8 6 Helmut Gutenberger and Wojciech Pastuszczyn on ... - Messer

14 : People at Messer
Messer retirees...
…met in the Swiss town
of Interlaken.
Being together is what counts
They have been meeting once a year for the past 15 years – last summer they
gathered in the picturesque town of Interlaken near the Swiss capital, Berne.
Gerd Haase from Berlin is one of the former Messer sales managers who stay in
touch with each other <strong>and</strong> get together to reminisce about the old days <strong>and</strong>
share their latest experiences.
In 1954, the student Gerd Haase got a temporary job
at the Messer head office in Frankfurt. His “Berliner
Schnauze” (manner in which people from Berlin speak)
was noticed <strong>and</strong> two years later he became assistant to
the commercial representative for Berlin, East Germany,
Pol<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Czechoslovakia. For various reasons, it has
become a rarity for someone to spend his entire career
with one company. “Changing companies was unusual
in those days, with firms outdoing each other when it
came to years of service”, says Gerd Haase. “After fifty
years of service, you got a
gold ring <strong>and</strong> a h<strong>and</strong>shake
from the boss.” In Interlaken,
the eight former sales
managers still vividly
remember the merger of
Messer GmbH <strong>and</strong> the
Hoechst subsidiary Knapsack-Griesheim in 1964.
“Suddenly we had to answer the phone with ‘Messer
Griesheim’”, recalls Reinhold Hartlieb, former head of
the Stuttgart subsidiary in southern Germany <strong>and</strong>, subsequently,
managing director of Messer in Switzerl<strong>and</strong>.
The merger brought a difficult integration phase that
lasted several years. After all, it was a merger of two
independent companies that had previously been fierce
competitors in the market place for many years. The conversations
get heated when they talk about the mistakes
that could have been avoided if “those at the top had
talked more frequently with one another” <strong>and</strong> had listened
to their employees’ suggestions for improvement.
The company first
Judging by the reaction of the wives, this isn’t the first
time that they have seen their husb<strong>and</strong>s get worked up
about this subject. One of the wives also used to work
at Messer, while the others looked after their families.
“We were a men-only club”, says Gerd Haase with a
smile, “just like our customers. Sales conversations
would start with a cigarette <strong>and</strong> a cup of coffee. We
knew what our customers liked, even their favourite
whisky.” “The family had to make sacrifices”, adds
Traute Haase, <strong>and</strong> the other ladies agree that the company
came first on too many occasions. Now that they
are retired, they have plenty of other things to talk
about <strong>and</strong> time to exchange photos from the last gettogether,
share a laugh <strong>and</strong> explore the surrounding
area. This year’s event was organised by Reinhold
Hartlieb, who stayed on in Switzerl<strong>and</strong> after retiring.
“We try to do things we find enjoyable”, he explains,
although the group excursion to his beloved Jungfrau,
Eiger <strong>and</strong> Mönch mountain peaks was thwarted by descending
fog. But that doesn’t matter, because being
together is what counts.
Diana Buss, Messer Group
on air 09 · 2008