Farewell to Rainer Bartram
In December 2008, after 25 years, majority owner Rainer Bartram sold his shares in WINTERSTEIGER to our current owners, the Lange family of Hamburg. Guided by his motto, “Only success counts—good intentions alone are bland,” he consistently pursued his strategy of making WINTERSTEIGER a global player and market leader in each of its three business units:
- Sales subsidiaries were established worldwide
- Strategically important companies were acquired
- The Ried site was strengthened and extensively expanded into the corporate headquarters
A Start in Turbulent Times
Rainer Bartram joined WINTERSTEIGER in 1982 during a difficult period that nearly threatened the company’s very existence: revenue of just over 6 million euros, a negative operating result, and equity depleted to a mere fraction of its original amount. Compounding the problem was an ownership structure with 12 shareholders who could not agree on the company’s future direction.
On the positive side, WINTERSTEIGER had excellent, technologically leading products and highly motivated employees. Rainer Bartram initially acquired a 20% stake in the company’s share capital and subsequently gained control of the remaining shares. By 1983, revenue had already risen to 7.4 million euros, and WINTERSTEIGER was back in the black. Under Rainer Bartram’s prudent guidance, the small Innviertel-based company steadily developed into a profitable global corporation.
Honors
In 2008, Rainer Bartram became the first entrepreneur to be awarded the Golden Medal of Honor by the City of Ried. He was also a recipient of the Golden Medal of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria and the Golden Medal of Honor of the State of Upper Austria.
Handover to the Lange Family
At the age of 84, Rainer Bartram stepped down. Despite severe financial turmoil—particularly in the U.S.—WINTERSTEIGER stood on a very solid economic foundation in 2008, and the company achieved the highest revenue in its history.
Rainer Bartram had chosen his successor with foresight: The Lange family from Hamburg, with whom Bartram had maintained close business and personal ties for decades, had already acquired a 44.9% stake in WINTERSTEIGER in December 2005 and now also took over the remaining shares from Rainer Bartram. Wolff Lange succeeded Rainer Bartram as Chairman of the Supervisory Board and has continued WINTERSTEIGER’s success story ever since.
On February 25, 2009—just a few days before his 85th birthday—Rainer Bartram passed away completely unexpectedly.