed by new stenter frames and scrim coating machines. “Antipollu-tion” and “environmentally friendly” are the new buzzwords.

The two Ernstmeier plants in Herford and Stolzenau are restructured in 1986 and run as sep-arate companies. Together, the two plants crack the 100-million-Mark threshold in sales in 1987, exactly 120 years after the company was founded.

15 – 150 Years of Ernstmeier

19892002

In the years running up to the company’s 125th

anniversary, notable events of worldwide impor-tance include the Chernobyl disaster (1986), the Fall of the Berlin Wall, and the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska (the latter both in 1989). Guest speakers at the company’s 125th anniver-sary celebration pay tribute to the managers Dieter Ernstmeier and Jürgen Rauen as well as the 300 employees, recognising the company’s “openness for innovation as a fundamental busi-ness approach” and its “stable market presence even in the face of the harshest winds”. Herford’s mayor jokingly regrets that the town is unable to present the company with a street named in its honour, as one already exists.

Carl-Gustav Ernstmeier attends the anniversary ceremony as a private guest, as he is now a gen-tleman of leisure and no longer an active managing partner. He continues to maintain close ties with the company until his death in 2006. Liesel Ernstmeier, the mother of his two half-brothers Dieter and Peter, having already retired some years previously, misses the cele-brations entirely, having passed away in 1989.

The next decade at Ernstmeier is characterized by expansion, innovation, and investment.

In the Herford plant, a new product manage-ment strategy is introduced, separating the development, manufacturing, and sales of abra-sives backing, technical textiles, and bookbind-ing materials. Product development lays great emphasis on cooperating with end customers as well as the suppliers of the substrates (spinners and weavers) in Germany and Switzerland.

The specialist company in Westphalia comes to the attention of large US-American corpora-tions, more and more of whom become major clients, and Ernstmeier enters the Chinese market with the support of investment partners. Exporting expertise ensures access to markets for high-quality products across all of Asia.

A production centre for accessories for automo-tive applications is established in South Africa (among other car manufacturers, VW and Mercedes-Benz have their own production factories there), via the era plant in Stolzenau. This venture unfortunately incurs considerable losses and is terminated after 10 years.

In his “Berlin Address” of 1997, the Federal German President, Roman Herzog, notes that „…A mood of paralysis (is) hanging over our society […] Germany must give itself a shake…”

At Ernstmeier, the “shake” includes placing more emphasis on self-made products and less on commission finishing. Worldwide sales are intensified, and a new warehouse is built to provide room for more production lines and the expanding shipping department.

The “world leader in industrial abrasives”, as it is regarded in the trade, has an extensive train-ing and education program. Special internships are also available that offer teachers the oppor-tunity to study the internal methods at Ernstmeier, helping them to provide their pupils with an insight into the practicalities of a working business that specializes in abrasives and textile processing.

While extending and “tweaking” the abrasives

2002

backing business, the “technical textiles” sector is expanded in parallel. More precise technology permits finer coating applications, as needed in the medical supplies industry (Hansaplast/Elastoplast) and the food industry (artificial casings).

Meanwhile, Ernstmeier bookbinding materials are handled by even the most reluctant readers in Germany: the covers of the red German pass-port are exclusively provided by the Herford business.

Of a total investment volume of 23 million Deutschmarks over two years, four million alone are devoted to antipollution measures. Ernstmeier evolves into a “High Tex” specialist, and the brand name ERATEX becomes the new corporate logo. Exports account for 50 % of the company’s total sales.

The second year of the new millennium sees Germany’s adoption of the euro as legal tender.

On May 17, 2002, 135 years after his family’s company was founded, Dieter Ernstmeier dies. Some 300 employees lose their trusted leader – a charismatic, benevolent, conscientious and enlightened pillar of the business community.The days of family management are over, and Hartmut Thiess, Jürgen Rauen’s successor as co-manager in Herford, takes over. He, in turn, is followed by Joachim Geuenich, Klaus Vesper, and Peter Komp. As of mid-2014, the fortunes of Ernstmeier in Herford are in the capable hands of Oliver Jackl.A trust company is established in 2002 to man-age Dieter Ernstmeier’s shares in the company, the Dieter-Ernstmeier-Stiftung, the committee

structure, aims and objectives of which have been personally and painstakingly defined by Dieter Ernstmeier himself. The trust company is represented on the Ernstmeier advisory board by its then current director, Kurt Huber.

No April Fools’ Day hoax: „We are pope!” proclaims the headline of Germany’s top-selling tabloid “Bild” on the occasion of Cardinal Josef Ratzinger’s election as the leader of the Catholic Church. 8 years later, Pope Benedict XVI resigns: many reviews of his papacy run under the title „We were pope”…

The MARTa contemporary art museum opens in Herford in 2005, designed by Frank Gehry. Drawing on Herford’s status as a German centre of furniture and home furnishing production, this outstanding feature can be seen as a sign of the changing times, and also a small “cultural revolu-tion” for the 65,000 inhabitants of the town. More than 30 million euros construction cost result in an outstanding building that provides 2,500­square­metres­of­floor­space­for­exhibitions.

Abrasives and abrasives backing is a small world, comprising only 30 companies world-wide. Ernstmeier can also do diversity, with more than 50 different textile types, textile panel widths up to 2.5 metres, and more than 800 different coatings to choose from. Many kilometres of textiles are put through the vari-ous, complicated finishing processes each day.The global recession and financial crisis rears its ugly head. ERATEX in Herford and era in Stolzenau are not spared their share of difficul-ties. The years immediately following Dieter Ernstmeier’s death are turbulent times for the workforce, for the management, for the super-

17 – 150 Years of Ernstmeier

2017

visory board, for the Dieter-Ernstmeier-Stiftung trust company and for Peter Ernstmeier.

In early 2007, a man in a “turtleneck” sweater, jeans and “sneakers” stands on a stage in San Francisco and announces a product that will revolutionise the world: Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple, Inc. presents the iPhone. 10 years later, Tim Cook, Jobs’ successor, faces investment problems: what to do with the com-pany’s cash reserves of 250 billion US dollars?Following the signature collapse of Lehman Brothers­at­the­start­of­the­global­financial­crisis,­German Minister of Finance Peer Steinbrück states: „We were all staring into the abyss at that point.”

ERATEX in Herford has to assert itself vigorously in the face of increasing competition. Following a slump in total sales, the time has come for restructuring. The bookbinding materials sector is sold off. Managing Director Peter Komp has the thankless task of reorganizing the company. Abrasives backing remains the main field of business, and 4.2 million euros are invested to ensure the company continues to have a future in technical textiles. A new plant for solvent-based coatings helps extend to the company’s established product range. New customers require special textile panel widths, and Ernstmeier is able to deliver.

In 2009, Barack Obama („Yes We Can”) becomes the­first­African­American­president­of­the­United­States of America. An African American family moves­ into­ the­ White­ House,­ the­ official­ resi-dence and workplace of the President of the Unit-ed States in Washington D.C., originally built by African American slaves.

With the official launch of its construction textiles product range and a new generation of abrasives backing lines for flap discs, ERATEX is well and truly back in business.

2013 sees the sale of the era plant in Stolzenau to the Hornschuch Group. The era products are a perfect complement to the existing portfolio of the surface coating specialists from Weissbach, near Heilbronn. The sale provides capital that opens up new opportunities for ERATEX in international, expanding markets.

On February 22, 2013, Peter Ernstmeier dies. Like his brother Dieter, Peter Ernstmeier has made provision for his shares in the company to be controlled by a trust company.

In­ early­ 2017,­ we­ count­ 38­ different­ armed­­conflicts­ taking­ place­ in­ various­ parts­ of­ the­world. In plain language, that’s 38 wars. The “March for Science” takes place in more than 600 cities across the world, protesting against cuts to public­funding­for­scientific­research,­against­cen-sorship, and against the adherents of “post-truth” (also known as post-factual) politics. The world is in a state of upheaval.

Oliver Jackl, who has now been on board for 3 years, has no illusions about the tasks that lie ahead (see interview on page 20).

18 – 150 Years of Ernstmeier

2017

The active officers of the controlling trust com-panies, the Dieter-Ernstmeier-Stiftung and the Peter Ernstmeier Stiftung, have a com-mon objective:

The Ernstmeier name carried by both trusts demands no less.

they see foresight and innovation not just as a virtue, but as their duty to the company.

Publisher:ERATEX Gustav Ernstmeier GmbH & Co. KGBülowstraße 20 · 32049 HerfordTelephone: +49 (0)5221 984 - 0www.ernstmeier.deinfo@ernstmeier.de

Responsible for the content:Oliver Jackl, Managing Director

Editorial team:Madleen S. Dintner, Chairperson, Peter-Ernstmeier-StiftungGareth Gruffydd

Concept and Design:KIRCHNER Kommunikation und Marketing GmbHwww.kirchner-kum.de

Picture credits:Eratex company archive: Page 1, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20