Klaus Birkel

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Klaus Theodor Birkel (born July 19, 1943 near Stuttgart ; † May 14, 2018 ) was a German-American entrepreneur . His family name is associated with the pasta maker Birkel .

Life

Birkel was the great-grandson of the company's founder Balthasar Stephan Birkel and son of Karl Christian Birkel . After completing his training, Birkel joined the family business in 1971. Seven years later he took over the sales and distribution divisions. In the 1980s he shared the management of the group with his cousins ​​Frieder Birkel and Wolfram Birkel.

In the summer of 1985, Birkel's company was involved in one of the most famous food scandals in Germany. The state of Baden-Württemberg warned consumers against eating birch noodles as they were microbially spoiled. The company rejected the allegations and won DM 12.8 million in damages in March 1991. However, the ailing group of companies had to be sold to the French food company Danone .

Klaus Birkel emigrated to the US and bought the 4500 ha large Ranch Camp Cooley in Texas . As a layman, he began raising cattle . He kept up to 9000 Brangus cattle, a cross between Brahman and Angus cattle. At times the ranch was the second largest cattle farm in the United States. In addition, he bred six deer and five antelope species on 400 hectares of his ranch . With his second US company, Birkel Residential Group , he built student residences and apartment blocks in Dallas and San Antonio . This made him one of the largest property developers in Texas. German investors invested in its construction projects through companies such as the Naples Investment Group . In the real estate crisis he first had to sell the houses and in 2011 his ranch.

In 2011, Birkel moved to the Mexican beach town of Los Cabos and ran the La Patrona restaurant there until 2017 . He died in May 2018 after a short, serious illness.

Birkel had two sons from his first marriage. He was in his second marriage to Bonnie, geb. Holtzapple, a former rodeo rider, married.

literature

  • Loaded back: The Birkel noodle factory, which allegedly processed bad eggs, wants to restore its good reputation in court . In: Der Spiegel . No. 49 , 1988, pp. 118-119 ( online ).

credentials

  1. ↑ Death of Klaus Theodor Birkel , zww-trauer.de, June 30, 2018
  2. ^ A b Munzinger archive: Klaus Birkel. In: munzinger.de. November 26, 2005, accessed June 2, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e Roland Lindner, Bernd Freytag: Noodle entrepreneur Klaus Birkel dies. In: FAZ.net . Retrieved June 2, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Birkel Affair: There were disgusting eggs in there! , stern.de, March 21, 2018
  5. ↑ Landtag of Baden-Württemberg, printed matter 14/2530, 14th electoral period, March 20th, 2008 , landtag-bw.de
  6. ^ A b Ann-Kathrin Eckardt: Klaus Birkel: From the noodle to the steak. In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de. June 17, 2010, accessed June 2, 2018 .
  7. ↑ The New Life of the Noodle King. In: topagrar.com. July 2010, accessed June 2, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Home: Klaus T. Birkel. In: ancientfaces.com. July 14, 2017, accessed June 2, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Birkel, Klaus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Birkel, Klaus Theodor (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH July 19, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH near Stuttgart
DATE OF DEATH May 14, 2018