Paul Rudolf Kraemer

Katharina and Paul R. Kraemer

Paul Rudolf Kraemer (born May 13, 1916 in Cologne ; † May 10, 2007 in Frechen ) was a German entrepreneur and founder of the non-profit Gold Kraemer Foundation to support mentally and physically disabled people as well as old, poor and sick people. Since 1941, together with his wife Katharina, he has built up the Kraemer Group with currently 40 jewelry stores in Germany and the Netherlands.

Life

Paul R. Kraemer was born in Cologne as the youngest son of four children of the master tailor Philipp Kraemer. After leaving school, he did an apprenticeship as a goldsmith . At 22 he became the youngest at that time goldsmith Germany the master craftsman . In 1941 he opened a "workshop for goldsmithing" in his hometown. Two years later, in 1943, he married Katharina Hogut, who continued to run the company, while her husband was doing military service and was captured in the process.

In 1953 Paul and Katharina Kraemer had a son, Rolf. The boy was mentally and physically disabled several times and died at the age of 13. The couple therefore decided to contribute part of their assets to a foundation to support and promote mentally handicapped children and young people, which was established in 1972.

At the end of the 1950s, the family moved into a property in Frechen-Buschbell . Paul R. and Katharina Kraemer were particularly committed to helping people with disabilities in their home town; Paul R. Kraemer was made an honorary citizen of the city of Frechen in 1981 .

Since 1981 Paul R. Kraemer has also acted as Honorary Consul , since 1984 as Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Malta in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse.

After the death of his wife on April 4, 2006, Kraemer withdrew from the public and died a year later on May 10, 2007. The entire estate was transferred to the Gold Kraemer Foundation , which supports the entrepreneurial and charitable commitment of Paul R . and Katharina Kraemer has continued in their spirit ever since.

Entrepreneurial activity

A Gold Kraemer branch in Bonn

Kraemer founded a "workshop for goldsmithing" in Cologne in 1941; In 1948 the company employed 14 goldsmiths and two watchmakers. In 1951 the first jewelry store was opened under the name "Gold Kraemer" on Cologne's Schildergasse, in 1952 the second branch followed in Bonn. Today 40 branches in Germany and the Netherlands belong to the Kraemer Group.

social commitment

→ Main article : Gold Kraemer Foundation

After the early death of their son, Paul R. and Katharina Kraemer founded the Gold Kraemer Foundation in 1972 . Today it is one of the largest private charitable foundations in Germany.

The aim of the foundation is to help the mentally handicapped as well as poor, old and sick people as well as to promote health care, education, art and culture. With many of its projects, the foundation wants to help integrate people with disabilities into society. The foundation with its subsidiaries now employs over 550 people in the corporate group and various charitable institutions.

Kraemer also built the German Multiple Sclerosis Society Local Association Cologne and Surroundings in 1981 . V. on. He was co-founder and honorary chairman of the foundation Lebenshilfe NRW e. V., a foundation for mentally handicapped people who have no or poor parents. This foundation has set itself the goal of supporting the needs and interests of people with disabilities, e.g. B. by financing a vacation to occur.

Many of the institutions initiated by the Kraemer couple bear their name, such as the Paul Kraemer School, a school for children and adolescents with special needs in the field of intellectual development, the special educational kindergarten “Käthe Kraemer” in Frechen-Buschbell or the four “Paul Kraemer houses "called dwellings for mentally handicapped adults.

The couple also financially supported numerous organizations. It received many awards for this. A life-size bronze sculpture by the artist Joshua Zielinski was dedicated to the Kraemers at the foundation's headquarters in Frechen-Buschbell . It shows the couple with one disabled and one non-disabled child.

Awards and honors

Paul R. Kraemer was awarded the Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany for his social engagement . For his more than 25 years of commitment to the Republic of Malta and the promotion of German-Maltese relations as Honorary Consul or Honorary Consul General for North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, he received special recognition in the form of the " Ghall-Quadi tar Republika " medal , the highest award of the Landes, as well as the Maltese Order of Merit (MOM).

He was the Hereditary Commander of the Rhineland of the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem , Grand Cross Bearer of the Lazarus Order, Honorary Chairman of the Lazarus Relief Organization , holder of the golden needle of the Lazarus Relief Organization, holder of the Medal of Merit of the Malteser Aid Service, holder of the Gold Medal of Life Aid as well Bearer of the Papal Order of St. New Year . In 1976 he received the ring of honor of the city of Frechen, and in 1981 he was also granted honorary citizenship.

Web links

• Internet presence of the Gold Kraemer Foundation
• Integrative meeting center church Alt St. Ulrich
• Kraemer Group

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kölnische Rundschau of May 13, 2006 on the 90th birthday of Paul R. Kraemer, accessed on April 26, 2017
2. ↑ Article Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger from January 11, 2008 on the renovation of the donor's property in Frechen-Buschbell, accessed on August 15, 2010  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  
3. ↑ Paul R. Kraemer as an honorary citizen of the city of Frechen, accessed on August 15, 2010 ( Memento of the original from July 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Closure of the Honorary Consular Mission of the Republic of Malta on May 13, 2006, accessed on August 15, 2010
5. ↑ The Kraemer couple at gold-kraemer-stiftung.de, accessed on August 15, 2010
6. ↑ corporate history at kraemer-gruppe.com, accessed 15 August 2010
7. ↑ Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger from January 2, 2009 about the social charity of the Kraemers, accessed on August 15, 2010  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ Development of the foundation Lebenshilfe NRW u. a. by Paul R. and Katharina Kraemer, accessed on August 15, 2010
9. ↑ Internet presence of the Paul Kraemer School, accessed on August 15, 2010
10. ↑ Internet presence of the curative education kindergarten "Käthe Kraemer", accessed on August 15, 2010 ( memento of the original from May 20, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
11. ↑ Paul Kraemer Haus Behindertenwohnstätte non-profit carrier company mbH ( Memento of the original dated November 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
12. ↑ The Holders of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Malta, accessed August 15, 2010
13. ↑ Portraits of Paul R. and Katharina Kraemer as partners of the Lazarus Relief Organization in Germany, accessed on August 15, 2010 ( Memento of the original from October 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.