Hauptmann Helmut Eberspächer

His obituary from the Eberspächer company website is reproduced below.

 

  Helmut Eberspächer: a socio-politically committed entrepreneur

Esslingen, 27 June 2011 – He was one of the well-known business figures in Baden-Württemberg (Germany) after the war, not only did he successfully drive forward the development of international automotive supplier Eberspächer, he also became involved during his lifetime on a socio-political level and in industrial association affairs. Helmut Eberspächer, for many years the CEO of the Eberspächer group of companies, died on 19 June 2011 at the age of 95 in Esslingen/Neckar.

After his high school graduation, the grandson of company founder Jakob Eberspächer, born in Tübingen in 1915, began his studies in mechanical engineering at Stuttgart University of Technology, from which he graduated as a qualified engineer in 1939. During the Second World War, Eberspächer served as a pilot in the German Air Force and was awarded the Knight’s Cross. Shortly after the end of the war the young engineer joined the family business, founded in 1865 as a plumber's workshop, which at that time was still known in the region as “Glasdach-Eberspächer” (roof-glazing). In 1950, together with Walter Eberspächer, he took over the chairmanship of the board of management. Later, with his nephew Hans Eberspächer and son-in-law Dr. Günter Baumann, he managed the rapidly growing company and remained active in this role until the end of 1988. Following his age-related retirement from day-to-day business, Helmut Eberspächer headed the company’s advisory board for a further 17 years and held its honorary chairmanship until the end. His outstanding entrepreneurial achievements were recognized nationwide. From 1969 to 1999 Helmut Eberspächer was a member of the board of the Confederation of German Employers (BDA) and from 1968 to 1990 of the German Automotive Industry Association (VDA). In 1981 he was appointed an honorary senator of the University of Stuttgart. He took over the presidency of the State Federation of Baden-Württemberg Employers’ Associations (from 1978 to 1988) as the successor to his friend Hanns Martin Schleyer, following his murder. In addition, as a music lover, Helmut Eberspächer was a committed patron of the International Bach Academy.

During his active period he played a substantial role in the expansion of the company group to become one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers in the area of exhaust technology and vehicle heaters. Shortly after he joined the company, serial production of pre-heaters began for the VW Beetle and the one millionth muffler left the plant. The cutting-edge technology company was already manufacturing catalytic converters and particle filters in the 1980s. As a far-sighted entrepreneur, at the time Helmut Eberspächer was already placing increasing emphasis on the international growth of the corporate group. Nonetheless, it was those Swabian virtues above all that he took as his principles: absolute dependability, highly personal contact with the customer and unswerving loyalty to his staff – coupled with the intense striving of the engineer for ever more advanced innovations. He was proud of the fact that the international group of companies, with around 5,600 staff in 26 countries, remains 100 per cent family-owned to this day: his grandson Heinrich Baumann, who has been in corporate management since 2004, and Martin Peters from the other shareholder group, who has been in management since 2001, make up the fifth generation of managing partners.

Caption:
Helmut Eberspächer (*18.11.1915  †19.06.2011)

Eberspächer ranks amongst the leading system developers and suppliers of exhaust technology, vehicle heaters and bus air conditioning systems worldwide and is also involved in automotive electronics and automotive bus systems for electronic networking in the vehicles. Its customers include almost all European and North American, and increasingly more Asian manufacturers of passenger cars and commercial vehicles. In 2010, the internationally positioned group of companies, with approximately 5,600 employees, posted sales of over 1.9 billion Euros.

J. Eberspaecher GmbH & Co. KG
Public Relations
Eberspaecherstrasse 24
73730 Esslingen
GERMANY

Phone +49 711 939-0250
Fax +49 711 939-0642
presse@eberspaecher.com