Rudolf Ducke
Rudolf (Rudi) Ducke (born December 20, 1918 in Böhmisch Leipa , Czechoslovakia ; † November 22, 2012 in Trappenkamp ) was a German entrepreneur who established himself as a beverage wholesaler in Schleswig-Holstein after the Second World War and was also socially committed.
Life
Ducke was born on December 20, 1918 as the eldest son of the farmer Hermann Ducke and his wife Maria in the later German Reichsgau Sudetenland in Bohemian Leipa, district of Schwora. There he trained as a wholesaler in the Georg Retl stationery shop; then he was drafted into military service. At the end of the Second World War he was taken prisoner by the Americans, from which he was released in Frankfurt am Main in 1947. He followed the call of a war comrade to Neumünster and brought his family there, as well as his displaced parents.
Ducke died in 2012 at the age of 93, leaving behind his wife Karin, two daughters, one son and four grandchildren.
Economic boom
In 1951, after a short job as a construction worker and as a waiter in the hotel "Wappenklause", he founded his company in Neumünster: the "Rudolf Ducke beverage industry". The trade initially consisted of the production of spirits and the wholesale of spirits, wine and sparkling wine. In 1953, the beer wholesale trade was added. The company now also bottled the popular Rudi-Brause and Sinalco . In Trappenkamp near Bad Segeberg, he met many Sudeten German compatriots again and bought land and buildings on the site of the former Trappenkamp naval barrage arsenal. Edmund Schultz, whose Trappenkamper company produced wax pearls, offered factory buildings for sale here in 1959. Ducke bought the property and moved his business to Trappenkamp.
Economic peak
From 1966 branches and beverage takeaway markets were established in the entire area of Central and Eastern Holstein, and later beyond Kiel to Flensburg. After the reunification, branches in Ribnitz-Damgarten and Grevesmühlen were added in the east. The range of services was expanded to include property brokerage, operator brokerage, financing and profitability analyzes. EDP was the first to be introduced in Ducke's company in Trappenkamp. The fleet consisted of 18 trucks. The number of employees rose to 140. For 54 years, he managed his large company, which was transferred to the Göttsche Group (beverage wholesaler in and around Hamburg) on September 1, 2005. The Göttsche Group closed its branch in Trappenkamp on March 31, 2014 for economic reasons. This ended after 55 years the wholesale of beverages on Forstmeisterstraße. The German beverage wholesale cooperation GEVA with 127 beverage wholesalers elected him as chairman of the advisory board for 15 years. His job meant that he had been a member of the plenary assembly of the Lübeck Chamber of Commerce and Industry since 1970 and was also a member of the wholesale committee. He was also a member of the supervisory board of Segeberger Volksbank eG since 1964.
Social and voluntary commitment
In 1963 he founded the influential “Working Group on Economically Interested Circles” (Arge) as a non-political, extra-parliamentary opposition in the Trappenkamp community and headed it for 25 years. Because of his suggestion, the Trappenkamp forest cemetery was established in 1967.
He always supported his compatriots from his Bohemian homeland. He was a member of the Sudeten German Landsmannschaft in Neumünster. From 1962 he was deputy chairman of the Sudetendeutschen Kulturwerk Schleswig-Holstein for six years and, in its building committee, ensured that the building "Haus der Heimat", the then cultural center of Trappenkamp, was rebuilt. He had already developed a passion for football in his Sudeten German home with DSV Böhmisch Leipa. For TSV Quellenhaupt Bornhöved, he worked for four years from 1960 as a coach of the men's team. At the state level, he organized the “Holstentreue” football tournament for senior men's teams. From 1969 to 1973 he led the tennis division of TV Trappenkamp as division manager and was a co-founder of the Trappenkamp bowling club. He often appeared as a sponsor. The AWO Trappenkamp, the regional gymnastics school in Trappenkamp, the local kindergartens and many other social, cultural and sporting institutions were grateful to him for his financial support.
Honors
In 1984, Minister of Economic Affairs Jürgen Westphal presented Rudolf Ducke with the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon in Kiel . In 1988 he was appointed honorary chairman for his services to the German association of beverage wholesalers GEVA. The new GEVA administration building in Frechen was named "Rudolf-Ducke-Haus". The Rudi-Ducke-Platz on the sports field in Bornhöved still reminds of his involvement in football. Also in 1988 the municipality of Trappenkamp named him “Honored Citizen of the Municipality”, he became honorary chairman of the “Working Group of Economic Circles” (Arge) and the Schleswig-Holstein Restaurant Association presented him with the badge of honor for his work. 20 years later he was presented with the culture prize of the Sudeten German cultural organization SH in the Trappenkamp community center. In 2014, the Forstmeisterstraße in Trappenkamp was renamed Rudolf-Ducke-Straße by a municipal resolution on May 16. This street led to Rudi Duckes business premises. It was originally called F-Schneise in the Trappenkamp naval arsenal and was later renamed Forstmeisterstraße after the liqueur "Forstmeister" sold by Rudi Ducke.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Duck, Rudolf |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Duck, Rudi |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 20, 1918 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bohemian Leipa , Czechoslovakia |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 22, 2012 |
| Place of death | Trappenkamp |