Kettner (company)

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Kettner International GmbH

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1884
Seat Cologne
management Arnaud van Robais
Branch Hunting equipment and sport shooting trade
Website www.kettner.de

The Kettner International GmbH (also Eduard Kettner ) was the oldest known weapons trading company (founded in 1884), the hunting and sports weapons , including accessories and functional clothing sales. The company's headquarters were in Cologne . Kettner had subsidiaries and sales partners in all important markets in Western and Eastern Europe. In addition to the catalog business, Kettner had three main branches (Berlin, Cologne, Oldenburg). In addition, there were former branches that were later run by franchise partners (e.g. Göttingen). About the rights to the Kettner brand name in Germanymeanwhile has the Grube KG in Bispingen .

history

Kettner grave at the Melaten cemetery in Cologne

On January 23, 1884, the Eduard Kettner company was entered in the Cologne Commercial Register and the first Kettner hunting specialist shop was opened in the heart of the cathedral city. At the beginning of the 20th century, Kettner was one of the first mail order companies in Germany. Kettner acquired factories in Suhl (Thuringia) and Porz (Cologne), in which thousands of hunting weapons were produced and then exported.

In 1925 the Bühring Kettner family bought and enlarged the headquarters in Cologne. The company was first managed by Friedrich Bühring's father-in-law, the well-known "Patronen-Dornheim". He was the owner of GC Dornheim AG from Lippstadt , an arms and ammunition wholesaler with seven branches in Germany and abroad.

Nonetheless, the Franz Kettner store remained at Hohestrasse 109 in Cologne and is still successfully run today by Eduard Kettner (1908-2006) and his descendants.

In 1943, because of the war, Kettner was about to end. Shortly after the end of the war, Helmut Bühring began to rebuild the company and initially set up a repair shop in the rubble. Everything that could be sold was traded, for example clothes hangers made from iron air rifle cleaning sticks . The first offer sheets turned into extensive price lists and an illustrated product catalog soon followed .

In 1969, the company headquarters, including administration and warehouse, moved from downtown Cologne to Cologne-Ossendorf .

First bankruptcy

In 2001, after years of economic decline, the Bühring family sold the company for a symbolic price to the investment firm Deutsche Investors Capital (DIC) of management consultant Droege. Droege was also unable to save the company. Despite substantial investments, Kettner had to file for bankruptcy in 2003 due to a further decline in business .

For the takeover of the company, Droege initially acquired Kettner's bank debts in the tens of millions at half their nominal value. Droege had then acquired the limited partner's share from Bühring , which had previously been formed by converting his capital account as a general partner into a limited partner's share. Insolvency administrator Hans-Gerd Jauch complained that the limited partnership capital registered in the millions had not actually been paid into the company, but only had the value of one euro that Droege actually paid for it the day after. In a settlement, Droege gave up all claims and security interests in the company's assets acquired by the banks and paid a seven-digit amount to the insolvency administrator.

Jauch continued business operations and sold it with the majority of its subsidiaries (e.g. Eduard Kettner AG in Switzerland in July 2004) to a company controlled by Michael Lüke and Thomas Ortmeier - the owners of L & O Holding Kettner Germany GmbH. The investors, like Droege before them, did not manage to break even.

Kettner Austria was repelled. Other companies and branches were sold to other investors.

In 2006, Kettner International GmbH, backed by the French financier AVR from Arnaud van Robais, took over the operation of the Kettner company from Kettner Deutschland GmbH, including the headquarters in Cologne-Ossendorf and the branches in Berlin and Oldenburg, and later also the shops in Münster and in Hemer. As a second pillar, sales through sales partners at home and abroad were built up.

Second bankruptcy

Van Robais lost his fortune with the investment. In 2008, insolvency proceedings were initiated against Kettner International and Hans-Gerd Jauch was reappointed administrator. Jauch again decided to continue business operations. He printed out the catalog that had already been created and agreed with the suppliers to deliver it on commission , since the debtor did not have the means to finance her purchase of goods.

Kettner today

In 2009, Schmid Industrie Holding von Jauch acquired the remaining part of the Kettner Group from bankruptcy. The investor also acquired Kettner Austria and brought the two companies back together.

In 2010 Kettner closed the mail order business in Germany and has been supplying mail order customers from Austria ever since .

On May 16, 2012, the company announced that due to a lack of sales, all branches in Germany will be closed from mid-June. The sale in the branches finally ended on June 30, 2012.

The Cologne shop at Mathias-Brüggen-Straße 80, along with the 100-meter shooting range and the central gunsmith's workshop, was taken over by the Micromec Group on October 1, 2012 and operates there under the name of Kölner Jagdhütte.

In September 2012, Grube KG from Bispingen started an additional mail order business via catalog and online shop under the brand name "Kettner - Kompetenz in Jagd" . The range of products offered largely corresponds to that of the former Kettner company. However, hunting and sporting weapons are not offered.

Eduard Kettner GmbH, which still exists in Austria and is based in Pöttelsdorf , currently has 11 branches and an online shop.

literature

  • W. Biertümpel, H.-J. Köhler: Eduard Kettner Hunting Gun Expert. Okahandja Verlag, Mülheim / R. 1984.
  • Eduard Kettner: The group's new course. In: Waffenmarkt-Intern. 2002.
  • Karlfranz Perey: The new Kettner and the arms trade in Europe. In: Waffenmarkt-Intern. 9/2004, p. 4.
  • Eugen Weber: Eduard Kettner's guide to gun knowledge. Munich 1973.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Brigitte Hertmanni (TextilWirtschaft): Kettner Group with new management. September 8, 2001, accessed January 18, 2011 .
  2. ↑ Internet excerpt for Eduard Kettner AG in the commercial register of the Canton of Lucerne , accessed on April 1, 2013
  3. ^ Andreas Wildhagen ( Wirtschaftswoche ): Hunting outfitter Kettner sold. June 9, 2003, accessed January 13, 2011 .
  4. ↑ Brigitte Hertmanni ( TextilWirtschaft ): Lüke and Ortmeier lead the new Kettner group. August 7, 2003, accessed April 1, 2013 .
  5. ↑ Editor Hubertus: New momentum in the old shop. September 22, 2006, accessed January 18, 2011 .
  6. ↑ Falkenklau: Kettner is restructured. (No longer available online.) March 9, 2006, archived from the original on January 5, 2016 ; Retrieved January 18, 2011 .
  7. ↑ Visor: Parlez-vous francais? Kettner changes hands ... July 20, 2006, accessed January 18, 2011 .
  8. ^ Leo Himmelbauer ( Wirtschaftsblatt ): Waidmanns Heil, Friedrich Schmid! Industrialist buys hunting outfitter Eduard Kettner. September 23, 2008, archived from the original on January 6, 2016 ; Retrieved January 13, 2011 .
  9. ↑ http://www.jagderleben.de/kettner-schliesst
  10. ↑ https://www.koelner-jagdhuette.de/