Paul Gauselmann

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Paul Gauselmann (born August 26, 1934 in Borghorst , Westphalia ) is a German entrepreneur . He is the spokesman for the board of the Gauselmann Group and was chairman of the Verband der Deutschen Automatenindustrie e. V. (VDAI).

In 1957, Gauselmann laid the foundation stone for the Gauselmann Group named after him. The company, based in the East Westphalian town of Espelkamp in the Minden-Lübbecke district , deals, among other things, with slot machines , sports betting and money processing systems.

life and work

Gauselmann grew up in Münster. After graduating from elementary school in 1950, he learned the profession of telecommunications auditor for telephone construction and normal time . On March 12, 1956, he switched to the general importer for American Wurlitzer jukeboxes in Coesfeld . In 1957, he began part-time as a self-employed jukebox set up. In 1965 he made himself completely self-employed with 15 employees from the position of development manager at the Espelkamp company Harting , which is also active in machine manufacturing . He had previously received his first patents for his inventions, for example in 1956 for the first remote dial box for German jukeboxes . From 1977 Paul Gauselmann produced money-win-game devices.

Gauselmann opened the first Merkur game library in Delmenhorst in 1974 . With this, Gauselmann succeeded for the first time in designing its own environment for slot machine games, which is now represented in Germany with a good 200 Merkur game libraries. In addition, there were around 200 branches under the name “Merkur Casino” in eight European countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Spain, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Slovakia).

With the "Merkur B", Gauselmann's first own gaming machine came onto the market in 1977. A short time later - in 1984 with the “Merkur Disc” model, which sold over 40,000 times. With this economic success, Gauselmann is considered the largest provider from East Westphalia.

The Gauselmann Group has been operating under the umbrella of the Gauselmann Family Foundation since January 1, 2016. As the sole shareholder of the Gauselmann Group, the Gauselmann Family Foundation makes fundamental strategic decisions. The Gauselmann Family Foundation's advisory board and board of directors consist mainly of family members.

Party donations

In 2011, a report in the Süddeutsche Zeitung revealed that Paul Gauselmann and those around him had donated to the party. He and his employees had given members of the Bundestag from all parties donations below the amount declared by the German Bundestag .

"The sums that come together in this way are usually well over 50,000 euros a year, but do not appear in any statement of accounts by the parties, although donations over ten thousand euros must be published due to the necessary transparency."

- Süddeutsche Zeitung: Clever, very clever! Too clever? dated February 19, 2011

Since 1990, over one million euros in party donations are said to have flowed. Paul Gauselmann commented on this in a press release as follows:

“In the reports in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the impression is given that the company and its senior staff have tried with millions to influence politics through party donations. The reality is different. In 2010, the entrepreneurial family and the managerial staff donated a total of around 80,000 euros - in 26 individual amounts, distributed among the CDU / CSU, the SPD, the FDP and the Greens. The claimed amount in the millions only results if you add up all donations from the last two decades. If you look at the amount of the donations in detail, it becomes clear that the donations were not suitable for exerting political influence. The donations were positive gestures that were intended to demonstrate socio-political commitment. Not more. The party donations over the past twenty years total what the Gauselmann Group spends year after year for its cultural and social commitment. "

- Press release by the Gauselmann Group, February 2011

After a search of Gauselmann's house in April 2011, the Bielefeld public prosecutor dropped the proceedings on suspicion of hidden party donations.

The Schleswig-Holstein state parliament member Patrick Breyer (Pirate Party) raised the charge in the state parliament in January 2013, “that the machine industry - especially around Mr. Gauselmann - has been smearing politicians from all established parties with large donations, sponsoring FDP party congresses and even supporting FDP subsidiaries allegedly involved. ”With reference to Gauselmann's personal rights, he was asked to delete this quotation from his website. Breyer did not follow up until September 2013.

engagement

From 1981 to 2019, Gauselmann was chairman of the Verband der Deutschen Automatenindustrie e. V. (VDAI).

On his 65th birthday, Paul Gauselmann brought the Gauselmann Foundation into being with a share capital of DM one million; today it has endowment capital of ten million euros through an endowment. In 2015, on the occasion of the 80th birthday of Paul Gauselmann's wife Karin Gauselmann, it was renamed the Paul and Karin Gauselmann Foundation and the foundation's capital was increased from five to ten million euros.

Since the end of 2008, Paul Gauselmann has also been supporting underage children who have got into difficulties due to their parents' gambling addiction with the “Foundation for Children's Aid” and endowment capital of 1 million euros.

On his 85th birthday, Gauselmann donated 85,000 deciduous trees to set an example in the fight against climate change, Gauselmann AG announced on August 24, 2019.

Honors

In 1993, Paul Gauselmann was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for his commitment and services to the German vending machine industry . On May 15, 2003 he was awarded the Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by the then Federal President Johannes Rau at the suggestion of the then North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Wolfgang Clement in the course of upgrading . In addition, the cities of Espelkamp and Lübbecke each awarded Paul Gauselmann honorary citizenship on the occasion of his 70th birthday . On his 80th birthday, a street was named after him in both cities.

family

Paul Gauselmann is married to Karin Gauselmann for the second time. She heads the Board of Trustees of the Gauselmann Foundation and was a member of the Gauselmann AG Supervisory Board until July 31, 2008. Paul Gauselmann has four sons, one of whom is active on the management board and one on the supervisory board of the Gauselmann Group. In addition, the Advisory Board of the Gauselmann Family Foundation consists of Paul and Karin Gauselmann as well as three of the sons and two granddaughters.

Tax avoidance

In the course of the Paradise Papers , the suspicion arose that Gauselmann was avoiding taxes through legal gray areas.

literature

Barbara Dickmann : The game maker: Paul Gauselmann, the biography; told by Barbara Dickmann , Econ, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-430-20246-6

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Press portal: 75 years of Paul Gauselmann: Germany’s machine veteran celebrates its birthday on August 26th, published on August 24, 2008, accessed on August 12, 2013.
  2. ↑ Gauselmann Group, Central Communication Department (ed.): Brief portrait 2015 . Espelkamp 2015 ( gauselmann.de [PDF]).
  3. ↑ Clever, very clever! Too clever? on sueddeutsche.de, accessed on August 12, 2013.
  4. ↑ Gambling group: Union is checking dubious donations from arcade operators. In: Der Spiegel. February 18, 2011, accessed August 12, 2013.
  5. ↑ gauselmann.de
  6. ↑ Gaming hall operator Gauselmann relieved of suspicion of fraud. In: Die Zeit website, April 13, 2011, accessed August 12, 2013.
  7. ^ Pirate politicians versus gambling entrepreneurs , Heise online . Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  8. ↑ Withdrawal after 38 years , Westfalen-Blatt, September 26, 2019, accessed on June 5, 2020.
  9. ↑ Homepage of the Gauselmann Group on the Gauselmann Foundation. Retrieved November 18, 2019
  10. ↑ Karsten Schulz: A woman in many roles. In: Espelkamp. Retrieved May 25, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Targeted help for children! from kinderfamilienhilfe.de, accessed on August 12, 2013.
  12. ↑ Gauselmann AG: Paul Gauselmann donates 85,000 trees to combat climate change. August 24, 2019, accessed July 19, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Kreiszeitung: Entrepreneur Paul Gauselmann celebrates with 300 guests at Benkhausen Castle / Two streets are renamed. Edition of August 30, 2014, accessed October 21, 2014
  14. ↑ Annual Report of the Gauselmann Group 2014. (PDF) Gauselmann AG, accessed on June 2, 2016 .
  15. ↑ Andrea Frühauf: Paul Gauselmann remains at the top. Newspaper publisher Neue Westfälische GmbH & Co. KG, December 20, 2015, accessed on June 2, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Really ripped off. Süddeutsche Zeitung GmbH, November 5, 2017, accessed on November 8, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Gauselmann, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH August 26, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Borghorst near Münster (Westphalia)