The Freudenberg Group is a German family-owned diversified group of companies whose products include housewares and cleaning products, automobile parts, textiles, building materials, and telecommunications. Its headquarters are in

Weinheim Weinheim (; pfl, Woinem) is a town with about 43,000 inhabitants in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is in the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, approximately north of Heidelberg and northeast of Mannheim. Weinheim is known as the "Zwei ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

, and it has production facilities in Europe, Asia, Australia, South and North America. The parent company was founded in 1849 as a producer of leather goods. Currently the company is owned by stock holders who are all descendants of the original founder, most of which are now affluent families that live in primarily Europe or North America.

History

The company was founded in 1849 by Carl Johann Freudenberg, the son of a wine merchant, and his partner, Heinrich Christoph Heintze; the two took over a

tannery Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

at Weinheim. For the next 80 years, the company produced leather products exclusively. Hurt by the worldwide economic depression that began in 1929, and by shortages during World War II, it diversified into

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

s for motors made first of leather and later of artificial rubber (the Simmerring, named for an engineer called Walther Simmer), which led to fabrics and to cleaning fabrics and tools when it was noted that the company's cleaning ladies were using discarded scraps of the experimental fabrics.

Vileda O-Cedar is a brand of mechanical and power cleaning products which are rebranded Vileda products. O-Cedar was acquired by Freudenberg Household Products in 2003. The O-Cedar brand was originated by Martin Marietta; it was purchased by Drackett ...

(from german: wie Leder, "like leather") window-cleaning cloths were first marketed in 1948. In the mid-1990s the company reorganized with a "highly decentralized organizational structure": it has 16 divisions or areas of business incorporating 430 independent units. Three-quarters of its business is as a supplier to other companies. In 2004 Freudenberg had employees in 43 countries. Recently it has focused attention on markets in China and Japan; for example, it provided the floor coverings for the

Shanghai Metro The Shanghai Metro (; Shanghainese: ''Zaon6he5 Di6thiq7'') is a rapid transit system in Shanghai, operating urban and suburban transit services to 14 of its 16 municipal districts and to Kunshan, Jiangsu Province. Served as a part of Shangha ...

stations. In 2002 the company closed its last leather tannery, marking the effective end of the leather industry in Germany. However, today Vileda is a market leader in Europe. All German cars contain parts made by another Freudenberg subsidiary, and German-made outdoor clothing contains fibers made by yet another. Almost all major airports have flooring made by another Freudenberg subsidiary. In 2004, Freudenberg Group made an initial entry into the global medical market with the creation of Freudenberg Medical EN.

Ownership and philosophy

Freudenberg remains a family-owned private company, structured as a ''

Kommanditgesellschaft A (abbreviated "KG", ; from + ) is the German name for a limited partnership business entity and is used in German, Belgian, Dutch, Austrian, and some other European legal systems. In Japan, it is called a ''gōshi gaisha''. Its name derives fr ...

'' (

limited partnership A limited partnership (LP) is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership except that while a general partnership must have at least two general partners (GPs), a limited partnership must have at least one GP and at least one limited ...

) jointly held by descendants of the founder (some 300 in 2011). Stock cannot be sold to non-family members and must be surrendered by in-laws upon divorce. No stockholder holds more than 2% ownership. An annual three-day General Meeting elects the Board of Partners, which consists of 7 to 13 members of whom the majority must be Freudenberg family members. The divisions are managed by a Management Board, who need not be family members. Stockholders receive a semi-annual family newsletter and have access to an owners'

intranet An intranet is a computer network for sharing information, easier communication, collaboration tools, operational systems, and other computing services within an organization, usually to the exclusion of access by outsiders. The term is used in c ...

. A select few are on the Wine Commission, which oversees the private Freudenberg vineyards. These vineyards are the largest in the Bergstraße region, producing 60,000 bottles of wine annually. Wolfram Freudenberg, a fifth-generation family member who formerly headed the

Stuttgart Stock Exchange Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Swab ...

, was Chairman of the Board of Partners from 2005 to 2014, succeeding Reinhart Freudenberg, who stepped down for reasons of age. In 2014 he was succeeded by Martin Wentzler, also a fifth-generation family member. Since July 2012, Mohsen Sohi has been spokesperson for the Management Board; his predecessor, Peter Bettermann, formerly head of German BP, in 1997 became the first non-family member to run the company. In the late 1930s, the company developed operating principles that include broad diversification in both products and markets, spreading of risk, long-term thinking and the maintenance of an

equity ratio The equity ratio is a financial ratio indicating the relative proportion of equity used to finance a company's assets. The two components are often taken from the firm's balance sheet or statement of financial position (so-called book value), but ...

of at least 40%, and avoidance of large acquisitions while favoring small ones. The company would rather acquire "a handful of interesting smaller enterprises" every year than a large company that might endanger the company philosophy. In each area of activity, the company operates only where it can be first or second in the market; for example, it sells motor seals worldwide but Vileda mops mostly in Europe.

Brands

Brands listed on the company's website are: * Chem-Trend * Corteco * EagleBurgmann * evolon * Ecozero * FIT (Freudenberg IT) * Freudenberg Medical * Freudenberg Sealing Technologies * Gala * HelixMark * Klüber Lubrication * Lutradur * Lutraflor * Lutrasil * Merkel * MicronAir * OKS * Pellon * Simrit * Terbond * Texbond * SoundTex * SurTec * Vibracoustic * Vildona *

* Viledon * Vilene * Vilmed Freudenberg Household Products Division also sells products under the

O-Cedar O-Cedar is a brand of mechanical and power cleaning products which are rebranded Vileda products. O-Cedar was acquired by Freudenberg Household Products in 2003. The O-Cedar brand was originated by Martin Marietta; it was purchased by Dracket ...

brand name in the US.

Philanthropy

The Freudenberg Group owns the

Schau- und Sichtungsgarten Hermannshof The Schau- und Sichtungsgarten Hermannshof (2.2 hectares), also known as the Hermannshof Weinheim, is a botanical garden at Babostraße 5, Weinheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is open daily in the summer and weekdays in the winter, and admiss ...

, a public

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

in Weinheim, which opened in 1983 and is jointly operated with the town. The Freudenberg Stiftung was founded in 1984 and is endowed with stock in the parent company. It has a broad mandate "to promote science, the humanities and education as well as strengthening peaceful coexistence in society and culture" and focuses particularly on assistance to and democratic education of young people, primarily in Germany.

References

External links