Heinz Dürr turns 90

Heinz Dürr joined the family business in 1957. Under his leadership, Dürr developed into a leading machinery and plant manufacturer, combining Swabian medium-sized spirit, innovative strength and global business. Since the 1970s, Heinz Dürr has become known throughout Germany as a negotiator for metalworking employers, Chairman of the Board of Management of AEG, head of Deutsche Bahn and Foundation Commissioner of the Carl Zeiss Foundation. Today, the entrepreneur with a wide range of interests lives in his adopted home of Berlin and, together with his wife, is involved in the Heinz and Heide Dürr Foundation for Culture, Science and Early Childhood Education. Born in Stuttgart in 1933, Heinz Dürr completed a locksmith apprenticeship in Uerdingen after graduating from high school and then studied mechanical engineering in his hometown. His first station in the family business was the design department. The managing director at the time was his father Otto Dürr, while his mother Betty kept the accounts. In the post-war period, the company based in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen underwent major changes: the sheet metal processing specialist became an industrial company focusing on apparatus engineering and surface treatment. The foundation stone was laid for today's world market leadership in paint finishing technology.

At the age of 27, Heinz Dürr joined the company's management. Business with the automotive industry was expanded. With a dose of daring, the junior boss pushed ahead with internationalization. In 1964, the first foreign subsidiary was founded in Brazil. Under the direction of "HD", Dürr built its first complete automotive paint shop for Volkswagen in São Paulo. Further company foundations followed, for example in Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Mexico, the USA, South Africa, India and China. In 1990 Heinz Dürr floated Dürr AG on the stock exchange, an unusual step for a medium-sized family business at that time. The proceeds were used to acquire the application technology specialist Behr, from which Dürr's successful painting robot division emerged. A later landmark acquisition that Heinz Dürr helped drive forward was the 2014 takeover of the HOMAG Group, which specializes in woodworking technology. It significantly broadened Dürr's portfolio in mechanical engineering. Heinz Dürr was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Dürr AG from 1990 to 2013. Since 2006, Prof. Dr. Dr. Alexandra Dürr, one of the three daughters of Heinz and Heide Dürr, has represented the family on the Supervisory Board with their 29 % shareholding. Heinz Dürr is closely associated with the company as Honorary Chairman of the Supervisory Board. He regularly visits the company headquarters in Bietigheim-Bissingen and seeks discussions with the Board of Management and employees. Heinz Dürr has received numerous honors and awards. These include an honorary doctorate as Dr.-Ing. E.h. from the Rhenish-Westphalian Technical University in Aachen (1996) and the Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2003). He is honorary chairman of several institutes and societies, including the Institute for Energy Efficiency in Production (University of Stuttgart) and the Walther Rathenau Society (Berlin).