Prof. Dr Dr h.c. mult. Carl Horst Hahn
Automotive engineering manager and visionary
Honorary citizenship awarded on 9.6.1994
Honorary citizenship awarded on 9.6.1994
The long-standing VW manager Carl Horst Hahn was born in Chemnitz on 1 July 1926. His father, Carl Hahn senior, was involved in the early days of automobile manufacturing in Germany and was one of the co-founders of Auto Union AG in Chemnitz in 1932 from the merger of Audi, Wanderer, Horch and DKW.
After leaving school, Carl H. Hahn studied economics in Germany, Switzerland and England as well as political science in France. After obtaining his doctorate in economics, he studied Italian and art history in Italy.
Hahn began his professional career at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris in 1953, before moving to Volkswagenwerk GmbH in Wolfsburg after a year. As head of "Volkswagen of America", he successfully established VW in the USA in the following years and became a member of the Board of Management of Volkswagenwerk AG after his return to Germany in 1965.
After nine years in this position, he moved to Continental Gummi-Werke AG in Hanover, which developed into a leading global supplier of tyre and technical rubber products under his leadership.
In 1982, Hahn returned to Volkswagen AG as Chairman of the Board of Management, a position he held until his retirement in 1992.
To this day, the great successes of the Volkswagen Group are inextricably linked with his name. With the establishment of new production plants in China, Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, he laid the foundations for the Group's development into one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers.
After German reunification, he was particularly keen to strengthen the industrial locations of his old homeland and to make a fresh start at the old automotive industry production sites in Zwickau and Chemnitz. Thanks to his outstanding commitment, it was possible to reconnect with the region's rich industrial history and lay the foundations for successful innovations.
After retiring as Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, Hahn continued to serve on various supervisory boards of international companies and institutions and was heavily involved in social and cultural activities. He was also an honorary professor for industrial corporate strategies at the University of Applied Sciences in Zwickau.
He received numerous international honours, medals and academic distinctions from universities in Germany and abroad for his outstanding achievements.
The city of Chemnitz made Carl H. Hahn an honorary citizen in 1994. He is also an honorary citizen of Wolfsburg, Zwickau and Changchun in China.
Carl H. Hahn died in Wolfsburg on 14 January 2023 at the age of 96.
Prof Dr Carl Hahn bust in the "Villa Hahn"
The honorary citizen of the city of Chemnitz, Prof. Dr. Carl H. Hahn, had no idea when he accepted an invitation to a reception at the "Villa Hahn" named after him on 24 June 2014.
The community4you AG, which is based in the Villa Hahn, had commissioned the creation of a portrait bust in honour of Prof. Hahn as a monument to his enormous achievements and commitment. The bust was given a prestigious place in the "Villa Hahn", where Carl H. Hahn spent many years of his childhood and youth and which has borne his name since 2008 >>more