Robert Gerling
Robert Wilhelm Gerling (born August 13, 1878 in Elberfeld , today a district of Wuppertal ; † January 25, 1935 in St. Moritz , Switzerland ) was a German insurance company and founder of the Gerling Group .
Origin and education
His father Robert Gerling (1847–1934) worked as a representative for the corozo button factory founded by his grandfather.
After secondary school , Robert Wilhelm Gerling did a commercial apprenticeship in Cologne . Subsequently, he began his professional activity on an advertising expedition .
Career
He then worked for insurance companies, where he rose to district inspector. In 1904 Gerling set up his own insurance bureau in Cologne, where he brokered all types of insurance. At the same time, in the same year, he had suggested the establishment of the Rheinischer Insurers' Association, for whose members the agency granted discounts when new insurance contracts were concluded. 1907 followed the founding of the society for insurance brokerage, with which Gerling wanted to win the big entrepreneurs as customers.
In 1907 Gerling married Auguste Hoffmeister , with whom he had three sons.
In 1909, Gerling founded his first own insurance company, Rheinische Feuerversicherungs-AG, which then cooperated with Kronprinz Versicherungs-AG, which was founded in 1912. In 1917 he created his own reinsurance with the Rheinische Versicherungsbank.
After the end of the First World War , the rise of his insurance companies began, which Gerling merged in 1918 into the Allgemeine Versicherungs-AG, which was renamed the Gerling Group Allgemeine Versicherungs-AG in 1923 .
With the Rheinische Versicherungs-Gruppe he founded, Gerling brought several local insurance companies into being in the various German regions between 1920 and 1922, where he could count on a large participation of the respective local industry.
As the sole insurer of global corporations like Krupp and Bayer , Gerling survived the inflation and crisis times of the 1920s relatively well. In 1924 his company expanded to Switzerland and the Netherlands . Gerling had an innovative effect when it opened its own life insurance , international travel insurance and household contents insurance .
The successful business concept of the insurance group was based on the strong involvement of major German industry, which it was able to win for itself through cheaper premiums.
Robert Wilhelm Gerling died on January 25, 1935 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. He last lived with his family (since 1926) in the Villa Marienburg .
After his death, Walter Forstreuter , who had been with Gerling since 1920, took over the management of the family business, as Robert Gerling's sons were still too young for this task. Later, Hans and Walter Gerling finally took over management of the group. Most recently, the insurer was managed by grandson Rolf Gerling until it was sold to Talanx in 2005 .
literature
- Peter Koch: Gerling, Robert Wilhelm. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 6, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1964, ISBN 3-428-00187-7 , p. 308 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Rev .: Robert Gerling (1878-1935) , in: Rheinisch-Westfälische Wirtschaftsbiographien, Volume 9, Münster 1967, pp. 133-150.
Web links
- Biography of Robert Wilhelm Gerling
- History of the Gerling Concert
- Newspaper article about Robert Gerling in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gerling, Robert |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gerling, Robert Wilhelm |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German insurance company |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 13, 1878 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Elberfeld |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 25, 1935 |
| Place of death | St. Moritz |