Wolfgang Grupp

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Wolfgang Grupp (2011)

Wolfgang Grupp (born April 4, 1942 in Burladingen ) is a German entrepreneur . He is the sole owner and managing director of the Trigema textile company .

Origin and studies (1942 to 1969)

Wolfgang Grupp grew up as the son of the entrepreneurial couple Änne Grupp (née Mayer) and Franz Grupp in a conservative - Catholic family in Burladingen. Grupp's grandfather Josef Mayer and his brother Eugen founded the Gebrüder Mayer KG tricot factory in Burladingen in 1919. The name Trigema is an acronym and stands for Tri kotwarenfabrik Ge brothers Ma yer.

Wolfgang Grupp completed his school days from 1948 to 1952 at the elementary school in Burladingen. From 1952, Grupp was a Jesuit student at the St. Blasien college , which he graduated from high school in 1961. From 1961 to 1969 he studied business administration at the University of Cologne . Grupp graduated with a degree in business administration and in 1969 took over the Trigema textile company from his father Franz Grupp.

Textile entrepreneur (since 1969)

Trigema company headquarters in Burladingen

When Wolfgang Grupp took over the management of the company after completing his studies in 1969, the Trigema company was highly diversified and with a turnover of 8.7 million euros (converted), it had around 5.1 million euros in bank liabilities. Grupp returned to the company's roots and reduced diversification. By 1975 he had increased sales to 28.1 million euros and paid off all debts. The textiles (sports and leisure clothing) are all designed in Burladingen and 100% produced in Germany. Since 1969 there has been neither short-time work nor redundancies at Trigema . Every year the company trains up to fifty young people in the areas of production and sales . The company has a works council , but is not bound by collective bargaining agreements .

Grupp became known across Germany primarily through a television advertisement with a chimpanzee (Trigema monkey). In addition, he campaigns for Germany as a business location and at the same time vehemently criticizes the irresponsibility of employed managers . In this context he propagates that managers should always be personally liable for their decisions. About his public relations work, Grupp said:

“Trigema's level of awareness is not just advertising, but also unpaid PR , regardless of whether it was the butler , the helicopter or the swimming pool, which is 45 meters long. If you write that he has a square swimming pool, nobody reads that. I bring this into the context of: guaranteed jobs, never fired anyone - the values ​​that stand behind them. "

In 2005, Grupp received the Cicero speaker award in the business category for his rhetorical skills .

family

Wolfgang Grupp has been married to Elisabeth Grupp (* 1966 as Elisabeth Baronesse von Holleuffer ), who came from Austria and who he met in 1986 while hunting for grouse in Austria. Today the Grupp live together in Burladingen, directly opposite the Trigema factory, on a park-like property in a villa . The couple has a daughter, Bonita Grupp (* 1989), and a son, Wolfgang Grupp junior (* 1991). In 2012, on the occasion of his 70th birthday, both children gave Wolfgang Grupp the promise that they would continue to run the Trigema company in his favor. In an interview with the news magazine Focus on August 1, 2011, Grupp commented on the subject of corporate succession :

“I am the third generation to run Trigema. I would certainly have set the wrong example if my children didn't want to continue the business. Of course I hand it over to my children. If my children didn't want to inherit, we would certainly have failed, because the parents are the first role model for the children. "

Bonita (e-commerce) and Wolfgang Grupp jun. (Sales) work today in the company management under their father Wolfgang Grupp at Trigema.

Millions of dollars and social commitment

Grupp is a wealth millionaire and very committed to society. His total assets were estimated at around 10.5 million euros in 2020. The Wolfgang and Elisabeth Grupp Foundation he founded provides financial support for institutions, projects and people in need in the region around Burladingen. In the cultural sector, the foundation made it possible for B. the hosting of the International Youth Music Festival, which took place in Burladingen. The foundation also paid for the purchase of a new grand piano for the youth music school and the purchase of a new ambulance for the Burladingen-Ringingen DRK standby. In addition, Wolfgang Grupp guarantees all children of his 1200+ employees a job at Trigema that is subject to social security contributions . All Wolfgang Grupp employees are generally paid above the minimum wage level .

Job guarantee in the corona crisis (2020)

Even during the Corona crisis , there will be no short-time work or redundancies at Trigema. Grupp has given its 1200 employees a job guarantee if they take responsibility for themselves. Wolfgang Grupp assured:

"If everyone abides by the rules, we will surely also deal with this difficult crisis together."

Since March 2020, Trigema has also been producing reusable face and nose masks according to its own information at cost price .

Oddities

  • Grupp had to explain in numerous interviews that he does not keep the Trigema monkey from the TV commercial as a pet on his property, but in a private zoo . The animal welfare organization Pro Wildlife demands from Trigema to stop advertising with the chimpanzee. Since March 10, 2018, the monkey shown has been a 3D animation.
  • Since 2009, Wolfgang Grupp has owned a family grave of around 600 m² in the Burladingen cemetery. According to the Archdiocese of Freiburg , it is the largest private family grave in a Catholic cemetery in Baden-Württemberg:

"Some find it unusual, but it's nice for me to know where I'll be."

- Wolfgang Grupp

Awards

literature

TV documentaries about Wolfgang Grupp

  • You can do it differently - entrepreneurs with ideas. Discussion, Germany, 2008, 45 min., With Götz Werner , Wolfgang Grupp, Norbert Kunz and Ditmar Staffelt , production: Phoenix , first broadcast: April 30, 2008, online video , announcement ( memento from May 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  • The King of Burladingen. Wolfgang Grupp - a German entrepreneur. Documentary, 45 min., Script and direction: Susanne Müller and Andreas Coerper, production: SWR TV , first broadcast: March 26, 2008.
  • News from the king from Burladingen . Four-part documentary series, script and direction: Susanne Müller and Andreas Coerper, production: SWR TV, first broadcast: September 15 to October 6, 2010.
  • Trigema - 100% Made in Germany: The success story of the textile company. In: Galileo , Episode 31, ProSieben, first broadcast: February 3, 2020, 10:24 minutes.

Web links

Commons : Wolfgang Grupp  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Wolfgang Grupp  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ trigema.de
  2. ↑ https://www.stayfriends.de/Schule/Burladingen/Grundschule/Grundschule-S-13E-S?nameId=1506
  3. ↑ trigema.de
  4. ↑ Mehrdad Amirkhizi: Bubbles Film: Trigema advertises for the first time without the monkey. In: horizont.net. September 24, 2015, accessed July 12, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Trigema boss: The ideal world of Wolfgang Grupp In: handelsblatt.com , accessed on July 12, 2018.
  6. ↑ CICERO speaker award In: cicero-rednerpreis.de , accessed on July 12, 2018.
  7. ^ Hardy Kromer: Burladingen: Wolfgang Grupps Welt von A to Z. In: swp.de. April 4, 2012, Retrieved July 12, 2018 .
  8. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0MG2vf8wnY
  9. ↑ Trigema boss Wolfgang Grupp: Capitalist of the old school In: focus.de , April 4, 2012, accessed on July 12, 2018.
  10. ↑ wiwo.de: Heads of Business: Wolfgang Grupp - Biography ( Memento from August 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Michaela Schießl: ENTREPRENEUR: The gentle patriarch - DER SPIEGEL 29/1997 In: spiegel.de , accessed on July 12, 2018.
  12. ↑ dpa: Wolfgang Grupp sees his children in the Trigema successor In: bild.de , June 30, 2012, accessed on July 12, 2018.
  13. ↑ And forever only the little one: "If a son doesn't want the company, the father has failed" In: focus.de , August 1, 2011, accessed on July 12, 2018.
  14. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL8KqJfnQo0
  15. ↑ A lot of money, a lot of responsibility: The life of the group children , Landesschau Baden-Württemberg , May 14, 2018 (ARD media library: available until May 14, 2019)
  16. ↑ https://www.vermoegenmagazin.de/wolfgang-grupp-vermoegen-trigema/
  17. ↑ swp.de
  18. ↑ trigema.de
  19. ↑ Wolfgang and Elisabeth Grupp Foundation In: trigema.de , accessed on July 12, 2018.
  20. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWuIynFdMm0
  21. ↑ https://www.zak.de/Nachrichten/Wolfgang-Grupp-zu-Schutzmaske-und-Corona-Krise-Kritik-bin-ich-gewOHN-140684.html
  22. ↑ https://www.eurotransport.de/artikel/mundschutz-aus-burladingen-trigema-schickt-an-kliniken-11154319.html
  23. ↑ https://www.absatzwirtschaft.de/trigema-und-eterna-stellen-mundschutz-masken-her-171026/
  24. ↑ https://www.faz.net/aktuell/technik-motor/technik/mundschutz-gegen-corona-so-etzt-trigema-masken-her-16702640.html
  25. ^ Pro Wildlife: Press release: Monkeys. June 11, 2008 ( Memento from May 10, 2016 in the web archive archive.today )
  26. ↑ The story of the monkey. Retrieved on April 5, 2020 (German).
  27. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWKYIUxy35c
  28. ↑ https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article159094428/Herr-Grupp-warum-brauchen-Sie-schon-einen-Grabstein.html
  29. ↑ https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/unternehmer-grupp-sracht-vor-kein-pomp-kein-mausoleum-1.112046
  30. ↑ Mega grave site for Trigema boss ( Memento from February 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) - Stuttgarter Nachrichten, February 10, 2010.
  31. ^ Rüdiger Soldt: Wolfgang Grupp's private cemetery: A grave for a king , FAZ, July 2, 2017.
  32. ↑ https://www.impulse.de/unternehmen/wolfgang-grupp/3562038.html
  33. ↑ https://www.stimme.de/suedwesten/nachrichten/Trigema-Chef-baut-sich-gigantisches-Familiengrab;art1960,1587596
  34. ↑ Lots of celebrities and a Federal Cross of Merit for the anniversary. In: Stuttgarter Zeitung . October 26, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Grupp, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH April 4, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Burladingen