Göde Holding

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Göde Holding GmbH & Co. KG

logo
legal form Limited partnership
( GmbH & Co. KG )
founding December 20, 2010
Seat Waldaschaff Germany
GermanyGermany 
management Michael Göde
( Managing Director )
Number of employees 375 (average)
sales 111.7 million euros
Branch Mail order / online trade
energy
services
research
Website www.goede.com
As of December 31, 2017

The Göde Holding is a German group of companies based in Waldaschaff . Its history goes back to the mail order company founded by Michael Göde in 1978. Today the Göde Group is also active in the fields of energy, services and research. It is one of the world's largest providers of commemorative coins and medals . There has been repeated criticism of this business.

history

Michael Göde (2nd from right) and Hans-Dietrich Genscher (left) at the opening of the Medal Museum

Established as a special mail order company

In 1978 the astrophilatelistic special mail order Michael Göde was founded in Würzburg. At the beginning of the 1980s, the company moved to Aschaffenburg and changed its name to Verlag Michael Göde with an entry in the commercial register . This initially specialized in the sale of telephone cards and coins and later gradually expanded its range. A wide variety of products were aimed primarily at collectors. In 1985 the Bayerisches Münzkontor was launched, which achieved greater awareness in the run-up to the introduction of the euro. The acquisition of new customers via direct mail generated criticism.

Growth and Internationalization

Regardless of this, the company recorded steady growth, so that at the beginning of the 2000s it was already one of the largest German mail order companies. In order to open up the offer to new target groups, Göde acquired licenses from Lucasfilm and Walt Disney as well as various Bundesliga clubs. A medal museum was set up at the company's headquarters in Waldaschaff, which houses changing collections. The non-profit Göde Foundation was set up to institutionalize social engagement. Over the years, subsidiaries have also emerged in the United States and several European countries, including Great Britain and Switzerland. Today these operate as Windsor Mint or Helvetisches Münzkontor.

Diversification of the group of companies

In the 2000s, Göde was increasingly concerned with technological innovations that go beyond the traditional business area. One example of this is the establishment of the TEC (Technical Institute for Innovations). After starting in the field of photovoltaics , the company Antaris Solar was launched in 2007. In addition to the production of solar modules, it began building and operating solar systems in several European countries, such as Italy and the Czech Republic. In 2011, Göde Holding was established as the new parent company of the group of companies in order to also reflect the diversity of the business fields in the public image.

structure

Headquarters in Waldaschaff

A holding in the legal form of a limited partnership according to German law acts as the parent company of the Göde Group . This was entered in the commercial register of the Aschaffenburg District Court in December 2010 . Its purpose extends to the management of its own assets and the management of a group of companies that are active in the manufacture and trading of innovative technical products in the field of renewable energy as well as stamps, coins, medals and collectibles of all kinds.

The management of the holding is carried out by a management company in the legal form of a limited liability company . Michael Göde is the sole managing director of the management company ( general partner ) and at the same time the sole limited partner of the parent company. He exercises unrestricted structural and operational control over the group of companies. In matters of strategic orientation, Göde is supported by an advisory board that currently consists of three people.

The Göde Group prepares its financial statements in accordance with the accounting regulations of the German Commercial Code . In addition to the annual financial statements of the administration and holding companies, consolidated financial statements for the entire group of companies are presented. In the 2017 financial year, the scope of consolidation comprised 26 domestic and foreign companies. These are each assigned to the “mail order company” or “solar group” as a subgroup.

Areas

Mail order / online trading

According to its own information, the Göde Group serves around 12 million customers worldwide. Its brands include Bayerisches Münzkontor, Helvetisches Münzkontor and Goldkontor as well as Le Comptoir Numismatique, Windsor Mint and American Mint. Under the name PakSafe, a parcel mailbox for house and apartment doors, for which a patent is pending , is offered.

energy

With this branch of the company, the Göde Group serves the international energy market in the field of photovoltaics. Your core brand is Antaris Solar.

Services

Central service activities of the Göde Group ( information technology , marketing , logistics, etc.) are combined in the subsidiary Taurus.

research

With the Institute for Technical Innovations, the Institute for Gravitational Research and the Göde Foundation, the group is active in both basic and applied research. The most important areas of work include LED technology for light sources and 3D printing .

Trivia

In 1993, the Göde Group had the world's first advertising shoots shot in space on the Soviet Mir space station .

criticism

The Chamber of Labor and Consumer Protection in Austria accused the Austrian branch of companies in 1996 with unfair competition . The use of aggressive and misleading advertising was also criticized. Around the turn of the millennium, experts also accused the mail order company of selling medals at inflated prices. Coins, for example, would give an official impression through optical features, but without having an official market value . As a result, there was an advertising ban and a sales edition for a commemorative coin that was offered far above value .

In 2007, consumer protection in Austria warned against surveys sent by the Austrian Münzkontor.

Also in Switzerland , where the company operates under the name Helvetisches Münzkontor, consumers received questionnaires and an order form is hidden in the small print. The Swiss magazine K-Tipp lists the company in a 2007 hit list of the blackest sheep.

The subsidiary in the USA is called American Mint LLC. There are also complaints about business practices there. In January, the Consumer Affairs database contained 138 complaints. Invoices for goods that have not been ordered and the unsolicited regular sending of coins are also the problem here. The Better Business Büro platform even had 318 complaints. Here, there are occasional reports of unsolicited sending of goods that have never been ordered.

Web links

Commons : Göde Holding  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e business register. Bundesanzeiger Verlag, accessed on July 10, 2019 .
  2. a b c d e f g history. Göde Group, accessed on July 10, 2019 .
  3. M. Rosenfelder: Converted into work / Münzkontor invested . In: Südkurier . April 4, 2006.
  4. ^ A b Peter Jobst, Margaretha Hamm: Only the silver value . In: WirtschaftsWoche . October 7, 1994, p. 163 .
  5. Joint register portal of the federal states. Retrieved July 10, 2019 .
  6. JP Kruse, Uli Martin: Hot wire in the wallet . In: Focus magazine . 23 August 1993, p. 112 .
  7. ↑ Rely on real values . In: Focus magazine . August 30, 1993, p. 146 .
  8. Ten marks for one mark . In: WirtschaftsWoche . November 6, 1997, p. 252 .
  9. Frank Wiebe: Under the eagle . In: Handelsblatt . December 16, 1997, p. 45 .
  10. Peter Michael Wolf: Company relies on growth through increasing Europeanization - multi-channel strategy is the trend . In: The world . November 21, 2001, p. 38 .
  11. a b The business of collecting . In: Courier . September 4, 2006, p. 20 .
  12. Norbert Bartnik: The end of the D-Mark: From the symbol of the economic miracle to the annoying "sleeping coin" . In: Darmstädter Echo . June 9, 2011.
  13. Holger Welsch: Two tinkering experts and the braces wire . In: Main-Post . December 16, 2017, p. 27 .
  14. Heinz Wraneschitz: Modules “made in Bavaria” . In: Nürnberger Nachrichten . August 14, 2010, p. 23 .
  15. Sigmundt von Heydekampf: A manager for every market . In: Financial Times Germany . March 30, 2012, p. 3 .
  16. Simone Brunner: Solar levy ends up in arbitration . In: WirtschaftsBlatt . May 14, 2013, p. 11 .
  17. Mail order / online trade. Göde Group, accessed on July 10, 2019 .
  18. energy. Göde Group, accessed on July 10, 2019 .
  19. Services. Göde Group, accessed on July 10, 2019 .
  20. ^ Research. Göde Group, accessed on July 10, 2019 .
  21. Michael J. Mayr: Göde-Versand turns over 120 million with collector's items. (No longer available online.) September 25, 1996, archived from the original on October 5, 2013 ; Retrieved August 29, 2012 .
  22. ^ Christian Kaiser, Giuseppe Botti: Lazy trick with fantasy medals. April 27, 2001. Retrieved November 19, 2011 .
  23. ^ LG Aschaffenburg , decision of January 8, 1998, Az. 1 HKO 198/97, brief information .
  24. AKNÖ criticizes the advertising methods of the Österreichisches Münzkontor company. (No longer available online.) May 24, 2007, archived from the original on September 30, 2011 ; Retrieved November 19, 2011 .
  25. Münzkontor: Reluctant collectors. Retrieved February 4, 2019 .
  26. Konsumenteninfo AG Zurich: The Blackest Sheep 2007. Accessed on February 4, 2019 .
  27. ^ ConsumerAffairs.com Search Page. Retrieved January 23, 2019 .
  28. American Mint, LLC | Complaints | Better Business Bureau® Profile. Retrieved January 23, 2019 .