The Entrepreneurs’ Group
Under the roof of Possehl-Holding we unite ten business divisions that are independent of each other. We manage more than 200 companies in a decentralised manner so that the necessary decisions are made directly in their markets. We combine such sector diversity with a high level of innovative strength, thus ensuring the long-term success and high stability of the Group.
Chairman of the Executive Board
Dr-Ing.
Member of the Executive Board since 2009. Chairman of the Board since 1 August 2017 and responsible for the divisions Intralogistics, Printing Machines and Precious Metals Processing.
Vice Chairman of the Executive Board
Diplom-Betriebswirt (MBA)
Has been working for the Possehl Group since 2004. Member of the Executive Board since 2013 and responsible for the divisions Cleaning Technology, Special Purpose Construction, Electronics and SME Investments.
Member of the Executive Board
Dr rer.-pol., Lawyer
Has been working for the Possehl Group since 2006. Member of the Executive Board since 2013 and responsible for M&A.
Member of the Executive Board
Dipl.-Ing./MBA
Has been working for the Possehl Group since 2010. Member of the Executive Board since 2021 and responsible for the devisions Tyre Technology and Identification Solutions.
Chairman
Master of Economics (Dipl.-Volkswirt)
Vice Chairman
Sales Project Management of BÖWE SYSTEC GmbH
Chairman of the Works Council of BÖWE SYSTEC GmbH
Chairman of the Group Works Council of L. Possehl & Co. mbH
Insurance broker
Personally liable shareholder of H. & J. Brüggen KG
Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Mann + Hummel GmbH
Chief Authorised Representative of IG Metall, Administrative Office Lübeck-Wismar
Shareholder and member of the Advisory Board of Piepenbrock Group
Insurance Broker and Authorised Signatory at
Lubeca Versicherungskontor GmbH
Chief Authorised Representative of IG Metall Administrative Office Pforzheim
Member of the Management Board of TÜV NORD AG
Entepreneur
Chairman of the Possehl Foundation’s Board of Directors
Chairman of the Works Council of Heimerle + Meule GmbH
Fleet Mananger + Team Leader Logistics/Shipping at Heimerle + Meule GmbH
Member of the Group Works Council of L. Possehl & Co. mbH
It is our aim to constantly increase our Group’s earnings and enhance our corporate value sustainably.
To achieve this, we need suitable entrepreneurs, who enjoy a high level of entrepreneurial freedom within the framework of our corporate values, to manage each of our many companies. In addition, it is our objective to offer owner- and family-run businesses attractive succession solutions in order to win new companies for our Group.
It is our aim to pay our proprietor, the Possehl Foundation, an attractive regular dividend, also in economically difficult times.
We achieve this through long-term income and investment planning and a conservative interpretation of accounting flexibility. When taking major decisions, we always include our capability of fulfilling our dividend promises on a sustained basis into our considerations. We rely on our companies’ sustainable profitability without pursuing any exit strategy.
It is our aim to secure the entrepreneurial activities of our individual companies by ensuring the strength of the Group as a whole.
We achieve this by maintaining a diversified and broadly-based portfolio stretching across various business sectors and industries with companies subjected to different economic cycles. We will continue to broaden our base in the coming years. Despite pursuing a strategy of diversification, we aim at understanding each and any of our business models since we can only develop products and services we fully understand.
In our aim of achieving our targets, we are always fully aware of our social responsibilities.
We feel obliged to fulfil our shareholder’s high standards in this respect. This is why people in their individuality always play a key role in all our decisions. Within our business environment of medium-sized companies, we communicate at eye-level, openly and honestly. Both employee representatives and works councils as well as union representatives are regularly welcome to discuss business matters with our managements.
“…show zeal for each day’s affairs of business, but only for such that make for a peaceful night’s sleep.”
Trust is essential for the success of an internationally active group of companies. Good cooperation is based on the trust of customers, suppliers and business partners, employees and the respective local business environment. The prerequisite for this is consistent adherence to high standards of social behaviour such as integrity, loyalty and honesty. It is our responsibility to create and maintain universally valid basic values of our conduct beyond the applicable laws, which should be the basis for every entrepreneurial activity.
Therefore, the management of L. Possehl & Co. mbH has developed a Code of Conduct. This code forms the framework of responsible conduct for all employees at Possehl.
However, responsible conduct does not stop within the company itself. Possehl has therefore developed a Supplier Code of Conduct, which defines the most important social, ecological and ethical standards that the Possehl Group expects its suppliers to comply with.
We attach great importance to respecting internationally recognized human rights in our own activities and also to strengthening them in our relationships with business partners along the value chain. Our Human Rights Position is based on internationally recognized standards and also takes into account the requirements of the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz). It sets out our voluntary commitments and expectations towards business partners and includes our human rights strategy. We have set out our human rights position in the following policy statement, which is communicated internally and externally.
Possehl offers the possibility to contact an internal, outsourced and independent whistleblower portal in case of suspicion or knowledge of illegal or unethical actions and thus to contribute to the detection of violations of rules.
It is possible to report misconduct by employees in our group of companies as well as by our suppliers and service providers with regard to possible violations of the law or actions that are harmful to the company, such as corruption, bribery, fraud, other criminal offences, child labour, slavery, lack of occupational safety, exploitation and discrimination.
Whistleblowers will not suffer any disadvantage as a result of making a report. Reports can be made in German and English. Reports can also be made anonymously if desired.
If you have concrete, justified indications of legal violations or breaches of rules at Possehl or suspect such violations, you have the following options for contacting us:
The confidential reporting office (WhistleFox) can be contacted around the clock by web form, e-mail, fax or post and by telephone every working day during normal office hours.
The contact person is Dr Christoph Schork, attorney-at-law.
Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek
Attn. Dr Christoph Schork
Magnusstraße 13
D-50672 Köln
In addition, there is the possibility of reporting to official external reporting offices. These are, for example:
Please note that the whistleblowing system is not intended for complaints. If you are dissatisfied with regards to the products or services of the Possehl Group, please contact your respective contact person in the company.
For information according to the German Supply Chain Duty of Care Act (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz), you can find further procedural information here:
The Possehl Group can look back on a long and successful history.
More than 17 decades in business have refined a company profile that is characterised by experience and reliability.
Establishment and Development
On 1 May 1847, Ludwig Possehl founds his company L. Possehl & Co. in Lübeck and starts trading with iron and coal.
His first customers are from the local region: citizens from all levels of society in the Hanseatic City and its surrounding areas need coal. Iron goods are sold to various nearby industries such as tradesmen and handicraft businesses. Within a short time, Possehl is supplying its first industrial bulk purchasers with sheet iron, black coal and general hardware such as nails and wires. To give his business the broadest possible foundation is already an important business principle.
Improvements in infrastructure lead to an economic upswing. The developing steam shipping industry on the river Trave, the modernisation of the port and the linking of Lübeck to the railway network causes a boom in business. In addition, customs regulations für Lübeck’s merchants are eased to facilitate trading.
Possehl’s stable equity position enables his Company to survive economic crises such as that of 1857, when economic life in the German Empire nearly entirely collapsed. Conservative capital withdrawal policies result in the Company’s equity growing to seven-and-a-half times the original starting capital, despite the difficult first 15 years of the Company’s history.
Growth in Europe
In 1873, Ludwig’s eldest son Emil Possehl takes over the management of the Company. This is the start of the heavy industrial period. Emil Possehl is one of the first to recognise the trend towards industrial development and aligns his business accordingly.
In the 1890s, the industrial revolution is in full swing: the German steel industry offers Possehl a market that permits business activities across Europe. Emil Possehl particularly focusses on organising the sale of Swedish ore in Germany, which soon makes him the largest importer of iron ore from Sweden.
Until the beginning of the First Word War, Emil Possehl, now Senator of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck, is able to expand his Company considerably, as he holds interests in iron works, steel works, limestone quarries and iron pyrite mines, which are mostly based abroad. The company’s own shipping company handles the pan-European distribution from the far north to as far south as Lisbon and Africa.
In 1915, Emil Possehl streamlines the company structures by transforming the existing departments of the Company into autonomous trading companies. L. Possehl & Co. becomes the parent company. This provides the basis for an organisational style that still characterises the Company in the 21st century: the division into one overarching holding company and its subsidiary individual companies.
The Crucible Years
The First World War leads to a dramatic setback: war bonds fail and the losses have to be financed through the sale of rights to Swedish ore mines. The Company is able to survive thanks to the coal and domestic fuel business in Germany.
Emil Possehl dies on 4 February 1919. The sole heir to Company assets is the Possehl Foundation. Since that time – as was intended by its founder – the foundation has promoted cultural, social and charitable activities in his hometown of Lübeck.
After the financial turbulence of the 1920s, the 1930s find the Company on the rise again. New branches of industry, i.e. production companies, freight and insurance agencies, join the Possehl Group. The core business with steel, coal and other fuels develops and flourishes once again.
This period also witnesses the development of the Possehl Group into its present structure. The Possehl Foundation transfers its then directly held companies to L. Possehl & Co. and has only held shares in the parent company since.
The Second World War leaves deep scars: the Company loses all of its foreign holdings and a large part of its markets. The branches located in the eastern part of Germany are lost, as are assets in foreign countries. The head offices in Beckergrube, along with all records, are also reduced to rubble and ashes in the midst of the war.
Rebirth and International Growth
The Possehl Group was hit hard by the collapse of Germany and the ensuing political changes at the end of the war. All companies headquartered in areas now under the Soviet sphere of influence are lost. Not until the currency reform of 1948 are the conditions in place for the Company to be rebuilt.
The Company management takes small steps towards rebuilding what remains of old business relationships. In their effort to establish new contacts, the Company management particularly benefits from the diversity of the existing production-, trading- and service companies incorporated within the Group. Central leadership of the Group by the parent company also proves effective. Investment decisions are made systematically and companies that are not profitable are supported and realigned, or, if restructuring efforts fail to be successful, divested and sold.
At the beginning of the 1950s, business activities pick up sharply. A highly successful decade for the business follows. In 1965, Possehl records consolidated Group net sales of DM 831 million. At this time, the Possehl Group implements its first structural change: the acquisition of production companies results in a decreasing percentage of trading activities. In particular the acquisition of Heimerle + Meule GmbH, which today still acts as the lead company of Possehl’s precious metals business, plays a key role in this structural change.
Possehl Celebrates its 150th Anniversary
In particular the 1980s and 90s see a strong growth in business. Possehl acquires various, mainly mid-sized, domestic companies and, associated therewith, the Group of companies develops into a diversified Group equally divided between trading and production activities.
By this time, achieving annual sales of more than DM 3 billion and employing some 5,000 people, Possehl is one of the 100 largest companies in Germany.
Diversified Group of Companies Operating Across the Globe
Today, Possehl is a globally operating and deliberately broadly based Group of companies recording annual sales of almost 4 billion euros. More than 180 successfully operating Group companies employ some 12,500 people worldwide.
Our business activities focus on the capital goods industry, in particular machinery and plant engineering. With its currently nine independent divisions and largely decentralised management structure, Possehl is a classic conglomerate. In addition to being targeted towards both profitability and continuity in dividend distributions, the Company portfolio, which includes a vast number of so-called Hidden Champions, has its emphasis on long-term business activities, stability and the balanced distribution of risks. In pursuing these strategic company objectives, we take adequate account of the long-term orientation of our shareholder, the Possehl Foundation. Financial independence is extremely important for Possehl and plays a key role in all our decisions.
For over 100 years now, the Possehl Foundation has been based in “Beckergrube” located in Lübeck’s Old Town, just like L. Possehl & Co. mbH, which was founded in 1847. Promoting “everything good and beautiful” in Lübeck, the Foundation’s work is committed to maintaining the beautiful cityscape, supporting young people, fostering arts and sciences, and relieving the hardship of those in need.
Emil Possehl
Emil Possehl, the first-born son of Lübeck-based merchant Ludwig Possehl, was born in 1850 in Lübeck’s “Beckergrube”. It is in his childhood home where the businesses of his father’s company L. Possehl & Co., who traded with iron, coal and sheet metal, were conducted. In 1873, Emil Possehl joins his father’s business and, a few years later, following the acquisition of companies in Russia, Sweden and Norway, finds himself a globally active industrial magnate. The turnover of goods increases 50-fold. In 1901 he is elected to the Lübeck Senate. Emil Possehl’s donations during his lifetime are expressions of his creative drive: He financially supports the project of building a new theatre in “Beckergrube” and funds the construction of a zeppelin. When he draws up his will in 1925, his fortune amounts to 100 million Deutsch Marks. As his marriage remains childless, he bequeaths his company assets to the Possehl Foundation.
◦ Maintaining the beautiful cityscape
◦ Charitable organisations
◦ Fostering the arts and sciences
◦ Supporting young people
◦ Relieving the hardship of those in need
On 17 May 1919, the Possehl Foundation was legally approved by a decree of the Senate and has been promoting “everything good and beautiful” in Lübeck ever since. At the same time, the legal structure chosen by Emil Possehl of making the Possehl Foundation the sole shareholder of the Company has created the prerequisite for a sustainable corporate management. The Company and the Foundation have now been closely associated for over 100 years, which is also helped by their spatial proximity: Right from the beginning, both the Company and the Foundation have been headquartered in Lübeck’s “Beckergrube”. The most important factor, however, is their joint commitment to continue Emil Possehl’s entrepreneurial thinking and acting in the founder’s spirit. He always preferred to invest his money in entrepreneurial activities. Hence, the Group of companies constitutes the basic assets of the Possehl Foundation. In order to enable the Possehl Foundation to reliably and sustainably promote charitable projects, its is inevitable for the Company to generate a constant dividend also in times of economic downturn. Both the Company’s and the Foundation’s actions are guided by long-term objectives.
Today, the Foundation’s Management Board has 18 members. Founder Emil Possehl had stipulated that the Board shall be composed of “members of the Senate, the authorities and the clergy as well as merchants, teachers, lawyers and other liberal professions”. Representatives of the professions named by Emil Possehl are still working as members of the Foundation’s Management Board in an honorary capacity today. The members are involved in several working groups and juries, and regularly visit the organisations and facilities funded by the Foundation.
Click here to visit the Possehl Foundation website: