Page 18 - AHP Magazin 2022 EN

CHRISTEN MERKLE IS APPOINTED SENATOR

Christen Merkle appointed “Senator h.c.” of the Business Senate in the German Association (Wirtschaftssenat)
of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses “It fills me with pride to receive such a recognition! Being an en-
trepreneur is a life task. Either you take on this task “with skin and
hair” or you don’t. Because it is also an enormous challenge for the
During a dinner at the Kurländer Palais in Dresden, Chris- entire family.
toph Ahlhaus, Secretary General of the Federal Senate of
Economics and former First Mayor (Hamburg), held the That’s why we have to work on making the public image of the
laudatory speech: entrepreneur more positive again. Because the term “entrepreneur”
has no longer been valued in recent years. Despite the fact that over
“Dear Mr. Merkle, it fills me with great pride that I am able to 70 percent of the working population in Germany is employed in a
appoint you Senator today. I see you as a medium-sized business- small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)!
man as he lives and moves - practical, hardworking, blessed with
clear common sense and intuitively successful. Also, with regard to the generation that will one day replace the
You grew up in a family business, but not with a golden spoon in current entrepreneurs, it is important that we work on a much more
your mouth and you had to fight hard for your success. positive image! After all, it is these many dedicated entrepreneurs
who safeguard jobs, are socially committed and act responsibly, es-
(...) You joined the family business AHP Merkle in 1988 - not en- pecially in difficult times.”
tirely voluntarily - because the company - which manufactures
hydraulic cylinders - had considerable financial problems at that – Christen Merkle
time. These resulted from the significant underfinancing - which
had accompanied the company from the beginning. Thus, the
2,500 D-Mark equity capital in the opening balance sheet in 1973
was contributed by a “used Volvo station wagon”.
It must not be forgotten that you were only 20 years old at the
time and as we all know, most 20-year-olds have other dreams
than the daily fight against an impending insolvency. And you,
dear Mr. Merkle, took up the fight and mastered the challenge
with success.
While working, you even completed your studies at the Univer-
sity of St. Gallen with the highest grade and after 7 years in the
company you had turned the tide - among other things through
a personal guarantee in a considerable amount.

(...) Dear Mr. Merkle, what distinguishes you is your diligence,
your persistence and your striving for success. What I find parti-
cularly impressive is that you never lose sight of the big picture
and are always there for others.
This includes above all your wife and your 6 children, but also
every single employee.
Dear Mr. Merkle, you are more than a CEO, you are the head of
the family, with all consequences.

It is therefore a great pleasure for me to award you today, in re-
cognition of your outstanding achievements as an entrepreneur Katrin Merkle was elected to the board
and your commitment to the interests of German small and me- of directors “Wirtschaftsrat Deutschland,
dium-sized enterprises, the Senator h. c. of the Economic Se- Freiburg-Emmendingen Section” on 08.12.2021.
nate of the Federal Association of Small and Medium-Sized Congratulations!
Businesses.
My sincerest congratulations!”

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