Gardener's health insurance

Gardener's health insurance
social insurance	Statutory health insurance
Cash register type	Substitute Fund
founding	September 22, 1882
resolution	December 31, 1999
Seat	Hamburg
Supervisory authority	Federal Insurance Office

Membership development of the GKK

The Gärtner-Krankenkasse ( GKK ) was a German health insurance company of the statutory health insurance .

The first efforts to establish a health insurance company for gardeners were made from around 1850 by Rudolf Geidner from Planitz near Zwickau.

However, a decision to establish a corresponding relief fund was only taken in August 1882 at a meeting of the German Gardeners Association. The first meeting of the main board took place on September 22nd, 1882 in Hamburg-St. Georg instead. This date was later considered the foundation date of the fund. The approval as an auxiliary fund took place on January 3, 1883 under the registration number 33.

A law on health insurance for workers was passed by the Reichstag on June 15, 1883.

The GKK was open as a replacement fund until the merger with the Techniker Krankenkasse for the professional groups of floristry, horticulture and gardening and landscaping .

On January 1st, 2000 the Gärtner-Krankenkasse merged with the Techniker Krankenkasse. At that time, the health insurance company had around 250,000 insured persons and, in addition to the main administration in Hamburg, 35 branches throughout Germany. The executive board was most recently formed by Helmuth Doose (chairman) and Berthold Behnke (deputy chairman). Both of them switched to Techniker Krankenkasse on January 1, 2000 with the other GKK employees.

The last general contribution rate of the GKK was 13.3%.