More visits with conservatory manufacturers in Germany
Matthias Steinbach, his fiancé Simona, Nancy and I in the showroom of the Steinbach Company
On Wednesday morning we drove from Wurtzburg on the Main River to Solms near Wetzlar to visit the firm of Steinbach Wintergartens.
We were graciously met by Matthias Steinbach and his fiancé Simona. The Steinbach Company is all about production efficiency. The wintergartens they build are as beautiful and well built as others, but Mathias and his father, the second generation Steinbach in the business have cleverly developed very efficient methods of designing and producing the various standard models that are in their repertoire.
The conservatories in their showroom are artistically surrounded by pools of water.
This was an eye opener for me and gave me a goal to strive for – to be able to produce the varied and complex conservatories that Tanglewood is known for with the efficiency of the Steinbach Wintergarten company.
Again we were impressed with the openness and generosity of Matthias, his father and Simona, as they set aside a great deal of time from their busy schedules to meet with Nancy and I. Their enthusiasm for the business they have built and the unique systems they have developed was definitely contagious. We quickly found ourselves deep in discussion of the many details of designing and building conservatories and building and running a successful business.
After our meeting, we drove to the small town of Vegesack near Bremen on the northern coast. It is a small waterside town which reminded me a bit of the Eastern Shore. You might not be able to see them, but at the very right side of the picture below are several windmills on the horizon. These are very large, with blades that are about 120 feet long. You can see them all over Germany as the Germans take alternative energy and energy efficiency much more seriously than we do in the US.
Vegesack Harbor
On Friday morning, we drove a short distance to Delmenhorst for a very interesting meeting with Jurgen Hohnholt, owner of the Winter-Green conservatory company.
Jurgen designs and builds the most stylized English conservatories I saw in Germany during our trip. Jurgen took over the business from his father 25 years ago when they were making only windows, doors and cabinetry and quickly decided to expand in to conservatories. Not knowing about how a conservatory should be built (there were none in Germany at the time) he had to figure out the methods of construction himself.
The surprising thing about this for me was that we had to do the same thing when Nancy and I started Tanglewood 15 years ago and the construction details and methods we developed are almost exactly the same as the ones I saw Jurgen using! We were all happily surprised about this and felt that this was confirmation that the solutions to the construction issues that we independently came up with, were indeed correct.
Jurgen, Nancy & I inside Winter-Green Conservatories Workshop
Jurgen designed his workshop building himself!
The people here are unbelievably helpful and generous. They have shared everything from their time to the details of their business with Nancy and I. It is very impressive. They have opened their businesses, their homes and their hearts in a big way. We feel very appreciative.
Next – we arrive in Hamburg and meet with the Wintergarten-Fachverband group.
Auf Wiedersehen,
Alan