Joseph Wilhelm

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Joseph Wilhelm

Joseph Wilhelm (born January 16, 1954 ) is a German entrepreneur. He is the managing director of the organic food manufacturers Rapunzel Naturkost GmbH and Zwergenwiese Naturkost GmbH.

Live and act

Wilhelm began his agricultural activity on his parents' farm in Großaitingen in Swabia . In 1972 he completed his training in biodynamic agriculture . To this day, Wilhelm works as a part-time farmer.

In 1974, together with Jennifer Vermeulen, he opened one of the first organic shops in Germany with a gardening and wood-fired bakery . From this the food and wholesale company Rapunzel Naturkost developed . Today the company is one of the largest producers of organic food in Germany; it exports its products to around 35 countries.

As a teenager, Wilhelm traveled abroad. He continued this intensively as the founder of Rapunzel Naturkost, in search of organic raw materials and in order to convince farmers around the world of the advantages of organic farming . In the mid-1970s, he traveled to Turkey to find untreated and unsulphurized dried fruits and nuts for muesli .

The worldwide contacts to farmers led Wilhelm to advocate the link between fair trade and organic farming. The result was 1992's own Fair Trade - Siegel hand in hand . Numerous ecological and social projects around the world were supported with money from the fund he founded; In the meantime, more than one million euros have been awarded as funding (as of 2016). Wilhelm has been a manager at Rapunzel Naturkost since the beginning. He is the father of five children, some of whom are already active in the company.

Social Commitment

Wilhelm is committed against agro-genetic engineering , e.g. For example, with the GM-free walking campaign , in which he and several thousand fellow immigrants hiked across Germany in 2007, from Berlin to Brussels in 2009 and from New York to Washington in 2011.

In 2008 he initiated the One World Award . The prize, endowed with 40,000 euros, honors people and institutions who work for a fairer and more social orientation of globalization .

Political position

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany , he positioned himself in the company's own weekly newsletter as an opponent of the “ mask compulsory” and warned against “hunting squads that capture and force vaccinate reluctant vaccine opponents ”. In addition, he speculated in the weekly message of April 20, 2020 about "subliminal commercial reasons with which one can do excellent business in the face of agitated fear of death". He wrote: “The older people get, the less important is the cause of death. Our life is finite. ”In addition, viruses are“ part of biological life on our earth and contribute to the further development of the same and of human anatomy and psyche ”. Regarding the vaccination, Wilhelm said: "Only about my corpse." He had "not seen a single ' Tagesschau ' or special broadcast since the beginning of the C crisis ". “Armies of compliant mainstream journalists” would muzzle doubters, for which Wilhelm cited World Medical President Frank Ulrich Montgomery , whose criticism of the mask requirement was, however, extensively quoted in most of the media. For Wilhelm, "a healthy and at the same time sustainable lifestyle with healthy, wholesome nutrition" is more important than government measures. In contradiction to the view of science, Wilhelm claimed: “In a few weeks or months at the latest this ghost will be over.” He also expressed himself critical of abortions in this context : “That we especially in 'modern' societies with around 12 million Official [sic] preventing life from abortion is also presented as an achievement. ”After the statements had been made public via social media and newspaper articles and the Swiss pharmacy chain Coop Vitality had removed the Rapunzel products from their range, Wilhelm deleted his weekly messages and wrote on May 18, 2020 in a statement in which he distances himself from Attila Hildmann : "Unfortunately, my statements in the social media channels were taken out of context and were reduced and falsified." In a statement, Wilhelm described his "Only about my corpse ”statement on vaccinations as“ excessive ”. Felix Prinz zu Löwenstein , the chairman of the board of the Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft, said: "Organic is based on democratic principles and scientific knowledge and that is why we are against declaring any conspiracy theories to be science."

Awards

Wilhelm has received several awards. In 2004 he received the Bavarian State Medal for services to the environment, health and consumer protection , in 2005 the letter of honor and in 2015 the golden letter of honor from the interest group for healthy food (IG Für). In 2008 he was awarded the Ethics in Business Initiative's Prize for Business Ethics. In 2013 the ÖDP awarded him the Golden Swallow, in the same year he received the Ethica Impuls Award and the BAUM Environmental Award.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Zwergenwiese Naturkost GmbH Imprint. In: www.zwergenwiese.de. Retrieved May 18, 2020 .
  2. ^ A b Südwest Presse Online-Dienst GmbH: Rapunzel company founder Wilhelm is building on alternative ideas . In: swp.de . September 1, 2015 ( swp.de [accessed October 25, 2016]).
  3. ↑ Augsburger Allgemeine: Rapunzel Naturkost: From organic food store to large company . In: Augsburger Allgemeine . ( augsburger-allgemeine.de [accessed on October 25, 2016]).
  4. ↑ Rapunzel Naturkost - The Turkey Project. In: rapunzel.de. Retrieved October 25, 2016 .
  5. ↑ From the fullness of nature | quell-online.de. In: www.quellonline.de. Retrieved October 25, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Rapunzel Naturkost - Hand in Hand Projects. In: www.rapunzel.de. Retrieved October 25, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Rapunzel Naturkost - We make organic out of love. In: www.rapunzel.de. Retrieved October 25, 2016 .
  8. ↑ a b Tasnim Roedder: Now it's your turn . In: enormous . June 17, 2015 ( enorm-magazin.de [accessed October 25, 2016]).
  9. ↑ Gene-free walking - Right2Know March - March for genetic engineering-free future. In: www.genfrei-iegen.de. Retrieved October 25, 2016 .
  10. ↑ rta.design GmbH: "Gene-free walking": 1000 kilometers to Brussels . In: all-in.de - the Allgäu online . ( all-in.de [accessed on October 25, 2016]).
  11. ↑ One World Award by Rapunzel - Welcome to the One World Award website. (No longer available online.) In: www.one-world-award.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2016 ; Retrieved October 25, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.one-world-award.com
  12. ↑ Weekend message from Joseph Wilhelm on April 24, 2020 (original link: https://www.rapunzel.de/wochenbotschaft-joseph-wilhelm-03.html). In: www.rapunzel.de. Retrieved May 17, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Weekend message from Joseph Wilhelm on April 20, 2020 (original link: https://www.rapunzel.de/wochenbotschaft-joseph-wilhelm-02.html). In: www.rapunzel.de. Retrieved May 18, 2020 .
  14. ↑ Ragnar Vogt: Pandemic allegedly a "hype": Rapunzel boss spreads corona conspiracy myths. www.tagesspiegel.de, May 18, 2020
  15. ↑ a b Jost Maurin: Der Märchenerzähler taz.de, May 18, 2020
  16. ↑ Coop is removing products from Corona skeptics from its range. In: www.20min.ch. Retrieved May 18, 2020 .
  17. ↑ After controversial statements, conspiracy theories: chain of stores bans organic brand , T-online.de May 18, 2020
  18. ↑ Personal statement on the "weekend messages". In: www.rapunzel.de. Retrieved May 18, 2020 .
  19. ↑ organic: IG FÜR letter of honor in gold goes to Rapunzel founder | What moves us | News - Press | Interest group FOR healthy food. In: www.ig-fuer.de. Retrieved October 25, 2016 .
  20. ↑ Ethics in Business: The alliance of values ​​for medium-sized companies. In: zeag GmbH - center for employer attractiveness. Retrieved October 25, 2016 .
  21. ↑ Rapunzel Naturkost - Joseph Wilhelm awarded the golden swallow. In: www.rapunzel.de. Retrieved October 25, 2016 .
  22. ^ ÖDP Bundesverband: ÖDP awards "Golden Swallow". (No longer available online.) In: www.oedp.de. Archived from the original on October 25, 2016 ; Retrieved October 25, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.oedp.de
  23. ↑ “You notice that you are making a difference” | ETHICA RATIONALIS. In: www.ethica-rationalis.org. Retrieved October 25, 2016 .
  24. ↑ Rapunzel Naturkost - Joseph Wilhelm receives the renowned BAUM environmental award. In: www.rapunzel.de. Retrieved October 25, 2016 .
  25. ^ Joseph Wilhelm - Rapunzel Naturkost GmbH. In: www.baumev.de. Retrieved October 25, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Wilhelm, Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH January 16, 1954