“Preserving HOERBIGER and its independence is our most important goal.”

Looking back on the past year: how does the Board of Trustees assess the development of HOERBIGER?

Dr. Andreas Hünerwadel — The Group has had a stable fiscal year in a difficult environment. HOERBIGER employees have achieved a good result in a challenging market situation. For this, the Board of Trustees is sincerely greatful. The year was also marked by the divestments of Altronic and the reed valve business, as well as the successful acquisition of Physik Instrumente (PI). The Board of Directors and Executive Board have thus consistently implemented the defined strategy, thereby securing HOERBIGER’s long-term well-being.

The Foundation, together with the family shareholder Ms. Christiana Hörbiger, holds 100% of the shares in HOERBIGER. What does this ownership structure mean for stability, decision-making freedom, and future viability?

AH — The fact that HOERBIGER has only two shareholders, who moreover agree on all key issues, is in my view a major advantage. This stable ownership structure provides the Board of Directors and Executive Board with optimal conditions and gives them the freedom to think and invest for the long term.

HOERBIGER has a solid equity base. We replace the critical scrutiny from the capital markets, as experienced by publicly traded companies, with high internal standards, critical questioning, and a constructively demanding approach within the Foundation and Board of Directors, as well as in the Executive Board and the global management team.

The HOERBIGER Foundation sets clear guidelines for the Group. What are the guardrails?

AH — To ensure that HOERBIGER remains competitive, the Board of Trustees has defined a clear ownership strategy. This includes long-term portfolio orientation and diversification across at least three strong business segments, clear growth and profitability targets, a limit on debt, as well as principles of leadership and corporate culture. On the one hand, these guidelines provide direction without restricting the necessary operational freedom. On the other hand, they also send a clear signal to the Board of Directors and Executive Board that the Foundation has high expectations.

In a world that is changing at an increasingly rapid pace: how does a foundation maintain the courage to make decisions with a time horizon of ten or more years?

AH — This has less to do with courage than with a well-founded confidence in HOERBIGER’s capabilities – that is, in all of our employees. Because it is rare for all business areas to underperform at the same time, HOERBIGER stabilizes the entire Group with a diversified portfolio. This long-term perspective reduces dependence on declining markets such as the internal combustion engine and oil industries and strengthens our commitment to future-oriented and technological sectors – ideally even to megatrends like the semiconductor industry or green technologies.

HOERBIGER is undergoing a profound transformation. How is the Foundation contributing to the success of this transformation?

AH — HOERBIGER’s transformation is supported and driven forward by its employees. Our role as the Board of Trustees is to ensure that the Board of Directors, the Executive Board, Group management, and all employees can work without disruption and have the freedom to act in a long-term and sustainable manner.

What role did the HOERBIGER Foundation play in the acquisition of PI?

AH — Based on discussions with PI’s founder, Dr. Karl Spanner, I am convinced that the Foundation made a significant contribution to PI becoming part of the HOERBIGER family.

Dr. Spanner and his family, along with the two other owner families, came to the conclusion that the PI Group could no longer be managed independently. Dr. Spanner’s primary concern was preserving his life’s work. HOERBIGER offered the ideal safe haven for this: an internationally active technology group with a long history, a family-owned company that has successfully resolved its own succession issues, a group with strong business areas, and a track record of successful acquisitions and integrations. Furthermore, the Group’s technical expertise, engineering culture, and financial stability were certainly also convincing factors.

The exceptionally dedicated and professional work of the HOERBIGER deal team, led by Thorsten Kahlert, made the most of this unique opportunity. This achievement – carried out in parallel with divestments and day-to-day operations – has deeply impressed me and the entire Board of Trustees.

HOERBIGER’s long-term stability is one of your core principles. How does the acquisition of PI help ensure this stability for the coming decades?

AH — With the acquisition of PI, the Group fulfills the diversification requirement outlined in the ownership strategy – namely, to have at least three strong Divisions – as well as the clear expectation of playing a leading role in growth markets. With PI, our portfolio is gradually shifting toward sustainable future and technology markets – an important contribution to stability in the coming decades.

What role do the entrepreneurial family and the company’s history play in shaping HOERBIGER’s identity, culture, and appeal?

AH — HOERBIGER is not just any company, but a family- owned business with over 130 years of history, Austrian roots, a corporate headquarters in Switzerland, and global operations in 40 countries across all continents. In German-speaking regions, the name Hörbiger is synonymous with a family tradition of technical, scientific, and artistic excellence. The founder of the Group, Hanns Hörbiger, was not only a gifted engineer but also gained worldwide fame as the creator of the World Ice Theory.

Alfred Hörbiger, who succeeded his father in the company, was not only an outstanding engineer but also a trained painter. Martina Hörbiger, the widow of the early deceased Alfred Hörbiger, made history as a female entrepreneur in the postwar era. Attila and Paul Hörbiger, two other sons of founder Hanns Hörbiger, were famous stage actors and film stars in the postwar era, as well as the founders of an entire dynasty of artists that continues to this day.

To this day, the Hörbiger family continues to play an important role in industry, science, culture, and society. The history of the Hörbiger family and the HOERBIGER Group is correspondingly rich and diverse. A history that makes us unique and that must be collected, curated, and made accessible to the public. For it inspires and motivates our employees to continue writing and shaping this history as part of HOERBIGER.

The Foundation is working to preserve the company’s history. What significance does the planned exhibition in Vienna’s Seestadt hold in this context, and what do you hope to convey through it?

AH — The exhibition aims to bring our rich entrepreneurial and family heritage to life for HOERBIGER employees and the interested public. Especially now, as the Group is in the midst of a transformation and setting the course for the future, looking back at our origins is particularly valuable. The future has its roots in the past – this statement holds especially true at HOERBIGER.

When you look back at earlier generations of the Hörbiger entrepreneurial family, what principles or values still inspire the foundation today?

AH — The courage to break new ground. The trust in the creative power of our employees. And the confidence that we can successfully shape the future based on our own capabilities. 

We are independent and stand on a solid foundation. That means we might stumble along the way. That’s part of life. From our perspective, it’s about more than just “higher, faster, further”; it’s about preserving and continually renewing the family business entrusted to the HOERBIGER Foundation.

Which goal for HOERBIGER is so important to you that you never lose sight of it?

AH — Preserving HOERBIGER and its independence.

What do you personally consider to be the most important contribution your role makes to the future of HOERBIGER?

AH — The Board of Trustees sees itself as the “Guardian of Long-Term Thinking.” Our task is to keep the company on track for the long term and to ensure its sustainable development.

My responsibility is to ensure that the Board of Trustees, the Board of Directors and the Executive Board are staffed with individuals of professional excellence and integrity. And that they can work independently, with focus, and effectively within the clear framework of the owner’s strategy.