Association of the German Wallpaper Industry

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Association of the German Wallpaper Industry
(VDT)
logo
legal form Volunteer Association
purpose Representative of the interests of the German wallpaper manufacturers
Seat Frankfurt am Main
founding 1889

Board Ullrich Eitel (Marburg) Chairman, Joachim Stock (Rasch Textil) Treasurer, Wolfgang Schminner (Pickhardt + Siebert)
executive Director Karsten Brandt
Members 8th
Employee 5 (as of September 2015)
Website http://www.tapeten.de/

The Association of the German Wallpaper Industry (VDT e.V.) represents the interests of German wallpaper manufacturers as an industry association and is the point of contact for tax, legal and technical matters. Through norms and standardization, it stipulates uniform markings and quality criteria for wallpapers in Germany and Europe. The German Wallpaper Institute (DTI) is affiliated with the association. The association works closely with the Gütegemeinschaft Wallpaper e. V. (GGT), which awards the RAL quality mark 479 for ecological harmlessness. Furthermore, the association regularly supports all events and exhibitions of the wallpaper museum in Kassel .

organization

Exhibition stand at imm cologne 2014

Today the seat of the VDT is Frankfurt am Main, the office is in Düsseldorf. The chairman of the board is Ullrich Eitel, managing partner of the Marburger wallpaper factory. Karsten Brandt acts as managing director. The association currently has eight members:

In addition to these wallpaper manufacturers, other companies are affiliated with the association:

history

1889 to 1914

The association is characterized by an eventful history due to economic developments as well as members joining, leaving and re-joining. Since the 1830s, and especially in the 1870s and 1880s, the wallpaper industry has become increasingly important due to technical innovations (continuous paper machine, printing processes) and the growing prosperity of an aspiring middle class.

The boom was followed by an oversupply with “deterioration in quality, falling prices and being tied to cartels”. For this reason, on April 24, 1889 in Frankfurt a. M. 16 manufacturer established the “Association of German Wallpaper Manufacturers” (later “Association”). With 52 joining companies within a short period of time, almost all of the emerging industry was represented during the founding period. The first chairman was Wilhelm Boller. In 1905, wallpaper exports increased fivefold from 1885 to 11,667 tons within 20 years. In 1907 the German wallpaper industry had achieved a leading position on the world market.

First and Second World War

Before the First World War, the factories produced overcapacity, which resulted in competition and price wars. In 1914 the wallpaper was classified as "not of importance to the war effort". At the end of the war, almost all companies were affiliated with the association. In 1933, the association was exposed to a dichotomy. The VDT still had 17 members after 1933, while the competing "Wallpaper Factory Association Berlin" had 27. In the Berlin Hotel Adlon, the two associations merged in 1936 as the "Association of German Wallpaper Manufacturers" (GDT), including all German wallpaper manufacturers. In 1943, the wallpaper was again classified as "not essential to the war effort", the manufacturing companies were integrated into the armaments industry and the raw materials were confiscated. The Berlin GDT office was destroyed in a bomb attack in the same year.

post war period

After the Second World War, the "Association of the German Wallpaper Industry" (VDT) was formed again. In the wake of the German economic miracle of the 1950s, wallpaper experienced a boom that lasted until the provisional record year 1964. Then the wallpaper sales decreased. The modernization of the manufacturing companies led to a new upswing in the wallpaper industry at the beginning of the 1970s, although this was dampened again by cost increases and the 1973 oil crisis .

In 1987 the association initiated a successful advertising campaign with the slogan “Glue you one”, which was placed in print media until 1989 with a total budget of 10 million D-Marks pa.

As an outsourced VDT organization, the German Wallpaper Institute (DTI) has been informing the public about modern wallpapers since 1970. In addition to press information, brochures, videos, workshops and information for consumers and experts are also offered. As a further measure, the association carries out joint public relations work in order to present the wallpaper product positively, regardless of manufacturers.

1990 until today

In the course of the ecological movement, the product wallpaper came into the focus of the media due to the formaldehyde and PVC contents. In order to counteract the ongoing criticism, German wallpaper manufacturers founded the “Gütegemeinschaft Wallpapers e. V. “(GGT) with the aim of revising the manufacturing process and product properties. In this context, GGT has the products authenticated neutrally by the Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research and also works closely with the suppliers. As a credible seal of quality, GGT introduced the RAL quality mark for ecological harmlessness, which is now recognized worldwide as a quality symbol for wallpapers. The high demand for apartment renovations in the new federal states led to a renewed upswing in the wallpaper industry after 1990. In 1999 all German wallpaper manufacturers were represented as members of the VDT.

The German Tapeten-Institut GmbH has been running the “Change of scenery” showroom at Hamburg's Ballindamm since November 2008, with a constantly changing design and modern staging. The Association of the German Wallpaper Industry currently has eight member companies employing around 2000 people (as of July 2014).

Antitrust proceedings 2014

In February 2014 the Federal Cartel Office imposed fines on four manufacturers, their managers and the association for fixing prices. These would have to pay a total of around 17 million euros due to agreed price increases. The allegation was that those responsible for the four companies u. a. had agreed at board meetings of the VDT to raise prices by five to six percent on March 1, 2006. The then deceased managing director of the VDT later passed on information about the upcoming price increase to all member companies of the association. The proceedings were initiated with an industry-wide search in November 2010 as a result of a leniency application. Two companies have concluded a settlement with the cartel office in so-called settlement declarations, two companies and the association itself deny the allegations and want to have the fine notices checked by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. As an indirect consequence of the proceedings, AS Création and Erfurt & Sohn have left the association.

literature

  • Heinz Schmidt-Bachem : From paper: a cultural and economic history of the paper processing industry in Germany. Berlin 2011.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Homepage of the German Wallpaper Institute. Accessed in July 2014.
  2. ↑ Homepage of the German Wallpaper Institute . Accessed July 2014.
  3. ↑ Heinz Schmidt-Bachem , "Culture and Economic History of the Paper Processing Industry", in: Aus Papier, Berlin 2011, p. 711.
  4. ↑ "75 Years of the Association of German Wallpaper Manufacturers", in: Tapeten-Zeitung, Stuttgart Vol. 73, 1964, No. 7: 13.
  5. ↑ www.tapeten.de Homepage of the German Wallpaper Institute, accessed on September 22, 2014
  6. ↑ RAL seal of approval for wallpapers , accessed on September 22, 2014.
  7. ↑ Showroom of the German Wallpaper Institute , accessed on September 22, 2014.
  8. ↑ Fine for wallpaper manufacturers for fixing prices. Accessed September 22, 2014.
  9. ↑ Price agreements with wallpaper manufacturers. Accessed on September 22, 2014.
  10. ↑ Erfurt & Sohn resigns from the Association of the German Wallpaper Industry. Accessed on September 22, 2014.
  11. ↑ AS Création leaves the Tapetenverband Retrieved on September 22, 2014.