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

Today we leave for Germany – in a short few hours. After an overnight trans-Atlantic flight, we will arrive in Munich, the “capital” of Bavaria, the beautiful southern region of the country which borders the Alps.

Our plan is to spend Sunday and Monday sightseeing in the city (sampling the wonderful local beers) and exploring the surrounding areas, then leave on Tuesday morning for Hamburg in the north of the country via car. Though only about an eight hour drive, we will take two days to make the trip as we will be making stops along the way to visit several companies that produce greenhouses, wintergardens and custom conservatories.

We will be joined for the first part of the trip by Mr. Franz Wurm who is Director of the Wintergarten-Fachverband association, the group that is hosting our visit. Wintergarten-Fachverband is an association comprised of about 40 member companies that specialize in producing high quality wood, glass and aluminum wintergardens,which are what conservatories and sunrooms are called in Germany. The group’s members are located mainly throughout Germany but some are in Austria as well.

I’m especially looking forward to my visit this time as the weather promises to be spectacular. Last year, I was in Munich in March and it was quite cold and rainy so we missed sitting outside in the many gardens.

On Tuesday we will visit the firm Jechnerer, www.jechnerer.de near Nuernberg who manufactures doors, windows, wintergardens and other specialty products. I understand they have a very nice showroom. Then on Tuesday afternoon, we will spend some time in Wurzburg a lovely mid-sized river town that I fell in love with during my last visit. (See my blogs from March/April 2008).

On Wednesday and Thursday, we’ll visit two firms, Steinbach, www.steinbach-wintergarten.de, whose specialty is wintergardens and the firm Hohnholt near Bremen www.winter-green.de, one of the few companies in Germany producing very high quality “English” style conservatories, poolhouses, sunrooms and orangeries.

We’ll spend Friday night in Hamburg and attend the Wintergarten-Fachverband association meeting on Friday to speak in front of their group about Tanglewood’s work designing and building conservatories, greenhouses and pool enclosures in the United States, the highlight of our trip.

I’ll keep in touch throughout our trip as it promises to be a very interesting week. The German companies design and build a different type of product and we both have much to share with each other about our manufacturing, our design and our markets.

It is easy to see that they are as passionate about their work and their companies as Nancy and I are about Tanglewood and many of their company founders share a similar background as myself – starting out as a carpenter many years ago!

Alan