Speech OB 26/08/2011

The spoken word counts!

Honourable Members of the German Bundestag,
Members of the Saxon State Parliament,
honourable city councillors,
Dear President Prof Naumann,
Mr President Mothes,
Dear Mr Wunderlich
Honorary Citizens, Mr Magirius,
Dear Mr Rotstein
Mrs Müller.
I would especially like to welcome you, dear entrepreneurs,

Thank you all for accepting the invitation to today's ceremony in such large numbers. This shows me how strongly the entrepreneurial tradition is lived in Chemnitz.

I am delighted to be able to welcome you here in the restored City Council Chamber, which is celebrating its 100th birthday together with the Town Hall.

Salutation,
If you follow the economic news of the last few months, it seems almost anachronistic that we are honouring companies today for their long tradition. Companies that have been around for 100 years or more. Economic life seems so unpredictably fast-moving. Stock market prices resemble fever curves. Tradition, endurance and history don't seem to fit in.

Two years ago, the economic crisis was still manageable. This turned into the economic and financial crisis the following year. This was followed - especially in Germany - by growth. And today we are concerned about developments in the eurozone and the USA. The cycles of economic ups and downs are becoming shorter and shorter, harder and harder. And despite extensive reporting in the many media outlets, cause and effect are hard to penetrate.

Just 6% of all Germans own shares. And yet stock market news is an integral part of almost every news programme. Rating agencies, whose work and impact only very few people can explain in a nutshell, decide the future of entire countries. The connection between finance and the real economy remains unclear.

Address,
Against this backdrop, the question arises: Is it a value today if a company has held its own for 100 years or much longer?

As Lord Mayor of this city, my answer to this question is an emphatic yes. A company history of more than one hundred years is a value in itself, a very special and precious value. I say this with great respect for and pride in your very personal achievement and dedication to your company.

When talking about economic history in Germany, it is only right that one quickly comes to the economic miracle of the post-war period - at least when talking about the Federal Republic of Germany.

The term "economic miracle" has so far wrongly not included companies like yours.

I am not saying this so that you will make a special effort with your entry in the Golden Book. But because I am firmly convinced that the history of the companies represented here in this room are economic miracles. Even if your miracles are worked out differently, often away from public attention.

They are strong examples of solid, courageous, clever, entrepreneurial virtues.

The companies in whose name you are gathered here today were founded in 1911 at the latest. Chemnitz is doing well economically and getting better all the time. Industrialisation drives the city forward. The population grows and the city surpasses itself in almost every respect. The city fathers decide in favour of building the New Town Hall. It is needed. But it also stands symbolically in the centre of the city. As a powerful symbol of a new era.

Growth seems to have no limits. The painting in this hall by Max Klinger "Labour, Prosperity, Beauty" captures the spirit of this city. The town hall becomes a beautiful building. The building and the painting have endured to this day.

100 years ago, during this period of economic growth for the city, it was favourable to set up a company, open a business or a shop. Companies have a growing base and expand with the city.

But just a few years later, the First World War casts a shadow over Germany, our city and its businesses. Chemnitz, the heart of industrial progress in Saxony and Germany, flickers. The constant uphill climb, the higher and further, is followed by disillusionment at the end of the war at the latest: mass unemployment, hunger. The up-and-coming history of Chemnitz companies comes to a standstill. Just the first prelude to what was to follow in the last century.

Industrialisation marked the beginning of sweeping globalisation. And even small and family-run companies are now showing the dark side.

Before the Second World War, there was little time to recover and regain strength. The Nazi regime and the Second World War meant the abrupt end of many companies and businesses. I am thinking first of all of the strong Jewish entrepreneurship. Within a short space of time, Jewish companies are closed down, businesses with a long tradition are harassed and disappear from one day to the next. Forever.

The consequences of this terrible violence are also felt by many other businesses. Bombs, hunger and a shortage of practically everything bring many businesses to their knees. It is often a matter of seconds and just a few bombs that put a sad end to decades of company history. The city, like half of Europe, lies in ruins. The New Town Hall remains standing - as if by a miracle - in the middle of a destroyed city.

After the war, it is not only two political systems that are increasingly irreconcilable. There is also a battle for economic prosperity as an expression of superior ideology. On the one hand, the Germans learn democracy and the social market economy. With a lot of hard work and financial support, they have the chance to make a new start. An experiment that will succeed.

People in the Soviet occupation zone also want to rebuild their cities and businesses. The second experiment begins. Instead of financial support and good trade relations, businesses were nationalised, entrepreneurs expropriated and reparations demanded.

For many businesses, the thread of their sometimes long history is severed forever. Those that hold out do not experience entrepreneurial freedom, but production by the book.

A German satirist, Dieter Hildebrandt, once cynically and acerbically said of the Federal Republic of Germany: "Politics is only the room for manoeuvre that the economy gives it." In doing so, he unintentionally also described the economic division of Germany. Because for the GDR, the sentence applied as follows: The economy is only the room for manoeuvre that the policy of the socialist planned economy allows. And this room for manoeuvre was small.

In 1972, a wave of nationalisation dealt a further blow to the brave entrepreneurship in the GDR. The VEB companies also worked hard. Training was good. There are many competences and the will to achieve the best under the given circumstances. The way work is done in Karl-Marx-Stadt is a great achievement. The socialist planned economy will still fail.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Suddenly - finally - freedom is here! But how to deal with it? Businesses and companies have to claim property rights, acquire land, claim restitution rights and overcome many legal hurdles. Often they simply don't have the start-up capital to make a new start. For quite a few entrepreneurs, the new freedom is within reach and yet unattainable.

Those who rebuild their business and dare to make a fresh start have to find their way in a new, wide world. From plan to market: a leap in the dark. Those who dare must fight. You've fought, you've pulled sleepless nights. And you have stood your ground.

Salutation,
You don't have to relativise the one to appreciate the other: The economic miracle in western post-war Germany is impressive and is rightly an important chapter in German post-war history.

No less impressive, however, are companies like the ones you represent here today. These companies have survived various political systems and economic systems, or have revitalised tradition by making a fresh start after 1989. Many economic miracles have taken place here, the sum total of which also deserves to be called a German economic miracle. They have successfully brought tradition and future together.

Ladies and gentlemen,
I hope you will forgive me if I imply that you have not pursued your economic successes solely in order to contribute to the success of the city. What I would like to imply, however, is that you have committed yourselves to Chemnitz with full conviction and continue to do so.

And if I may return to the question posed at the beginning about the value of a long company history: Your entrepreneurial success is always also a success for the city and the citizens of Chemnitz. And I'm not just thinking of the benefit to the city's coffers.

I am thinking of the value of tradition and forward thinking in a world that is changing for Chemnitz: a strong, emerging industrial city, extensive war destruction, loss of the city's name, a field of experimentation, a difficult new beginning as a modern industrial city.

Your companies, your life's achievements, symbolise the fact that Chemnitz has not lost itself, that the door to its own origins has never been completely shut. And that our city has come back to itself. You have created and continue to create jobs. Thousands of skilled workers have supported and continue to support their companies. Skill and diligence are the foundation of our city's self-image.

Address,
Please allow me to single out the oldest company, the Goldener Hahn inn, as a special example. When it opened in 1738, Chemnitz was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The world knows neither the name Goethe nor the planets Uranus, Neptune or Pluto. The French Revolution is just as far away as the founding of the United States of America or the Industrial Revolution, which was so important for Chemnitz.

Isn't it fascinating to imagine the dinner conversations of past centuries? To imagine how people from very different eras gathered there to eat, drink, relax and chat. And the "Goldener Hahn" is still a popular meeting place, indeed an "institution", in this world of the Internet and package holidays.

Companies with history leave their mark, characterise their surroundings and act as historical anchors in contemporary events.

As citizens, employees, customers, as observers of a changing cityscape, people notice businesses and factories, shops and businesses in their neighbourhood and observe their development over the years.

And of course it makes citizens proud when successful companies are located in the city. Especially when they are involved in their city, are ambassadors, are committed and have a presence. As employers, trainers and foundations in the changing times.

I am also thinking of the diverse commitment of Chemnitz companies to sport, culture and social affairs. Many businesses and companies have been supporting organisations and initiatives for decades - in a wide variety of ways. In doing so, they make a major contribution to the community in the city and to the people who live here.

Or think of the Chemnitz company run. Last year, almost 2,000 runners from around 260 companies took part. And the people of Chemnitz stood enthusiastically along the route and cheered them on. They [the people of Chemnitz] are proud of the strength of their companies. And rightly so.

Another example of the relationship that has grown between the city's citizens and businesses is the Days of Industrial Culture. Organised for the first time last year, thousands took the opportunity to visit the companies and take a look at modern workshops and factories.

Chemnitz is a modern industrial city with many facets. I would therefore like to encourage all entrepreneurs: The people of Chemnitz are curious and open company days, open factory days and open shop days find an open-minded, curious audience in Chemnitz.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Regardless of how old your company is, the value of your history lies in its contribution to what Chemnitz is today. How we master the present and the future. As I said, Chemnitz has come into its own again - as an economic centre, as a city of culture, as a sporting base, as a place for families, as a place to live. And the city owes this to a large extent to its companies.

Chemnitz is one of the fastest growing economic centres in Germany. In the 100th year of our New Town Hall, we can write a remarkable, robust record in the city chronicles.

The local culture has earned an excellent reputation. The city's quality of life is improving. Chemnitz is becoming more attractive. Gradually, this positive development is also reflected in population growth.

Of course, there is still a lot to do. But that has always been the case here. Let's look back not 100, but 20 years. Who would have thought that Chemnitz would develop like this? "Labour, Prosperity, Beauty", Max Klinger's clever motif, gives Chemnitz its character and style.

You personally have played a decisive role in this. This applies to craft and industrial businesses as well as trade and catering or cultural and educational institutions, large companies as well as small and family-run SMEs. Today, you represent the diversity and strength of Chemnitz's entrepreneurship. And the fact that our university, which celebrated its 175th anniversary this year, is part of this is, together with all of you, a strong message for the future of the city.

And it is in this spirit that today's award is intended first and foremost to honour your achievements and your remarkable company histories. But I also see my entry in the city's Golden Book as a mutual agreement that the city and the company will continue to work together to promote the well-being of Chemnitz in the future.