Marianne Bechstein: The daughter of the founder

Although still a child, she has fond memories of the early years of MAPAL, which is founded in 1950. The beginnings were modest. Dr Georg Kress sold his well-running tax consultancy to finance the foundation. “Before MAPAL was founded, I was always given two pairs of shoes, afterwards only one pair,” recalls Marianne Bechstein, as all available money is put into the young company. And on Sundays, after going for a walk together, they would always stop by the company, where Dr Georg Kress would proudly show his family the latest machines and equipment - even though the children Marianne, Dieter and Peter, the one born with some years distance in between, are still very young.

“Our father was of course a child of his time. That's why it was always clear to him that my only slightly younger brother Dieter, rather than me as a girl or woman, should join the company. My father had planned for me to study philology and then work as a teacher,” she says, explaining why she dutifully went to the University of Freiburg after leaving school. After three semesters, however, she decides to study economics and transferres to the University of Munich. Here she meets her future husband Dr Eberhard Bechstein. They marry before completing their studies and the degree certificate is already issued in the name Marianne Bechstein.

After studying and having two children, the family moves to Stuttgart in 1975. Marianne Bechstein still lives there today. However, she has always remained close to MAPAL, being a shareholder since the early 1980s. “In a family business, trust is more important than control,” she says, describing how the second generation of the family worked together as shareholders. She and her brother Dr Dieter Kress speak on the phone at least once a week. Upcoming decisions, especially acquisitions, are a regular topic of these conversations. “We three children of Georg and Emma Kress, Dieter, Peter and me, have a very good relationship and always pulled in the same direction, even though we are very different. Dieter Kress always had our full support during the many years he was at the helm of the company, which certainly made it easier for him to turn MAPAL into such a successful global player. And it is very nice for me to see that this trusting relationship is just as strong in the next, the third generation,” emphasises Marianne Bechstein. She is convinced that “The harmony among the family is very, very essential.”