About Professor Reinhold Würth
A brief history of the life of Professor Reinhold Würth
Reinhold Würth was born in Öhringen, Germany on April 20, 1935.
Just after World War II, in 1945, his father, Adolf Würth founded an independent wood screw business in the old mill in his hometown in Künzelsau, Germany that would someday become the Würth Group.
His philosophy was that in the beginning there is always an idea. And the simpler it is, the more it can develop, because complicated ideas don't work. “Everyone needs screws” was the very simple idea of Adolf Würth.
In 1949, Adolf Würth took his son, Reinhold Würth, age 14, out of school to enter his father’s wholesale screw and nut business as the company’s second employee and first apprentice. Because Adolf Würth knew he had a heart defect, he wanted to start training his successor as early as possible. He spent the next 5 years turning his junior into a screw trading specialist and entrepreneur.
[Photo: An early photo of Reinhold Würth, circa 1949]
Würth wasn’t the only screw wholesaler in Germany in the 1950s. But he did something no one else did.
While most businesses set up shop on Mainstreet and waited for customers to enter, Adolf Würth took a proactive approach to sales: he went to talk to his customers directly.
Very early on, his father sent Reinhold on sales trips to talk to customers directly. At the age of just fifteen, Reinhold Würth drove to Düsseldorf all by himself for the first time to secure new customers for the company. While initially fearing the unknown knocking on strange doors, he came back successful and returned with new orders.
In 1952, he successfully completed his training as a wholesale and retail salesman with an examination at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
[Photo: Professor Würth's first car currently sits in Deutsches Automuseum, Schloss, Langenburg]
In 1954, at the age of 19, after the death of his father (Adolf Würth), Reinhold Würth took over the running of the family screw business with the help of his mother, Alma Würth. When Adolf Würth died, his knowledge and ability lived on in his son, as well as his mantra (achieve, achieve, achieve) and his character, whose main pillars are reliability and accountability.
The first business year under Reinhold’s management ended in 1955 with an annual turnover of EUR 80,000. The reconstruction of Germany after the Second World War favored the rapid growth of the company: fasteners such as screws and nuts were needed everywhere.
[Photo: A young Reinhold Würth with his father, Adolph Würth]
When his father died, the first people Reinhold hired (besides his mother) were sales reps.
[The young boss Reinhold Würth (second from left) with his three main sales representatives Otto Hempel, Hans Hügel and Artur Herold (1958).]
Reinhold Würth realized early that the key to success lies in growth so he set goals for the company. And, he achieved those goals and set new goals and the company continually grows every year.
In 1962, he took the plunge abroad and founded the first foreign company in the Netherlands, Würth Netherlands, and followed by launching companies that same year in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and other countries. In 1969, Reinhold Würth ventured over the Atlantic to North America. One year later, in 1970, Würth expanded its activities to South Africa. With the establishment of the companies in Australia (1982), Japan, and Malaysia (both 1987), the small group of companies had extended its footprint across all five continents.
Reinhold Würth has continually grown the Würth Group of companies globally during his 75-year career at the company. (Reinhold Würth celebrated his 75th Work Anniversary on October 1, 2024). The Würth Group now includes over 400 companies in 80 countries with more than 88,000 employees.
[Photo: The young boss Reinhold Würth (second from left) with his three main sales representatives Otto Hempel, Hans Hügel and Artur Herold (1958).]
“For me, sales is the most beautiful job in the world.”
Reinhold Würth
He loves sales for three reasons. The first is travel… “Travel is life and life is travel.” The second reason is all the people you get to know, and all of the interesting conversations you have with them. And, in his mind, salesman’s pleasure #3… "In sales, I became a good judge of character," says Reinhold Würth. "After being with someone for an hour, I’m able to get a good idea of them."
By establishing and developing direct selling, an important foundation was laid for the company's success. Würth employees worldwide are in touch with their customers everyday thanks to many different sales channels. They know what their customers need and the company tailors its services to fit them: making the customers’ lives easier by developing innovative products. Lending a hand and finding new ideas and solutions that help customers in their day-to-day business are guiding principles at Würth. “Looking beyond the mountain and around the next corner” and leaving the well-trodden paths has always been one of Reinhold Würth’s basic rules for the company.
His motto: “We are our customers’ employees.” Würth doesn’t merely sell; it serves.
[Photo: Reinhold Würth meets Nelson Mandela in 2000. He finds Nelson Mandela to be one of the people he liked meeting the most.
“That an innocent man being jailed for 25 years doesn't want revenge afterwards, although he had the power to do so, impresses me to this day. " said Reinhold Würth.]
Art and culture are an integral element of the Würth Group’s corporate culture. The commitment to a vibrant cultural landscape reflects central aspects of the Würth company, such as openness, internationality, and quality.
Beside Prof. Würth's day-to-day duties at Würth, he also has a true passion for the Arts. His commitment to the Arts has enriched the German Region where the company is headquartered in Kunzelsau but it reaches far beyond as well.
This passion began in the 1960's, when he started collecting works of art. One of his first acquisitions was a watercolor painting by Emil Nolde, a German-Danish Expressionist painter and printmaker. The watercolor is titled, "Cloud Reflection in the Marsh” and is still in his collection.
The Würth Collection now comprises over 20,000 works of art from the 15th Century to Modern and Contemporary works, primarily paintings and sculptures. The Art is regularly displayed to the public in five museums in Germany and ten associated galleries of the Würth Group across Europe.
[Photo: "Cloud Reflection in the Marsh” by Emil Nolde]
In 1987, Reinhold Würth and his wife, Carmen Würth, established the Würth Foundation which promotes and supports projects in the fields of art and culture, research and science, education and training, and integration.
Reinhold Würth’s top priority has always been to share his inspiration from art, music, and literature with his employees and with the public at large.
[Photo: Reinhold and Carmen Würth at the opening of the art exhibition "Lust auf mehr" in front of Georg Baselitz' sculpture "Yellow Song" from the Würth Collection.]
On October 1, 2024, Prof. Dr. hc mult. Reinhold Würth celebrated his 75th work anniversary with the company.
From a screw wholesaler with two employees to a global market leader with over 88,000 employees: This impressive development is the life's work of Prof. Dr. hc mult. Reinhold Würth, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Würth Group's Foundations.
Presently, Reinhold Würth holds the position of Honorary Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Würth Group.
He celebrated his 90th Birthday on April 20, 2025.
[Photo: Present Day, Prof. Dr. h.c. mult. Reinhold Würth]
“Everything has its time: the time of becoming, the time of being and the time of passing away. My objective is to keep the company youthful, in a state of becoming.”
Reinhold Würth & family
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References:
The Secret of the Golden Screw, UTIYA Magazine. https://www.utiya-magazine.com/the-secret-of-the-golden-screw
Photos from the private family album of Reinhold Würth.
#4 Reinhold Würth Biography: Growing and Scaling a Screw Shop to a 80 000 Employees Company, Aure’s Notes, October 6, 2021. https://auresnotes.com/billionaires-you-never-heard-of-4-wurth-biography/
Reinhold Würth: We need more leading figures in Europe, United Europe, May 19, 2019. https://www.united-europe.eu/2019/05/reinhold-wurth-we-need-more-leading-figures-in-europe/
History of the Würth Group - https://www.wuerth.com/wuerth-group/Company/History/History.php
