Theo Gutberlet

Theo Gutberlet (born November 25, 1913 in Schweinsberg ; † February 18, 1994 ; full name Theodor Damian Gutberlet ) was a German entrepreneur and founder of the food retailer Tegut .

Life

Gutberlet was born in the Lutheran Upper Hessian country town of Schweinsberg, now part of Stadtallendorf , into a Catholic working-class family. His mother came from Fulda . His father came from Hünhan and was castellan of Baron Schenck zu Schweinsberg . The earnings were only enough for the bare minimum. After the First World War, the noble employers were no longer able to pay their employees, and the Gutberlet family moved to Fulda in 1919, where Theo Gutberlet's only sister was born. His father worked there as a railroad worker at the freight yard.

Theo Gutberlet visited after the elementary school the Domgymnasium Fulda . Since his school performance did not meet the requirements, especially in Latin, he left it again after the fourth (grade 7). On April 1, 1928, he began a three-year commercial apprenticeship at a feed manufacturer . He then worked as a salesman before he was employed as a businessman in an uncle's company in Hameln and Hanover from the beginning of 1932 . Most recently he was the branch manager of a grocery retailer. In 1936 he returned to his home in Fulda and was then assigned to the Reich Labor Service in Tann (Rhön) for half a year .

In 1939 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht and first used on the Siegfried Line. He then took part in the campaign in the West in France and in the Russian campaign. He was seriously wounded three times and was taken to an emergency hospital on Frauenberg in 1943 . During a stay in the hospital in 1942, he married Luise Dockhorn, who was born in Fulda in 1920. In 1944 his son Wolfgang was born. At the end of the year, the family moved to desert Saxony because of the effects of the war . Theo Gutberlet returned to Fulda in June 1945 after being released from captivity and initially lived with his parents. After the war, one of his legs was amputated as a result of his wounds . His daughter Nora was born in the spring of 1947. Before he got a job with the Caritas Association on August 1, 1947 , he was unemployed. As a disabled person who could only move around with crutches, his efforts to get a job had previously been unsuccessful, although he was politically unaffected by the Nazi era .

He had already submitted an application to the mayor of Fulda for permission to take over two sales outlets. This was granted on November 8, 1947. He opened two shops with 16 and 25  square meters of retail space. He had to move one of them after a short time following protests from residents. His starting capital was 5000  Reichsmarks , used nails, self-made bags from Wehrmacht remnants and self-sewn shirts made of parachute silk. He himself kept his job with Caritas and ran the shops after work. With two employees he achieved a turnover of 25,000 marks in the first year.

Before the currency reform in 1948 , Theo Gutberlet, in contrast to most other retailers, still gave the complete rations on the grocery cards in the last days before the changeover . His trust in the customers paid off. Out of gratitude, they continued to buy more from him even after the changeover to the D-Mark. He had also managed to get goods for a large part of the cards from wholesalers on the last day before the changeover. In 1949 he founded his third shop in Bad Salzschlirf . More stores followed in the next few years. From 1955 the stores operated under the name Tegut , after the previous name Thegu had been problematic due to the similarity of the name with another company.

In his private life he lived rather modestly. It was not until 1956 that he and his family moved into their own apartment. He is described as very down-to-earth who, without arrogance towards his employees, picked up scraps of paper lying around and disposed of them.

In 1961 he founded the HaWeGe stores, a US-style discount chain, and in 1970, the Kurhessische Fleischwarenfabrik, his own company for sausage and meat production. In 1972 he was awarded the Golden Sugar Loaf . In 1973 he handed over management to his 29-year-old son Wolfgang Gutberlet .

He then continued to work for the company as a consultant and chairman of the supervisory board until he resigned from these offices in 1988 at the age of 75.

In retirement, his hobbies were gardening, table tennis, traveling and saunas . Despite his handicap from the amputated leg, he worked as a leisure supervisor in the workshop for disabled people in Fulda. In addition, he was a member of many associations, including since 1928 the Catholic Business Association . On his 80th birthday, he gave up his driver's license , which he wanted to use as a role model for others.

He died at the age of 81 on February 18, 1994 and was buried on February 23, 1994 in the Fulda municipal cemetery. His wife died in 2011 and was buried next to him.

In Margretenhaun the Theo-Gutberlet-Weg is named after him. This leads at thirteen stations along a Way of the Cross to a crucifixion group. Theo Gutberlet made their restoration possible with a generous donation.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} Michael Mott : Fulda heads. Volume 2, Verlag Parzeller, 2011, ISBN 978-3-7900-0442-7 , pp. 313-316.