Gerhard Wagner celebrates his 85th birthday!
A life for the poultry industry
Gerhard Wagner celebrates his 85th birthday on 9th of August – Founder and long-time Managing Director of the Wimex Group, parent company of Cobb Germany – Review of the stages of his life
REGENSTAUF. Gerhard Wagner (*1938) made his passion his profession. There was not one, very special day when he decided on a career in the poultry industry. This path was already apparent many decades ago. Even in his school days, the young Gerhard helped his brother Friedhelm with the rearing and taking care of chickens on his grandparents‘ smalholding , the Johanneshof in Weißenhasel (Hesse). „My father always talked a lot about my great-grandparents‘ farm,“ remembers Ulrich Wagner, Gerhard Wagner’s son. „In an extremely challenging time – at the end of the Second World War and in the post-war years – my father was able to grow up relatively calm and secure in the family circle. He had the opportunity to play and explore on the farm. And so chickens were part of his life from an early age.“
After leaving school, Gerhard Wagner initially took a different path. He completed a commercial apprenticeship at the Optische Fabrik (Optical Company) in Kassel, a company without any farming. But even then his passion for poultry did not leave him completely, because Gerhard Wagner sold laying breeds from Hyline as a sideline. After his apprenticeship, he followed his passion for poultry. He did an apprenticeship in poultry at Lohmann & Co. in Cuxhaven, and then he was instrumental in setting up the hatchery Brüterei Süd GmbH & Co. KG in Regenstauf, Bavaria. As early as 1961 – 62 years ago – Gerhard Wagner became the first managing director of the poultry company.
A steep career
Once he had arrived in the poultry business, Gerhard Wagner dedicated his entire career to the industry from then on. He was the initiator and managing director of several companies during his career. His longest involvement, however, is with the Wimex Group, which he founded in 1985. For 34 years – until 2019 – he led the company as managing director with great skill and foresight. Gerhard Wagner founded the Wimex Group in Bavaria and transformed it over time into an international company that is now active in over 20 countries. In the past, the mainstay „poultry“ was joined by two other business areas: in particular „vegetables & fruit“ but also „energy“. Today, the Wimex Group employs over 1,300 people.
During the same period, Gerhard Wagner was involved in many national and international associations and federations of the agricultural and poultry industry. Among other things, he was President of the Bundesverband der Geflügelschlachtereien e. V. (Federal Association of Poultry Processors) and a member of the a. v. e. c. board, the Association of Poultry Processors and the Poultry Import and Export Trade of the European Union. He served as a founding member and President of EPEXA – Association of European Hatching Egg, One-Day-Old-Chicks and Pullet Exporters in the EU-Countries, as President of the Zentralverband der Deutschen Geflügelwirtschaft e. V. and founding President of the European Poultry Club. This is only a selection of the most important stations, the list could be continued for a while.
Always on the pulse of time
During his many years in the operational business, Gerhard Wagner was always very well networked nationally and internationally and held in high esteem by partners and companions. „I associate many great moments with Gerhard Wagner,“ says Leopold Graf von Drechsel, also Managing Director of the Wimex Group and a long-time companion and friend of the Wagners. „I like to remember the year 1989 – an exciting time. The East German states were just opening up and many people were full of energy. Gerhard was not convinced, but he let me persuade him. Fortunately, I can say today, because the experiences inspired him in the long run. I was always impressed by the passion and ambition with which he ran the company.“
Even at a ripe old age, Gerhard Wagner is still with an alert mind and his whole heart is with his passion. In 2013, he was honoured with the Federal Cross of Merit for this tireless commitment. After decades of always taking big steps forward, the first smaller step out of the day-to-day business followed in 2019: Gerhard Wagner stepped down from the management of the Wimex Group and took over the chairmanship of the newly founded company advisory board. Now 85 years old, this continues to be the current status in the special career of the passionate entrepreneur Gerhard Wagner.
