Otmar Hornbach

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Otmar Hornbach (born June 6, 1930 in Rothselberg ; † August 2, 2014 in Annweiler am Trifels ), a German entrepreneur , founded the first self-service DIY store and garden center in Europe in 1968 in Bornheim. When he died in 2014 at the age of 84, his family business, Hornbach Baumarkt AG , comprised 144 branches with 16,000 employees and a turnover of 3.4 billion euros.

Life

Wilhelm Hornbach building goods

Growing up in Bornheim , he joined the company in 1949 at the age of 18 that his great-grandfather Michael Hornbach had founded in Landau in the Palatinate in 1877 .

The Wilhelm Hornbach OHG was a small mixed company from building materials trade and sewage treatment plant construction. In 1966 Otmar Hornbach toured the United States with a group of building materials dealers . There he was inspired by the idea of ​​do-it-yourself and self-service and opened the first combined DIY and garden center in Germany and Europe in 1968 . The Do it yourself offer was gladly accepted. Hornbach Baumarkt AG emerged from the first shop as one of the largest operators of DIY megastores with garden centers in Europe. Hornbach later brought the company to the stock exchange . In 2001 he handed over the management to his two sons Albrecht and Steffen. His daughter took a seat on the company's supervisory board .

In 2001 he saved the Pirmasens production and trading company Wasgau AG from a hostile takeover by increasing its stake from 0.69 percent to 29.51 percent. He wished that the regional company should remain independent as such. In 2012, he transferred his stake in Wasgau Food GmbH to a foundation that he named after himself and his wife Adrienne, who had died a year earlier.

Adrienne and Otmar Hornbach Foundation

On August 10, 2012, Otmar Hornbach established the Adrienne and Otmar Hornbach Foundation , to which, among other assets, he had also contributed his majority stake in Wasgau Food GmbH and thus indirectly its majority stake in Wasgau AG. He wanted to ensure the long-term existence and independence as well as the successful economic development of Wasgau AG as a regional medium-sized company for the benefit of all employees. Conversely, the proceeds from the assets are intended to achieve the promotion of art and culture, public health, animal welfare and sport, as well as the support of public authorities in fulfilling church and social tasks. The purpose of the foundation also includes the preservation and further expansion of the painting collection of the Palatinate painter Adolf Kessler and their presentation in the Adolf Kessler House . The house is part of the foundation's basic assets. In particular, other art collections, music and choral societies are to be funded, as well as cultural and historical buildings, cultural monuments and Christian churches are to be preserved and renovated and regional medical facilities are to be supported.

In 2013, the Rewe Group took over 51 percent of the shares in Wasgau Food from family members of the Hornbach family and the foundation, while the foundation holds 49 percent. With this connection Otmar Hornbach wanted to secure the company in the long term.

Hornbach died in August 2014 at the age of 84.

Honorary positions and honors

Hornbach was for many years Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Palatinate and a member of the trade committee of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce

  • In 1999 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon.
  • In 2007 the trade association for building, home improvement and gardening honored Otmar Hornbach with its highest distinction, the DIY Lifetime Award.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Klaus Hofer: DIY store pioneer with the right instinct. OBITUARY: On the death of Otmar Hornbach, the long-standing CEO of the Palatinate DIY and garden center. In: Die Rheinpfalz , August 5, 2014. Page Economy kai_hp05_wirt02
  2. ↑ DIY store pioneer Otmar Hornbach is dead. In: spiegel.de , August 4, 2014, accessed on August 9, 2014
  3. ↑ a b Otmar Hornbach is dead. In: FAZ.net , August 4, 2014, accessed on August 5, 2014
  4. ↑ Press office of the Supervision and Service Directorate: "Adrienne and Otmar Hornbach Foundation" recognized by ADD ( Memento of the original dated November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Press release No. 100 of August 10, 2012, accessed November 16, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.add.rlp.de
  5. ↑ Hardware store founder Hornbach has died. In: t-online.de
personal data
SURNAME Hornbach, Otmar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH June 6, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Rothselberg
DATE OF DEATH 2nd August 2014
Place of death Annweiler am Trifels