Bonding - More than materials | Herrmann Ultraschall

1 2 4 3 “WALTER AND HIS WIFE INGEBORG TAUGHT ME THINGS I HAVE LEARNED FOR LIFE.” 1 Jürgen Pfrommer was a bobsled driver who achieved many successes with the Goldstadt four from Pforzheim. 2 Finally, a Herrmann had the courage to go onto the ice track ... 3 ... like Thomas Herrmann here at the seniors championship in Innsbruck in 2020. 4 Jürgen Pfrommer can now retire in 2021 with peace of mind – the next generation is in the starting grid. interview: “Walter Herrmann sat in his office at a big, massive desk and there were antlers hung up behind him,” recounts Jürgen Pfrommer. “I was so nervous, and these antlers, that was surely a 50-point stag. We talked for about two minutes; I started two weeks later – the employment contract came only afterward.” That day is now over 46 years ago. Pfrommer is actually now ready to retire. He put it off for one year – “but then, eventually, it is time!” initially, he needed an ‘orientation phase’ – and then things went upward in leaps and bounds.” Ex- pansion to China and Japan, more Tech-Centers around the world, and more employees. Jürgen Pfrommer will not have anything bad said about Walter Herrmann. “What a boss he was. We were not stupid, but when we did not know what to do, we had to ask him, because he always had an idea or a possible solution. He is really phenom- enal,” says Pfrommer. The boss was a mentor, who shaped and support- ed his employees, “to the level at he wanted to have us.” Jürgen Pfrommer continues: “Once you had reached that level, you had all the freedoms of the company. He then rarely ques- tioned what we did, because he knew that it worked.” ROLE MODEL FUNCTION He was 19 years old at the time; Walter Herrmann was a sort of role model for the young employee. “I had only nonsense in my head,” said Pfrommer, laughing. “Walter was impressive; he still is. I have learned a crazy amount of stuff from him and his wife. How to handle money, for example. I only had to observe that a bit; then I knew how life works, how you move forward.” This has made Jürgen Pfrommer a bit like a member of the family. “There is little formality between us; I address the boss using the informal German pronoun Du (“you”) and vice versa, by no way a matter of course in Germany. The same thing goes for Ingeborg. We should be grateful that she was in the company. She always had an eye on the money, counted every penny. That was important in such a company as we were over 45 years ago.” Walter and Ingeborg Herrmann’s children were only a few years younger than Jürgen Pfrommer. “Thomas was 12 or 13 years old, Sabine 15. I went motocross riding with Thomas over in the quarry – Walter did not like that at all,” he says, laughing. “I think Thomas was always happy when he was al- lowed to go with us older boys.” Despite such daredevil antics, Jürgen Pfrommer only once saw the company founder “lose it.” “Someone screwed up and we had actually already said ‘Forget it,’ when one of us said he knew what was wrong but didn’t say anything to anyone. At that, Walter jumped out of his seat and nearly over- turned the table. But that was the only time I saw him like that.” INTIMIDATING It was also the senior boss who taught Pfrommer that it was important to have a hobby besides work and that health was the most important thing. “After work, he went hunting. He finished at 6 pm and was off – we youngsters learned a lot from him; we still do!” Jürgen Pfrommer sought such an activity for himself to act as a counter- balance for his work and found that sports was perfect for him. “I rode bobsleds for many years and was pretty successful. This was also an environment in which I could make good use of what I had learned from Ingeborg and Walter: Find sponsors and always be better than the others. That took me far.” What was initially intended “only for a bit of fun” devel- oped into a career that ended abruptly at the world cup race in Sarajevo in 1986. A tragic fall forced him to stop. Walter Herrmann never shared Jürgen Pfrommer’s passion for the ice track; even so, he has supported him. However, one of the Herrmanns has by now dared to go into a bobsled. Thomas Herrmann followed an invitation from Pfrommer to bobsled through the ice track during the Eu- ropean championships for seniors in Innsbruck. “I had already had guests ride along with me in the past, which involves a lot of responsibility. When we got to the bottom of the track, I had to laugh at Thomas, who was real- ly shaken by the speed in the ice track. But he loved it!” A friend of Jürgen Pfrommer brought him to Herrmann in 1974; they were looking for an electronics engi- neer. Pfrommer will never forget his JÜRGEN PFROMMER THE SKILLED ELEC- TRICIAN JOINED THE COMPANY IN 1974. IN THE PAST, EVERYONE DID A BIT OF EVERY- THING, INCLUDING THE PROFESSIONAL BOB- SLEDDER. TODAY, HE WORKS AS A SERVICE SPECIALIST IN THE PACKAGING BUSINESS UNIT AND IS ACTIVE GLOBALLY IN MACHINE OPTIMIZATIONS, START- UPS, AND CUSTOMER SUPPORT. 103 102