On 25 December 1887, Werner von Siemens wrote a letter to his brother Carl. The Siemens Historical Institute calls it the most important of his many letters. Siemens wrote that he saw the business only secondarily as a financial asset. For him it was ein Reich welches ich gegründet habe, an empire that he had founded. He wanted to hand it on undiminished to his descendants, so that they could continue to build in it. As early as 1863, he had written to Carl about founding eine dauernde Firma, a lasting firm.
Owned So It Cannot Be Sold
On 19 May 1889, Ernst Abbe founded the Carl Zeiss Foundation. In 1891 it became the owner of the optical company Zeiss and of part of the glassworks Schott. Abbe wanted to secure the companies for the long term. The foundation’s statute today says that the two companies are to be continued permanently. The foundation’s shares in them dürfen nicht veräußert werden, may not be sold, except to avert a threat to a company’s existence or if the foundation is dissolved.
Bosch is built in a similar way. The Robert Bosch Foundation holds about 94 percent of the capital of Robert Bosch GmbH, but has no influence on strategy. A trust company, Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, holds about 93 percent of the voting rights. Its task is to safeguard the company’s long-term existence and in particular its financial independence.
Fit for the Grandchildren
Franz Haniel & Cie. has had its headquarters in Duisburg-Ruhrort since it was founded in 1756, and it is still entirely owned by the family. The company sums up its guiding principle in one word: enkelfähig, fit for the grandchildren. In its own history, the company explains the word as creating economic value and strengthening social fairness, so that later generations have comparable opportunities. Its company magazine carries the same name.
Safe for One Million Years
Germany is searching for a site to store its high-level radioactive waste. The Site Selection Act of 2017 requires the site to ensure the best possible safety für einen Zeitraum von einer Million Jahren, for a period of one million years. The money for storage has been set aside. On 3 July 2017, the energy companies paid a total of 24.1 billion euros into a state fund, KENFO, to finance interim and final storage. The schedule has not held. The law aims to fix the site in 2031. In August 2024, a study for the federal office for the safety of nuclear waste management found that, even under ideal conditions, a decision could be expected in 2074 at the earliest.
The Hundred-Year Flood, Plus Fifteen Percent
German flood protection is planned around a defined flood, the HQ100. It is a flood that occurs at a given place statistically once in a hundred years. Under the Water Resources Act, the states must designate by regulation the areas such a flood would cover. In 2004, Bavaria introduced a Klimaänderungszuschlag, a climate change surcharge, for planning flood defenses. It is a flat 15 percent added to the HQ100.
Hamburg After 1962
On the night of 16 to 17 February 1962, a storm surge reached 5.70 meters above standard sea level at the St. Pauli gauge in Hamburg. Dikes broke in more than 60 places, and about a sixth of the city was flooded. In Hamburg, 315 people died. More than 40,000 soldiers of the Bundeswehr were deployed, although the constitution did not provide for the armed forces to act at home. The police senator, Helmut Schmidt, had asked for them. Afterwards, the dikes in the Hamburg area were raised to at least eight meters above sea level. In 1976, the water rose much higher than in 1962. There were losses in the port, but the city itself suffered no significant losses.
West Berlin’s Secret Stores
After the Berlin Blockade of 1948 to 1949, the three Western city commandants ordered West Berlin in 1950 to keep stocks, the Senatsreserve. The goal was to keep normal life going for at least 180 days in case of a new blockade. The reserve held staple foods, medicine, coal, fuel, raw materials and everyday goods, among them 189,000 tonnes of grain and four million light bulbs. At one point there were more than 700 storage sites, most of them secret. The goods were rotated, and old stock was sold cheaply to Berliners. The reserve was dissolved in 1990.
No Removal Without a Successor
Under Article 67 of the Basic Law, the Bundestag can remove a chancellor only by electing a successor at the same time, with an absolute majority. This is the constructive vote of no confidence. It answers the Weimar Constitution, which allowed parliament to bring down a government without electing a new one. The vote has been tried twice. In 1972, Rainer Barzel failed against Willy Brandt. Ten years later, Helmut Kohl replaced Helmut Schmidt.
Ninety Days of Oil
West Germany introduced compulsory oil stocks in 1966. Since 1978, the stocks have been held by the Erdölbevorratungsverband, the Petroleum Stockholding Association, a public body to which refiners and importers must belong. Section 3 of the Oil Stockholding Act requires it to hold stocks equal to at least 90 days of average daily net imports. The obligation was raised from 80 to 90 days in 1998. The members’ fees come to about 0.3 cents per liter of fuel or heating oil. The stocks have been released six times: in the Gulf crisis of 1990 to 1991, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, in the Libya crisis of 2011, during low water on the Rhine in 2018, in March 2022, at the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine, and in March 2026. That time, the federal government released 19.5 million barrels as part of a joint release by the International Energy Agency.
Early Warning by Law
Since 1 May 1998, Section 91 of the Stock Corporation Act has required the management board to take suitable measures. In particular, it must set up a monitoring system, damit den Fortbestand der Gesellschaft gefährdende Entwicklungen früh erkannt werden, so that developments that threaten the company’s survival are detected early. The rule came with the KonTraG, the law on control and transparency in business. Since 1 January 2021, the restructuring law StaRUG has set out the duty of early crisis detection in statute for the managers of all legal entities, whatever their legal form.