HANWAG BERGPOST 2 – 2011/12 | 1
News, Stories and interesting Facts about the Bavarian Bootmaker
Edition 2 | Winter 2011/2012 | Free
Josef Wagner celebrates 90th Birthday
Ois Guade, Sepp! *
* means ”Happy Birthday” in a heavy Bavarian dialect
Foto: Peter Wilson
Two important birthdays in just one year: Hanwag has been around for 90 years and the very person who has successfully lead, directed and influenced the company for decades also celebrates his 90th birthday. Josef “Sepp” Wagner turns 90 on Dec. 21, 2011. Many people will chant “Ois Guade”, the Bavarian way of saying “Happy Birthday”. Text: Julia Englhart ”Sepp” Wagner on top of the Zugspitze - Germany‘s highest mountain.
Game, Set, Match... But “retirement” isn’t really his thing, and just being idle? Never! Even today you will run into Sepp Wagner in the production facility in Vierkirchen, just outside of Munich, Germany. He dives right in, oversees the finished products, and passes along his knowledge to colleagues. He does treat himself to the special luxury of a mid-day nap. And Thursdays? No time in the morning! He still meets his three tennis partners for a round of doubles each week. For this issue of the Bergpost we took the opportunity to ask him a few questions – ones that of those at Hanwag only he can answer. We wanted to know all about his re-
lationship with German climbing and paragliding legend (and namesake) Sepp Gschwendtner, how the small Bavarian shoe-making facility survived the war – and why you can only get the Munich beer brand “Spaten” at the plant. The interview with Hanwag’s “Sepp” you can read on the next page. And we’d like to offer our heartfelt best wishes – not only to his 90th birthday, but also to his life’s work... which is something you can actually wear!
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ix months ago we published our first issue of the customer newspaper, “Bergpost”. Of course, we were quite eager to find out how it would come out and if it would be enthusiastically read! We immediately questioned our friends and acquaintances further, prodding them with, “So, what do you think?”
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Greetings Bergpost readers!
Interview with President Emeritus Josef ”Sepp” Wagner
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Not only the tennis court is a good place to be: Sepp Wagner at the production facility.
The responses we received thrilled us. From all different types of people – customers, colleagues, shoe freaks, shoe fans, alpinists, lift operators, 24-hour trekkers, 8a climbers, adults and kids alike – we heard very positive feedback: “Authentic stories and interesting topics”. With that in mind, here you now have the brandnew second issue of the Bergpost. In the last issue we focused on our company’s 90th anniversary. This time around, it’s all about another 90th – the 90th birthday of our senior manager Josef Wagner in December 2011. So excuse us please for stepping back in time again, but “Sepp” – the nickname for Josef in
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EDITORIAL
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THIS EDITION:
Bavarian – has things to share. Nine decades – with 75 of those years with just one company – aren’t just for the shoemaker and for shoemaking a long time! Have fun reading!
Jürgen Siegwarth and the Hanwag team
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Boot in Detail: The Alaska GTX®
Retail: Interview with Evert Bobeldijk from Zwerfkei Outdoor Centre (Netherlands)
Twelve Young People from the Irschenberg Caritas Kinderdorf Cross the Alps on Foot
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Technology: The Secret behind Hanwag’s IceGrip Sole
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Hanwag Customers: Konrad Mühlberger
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What’s the Difference between Double Stitching and Genuine Double Stitching?
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The People behind Hanwag: Eva-Maria Lindinger
Page P.S. Just like last time we‘d love to get your feedback, whether it be praise or criticism. Drop us an email at Bergpost@hanwag.de or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com / Hanwag
Bivouac Shelter Successfully Mounted: How the Box was Flown in…
Photo: Thomas Gratzl
panded the once small shoemaker – with great success – until he finally entered a well-earned (not-so-truly) retirement in 2006 at 85 years of age.
Foto: Rafael Kroetz
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t all began for Hanwag at the family farm, “Samer Veitl”, where the three Wagner brothers who all ended up laying down strong roots in the boot market all grew up. Hans Wagner founded Hanwag, Lorenz Wagner also took a sip from the alphabet soup with his company Lowa, while Adolf Wagner broke rank – at least with his company’s name – by founding Hochland. Each made his own way. Hans Wagner turned early on to his nephew Joseph, called Sepp. Seventy-five years have slipped past since Sepp first tried his hand at shoemaking. In the last few decades much has happened: the company’s survival of the war and the difficult years afterward, the “economic miracle” (which were also the golden ages in the shoe market), and the continual balancing act of trend forecasting, innovation, technology, the modern and the traditional. Josef Wagner took over the management of Hanwag in 1964 and further ex-
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Hanwag ProTeam: Thorsten Hoyer