"I look back with gratitude." - Prof. Dr. h. c. mult. Reinhold Würth celebrates his 80th birthday

The employees of Würth already sent their best wishes at ten in the morning: A Piper PA-18 carrying a banner message circled above Hermersberg mansion in the Hohenlohe town of Künzelsau, the home of Prof. Reinhold Würth: "Happy Birthday from your Würth employees."

He turned a small screw wholesaling company into a world market leader in the trade with fastening and assembly technology. He employs more than 66,000 people all over the world. He established an art collection of more than 16,000 works. Prof. Dr. h. c. mult. Reinhold Würth, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Würth Group's Family Trusts and Honorary Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Würth Group celebrated his 80th birthday yesterday, on 20 April 2015. Around 500 guests, friends and acquaintances from the worlds of politics, business and culture came to attend the celebration at Freie Schule Anne-Sophie in Künzelsau.

The German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier and EU Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger were among the speakers:

"We are both responsible for establishing connections across the world, and for turning these connection into stable ties," Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said about the working life of Reinhold Würth. "You did not only export screws and bolts. You carried your personal commitment out into the world." Günther H. Oettinger, the EU Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, praised the connection between business and culture: "I am grateful that education and learning were always important to you."

The great birthday surprise

The mezzo soprano Cecilia Bartoli was the great birthday surprise for Prof. Reinhold Würth. The artist opened her birthday performance with "Exsultate jubilate" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart followed by other works of the famous composer and ended with the well-known "Alleluia".

Culture and Congress Center

But it was Prof. Würth himself who announced another wonderful birthday surprise: The new culture and congress center will be built. Construction will start this fall. The opening is planned for 18 July 2017, the 80th birthday of his wife Carmen Würth. The congress hall will be named after her as well: Carmen Würth Hall.

"Happy Birthday, dear Reinhold"

It was Cecilia Bartoli who started the final song: Together with the entire Würth family, all guests joined into the song "Happy Birthday to you".

Anniversary trilogy

In 2014, the Würth Group and Reinhold Würth celebrated a very special event: his 65th employment anniversary. With the 80th birthday of Reinhold Würth and the 70th company anniversary of Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG (the parent company of the Group), the Würth Group completes a trilogy of anniversaries which will culminate in numerous events in 2015, in line with the company tradition of celebrating such occasions. The public will be invited to an open-house day on Sunday, 21 June 2015. Reinhold Würth will celebrate his birthday with all employees working at the head office of Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG in Künzelsau-Gaisbach with an after-work party on Tuesday, 21 April.

The person Reinhold Würth – curiosity has always been his driving force

"I always wanted to know what there was behind the mountain or the next corner." This statement by Reinhold Würth himself describes him best. This curiosity has always driven him – and still does. He is distinguished by this courage to enter rough terrain and to look where nobody even expects to see something. He combines this characteristic with his skill to inspire people. He knew right from the start that a company needs values and a strong culture to avoid that objectives would just remain visions. He has always attached great importance to respecting and recognizing the performance of each individual. For him, such appreciation is a quality distinction of the Würth culture. The company's principle of "The term we consider most important in dealing with each other is thank you" reflects this.

Prof. Dr. h. c. mult. Reinhold Würth

Adolf Würth, the father of Prof. Reinhold Würth, founded Adolf Würth GmbH Co. KG in Künzelsau in 1945. In 1949, 14-year old Reinhold Würth started his commercial training at his father’s screw wholesale business. After the early death of his father in 1954, he took over the company at the age of 19. Starting in the years of reconstruction in postwar Germany, he has turned the former two-man business into a globally operating trading group with more than 400 companies in more than 80 countries. In 2014, the group of companies generated sales of more than EUR 10 billion.