Since autumn 2024, H&C Stader has been assisting Leifheit AG with its historical review of the company’s history. The project was prompted by a publication by the historian Stefan Holler on the Nazi past of the company’s founder, Günter Leifheit. Our research focused on the question of what significance this past had for the founding of the company in 1959.

Based on extensive source research, a dossier on the founding phase of Leifheit AG was compiled. This enabled us to contextualise key aspects of the company’s history and shed new light on its early years. Particular attention was also paid to the role of Ingeborg Leifheit, whose contribution to the company’s founding had long been overlooked.

In the spring of 2026, the findings were discussed and reflected upon in a joint workshop. The insights gained also formed the basis for communicating the company’s history to the public.

An important milestone of the project is the release of the podcast ‘LEIFHEIT – the Podcast’. In it, journalist Linda Zervakis speaks with Alexander Reindler, CEO of Leifheit AG, and Dr Max Schlenker about the company’s history, the significance of historical responsibility and how to engage with the past in the present.

Click here for Leifheit’s press release.

Leifheit AG was founded in 1959 by Ingeborg and Günter Leifheit in Nassau and is now one of the best-known brands for household products in Germany and Europe. Over the decades, Leifheit has developed from a regional manufacturer into an internationally established brand and is now represented in numerous European markets.

Berlin. At the 2026 Communications Congress, Dr Wolfgang Kraus, Director of Corporate Communications at the Südzucker Group, and Dr Ingo Stader will speak on the strategic benefits of corporate history during the session ‘100 Years of the Südzucker Group: How Corporate History Shapes the Future’.

Further information on the session can be found at Events.

Our case study “100 Years of Südzucker – Tradition Meets Innovation” illustrates how we are supporting the Südzucker Group in its anniversary year.

Osnabrück/Mannheim. In 2025, Sparkasse Osnabrück celebrated its 200th anniversary. To mark the occasion, our historians compiled a comprehensive dossier on the Nazi era from 1933 to 1945. (Link: www.sparkasse-osnabrueck.de/dossier)

Based on this historical research, an exhibition has now been created on the bank’s own institutional history during the Nazi era. Carefully curated sources, personal stories from the region, as well as photographs and archival material, make the content clear and accessible. Over the coming weeks, guided tours will be offered to staff and school classes from the region, providing an in-depth understanding of the historical context.

The exhibition can be viewed until 31 August on the ground floor of Sparkasse Osnabrück’s main branch on Berliner Platz and is open to the public free of charge during opening hours.

Click here for the press release on the exhibition.

Frankfurt/Mannheim. Since August 2024, we have been supporting Union Investment in setting up a professional communications archive, from the initial concept development through to practical implementation. Two workshops – one on the basic structure and a later one on the finer details – resulted in a practical archive concept. We are currently handling the storage of the documents at our History Hub in Mannheim. At the same time, we are jointly exploring how AI-supported functions and an archive information system (AfIS) could be utilised in future to support research and archiving work.

Union Investment was founded in 1956 by 16 cooperative and private banks and developed rapidly thanks to early fund innovations such as UniFonds and UniGlobal. With the launch of its first investment portfolio in 1967 and the continuous expansion of its product range, the group grew to become one of Europe’s largest fund providers. Today, Union Investment manages around 534 billion euros (as of 2025) and serves several million clients.

Mannheim. The Südzucker Group will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026. The history agency H&C Stader has been working with the internationally active company throughout this anniversary year. At the heart of the collaboration is the anniversary chronicle “100 Years of Südzucker. Part of your Life”, supplemented by interviews with contemporary witnesses.

The collaboration between H&C Stader and the Südzucker Group began with a joint workshop. The aim was not only to document the company’s history, but also to make it usable as a strategic resource for internal and external communication. In addition to a printed anniversary publication, interview formats and a podcast were developed to communicate key milestones.

The anniversary chronicle

At the heart of the project is the anniversary chronicle “100 Years of Südzucker. Part of your Life”, which H&C Stader conceived and edited on the basis of extensive historical research and more than 15 interviews with contemporary witnesses.

The publication traces the development of the Südzucker Group since its foundation in 1926, situates it within the history of the German sugar industry, and highlights key phases of diversification and transformation. The chronicle is supplemented by personal recollections from contemporary witnesses and an outlook on future developments. What makes the chronicle special is that it is hybrid – QR codes link directly to short clips from the interviews with contemporary witnesses, thus offering a highly personalised perspective.

The content, design and feel of the chronicle are perfectly coordinated. The design is based on a modern corporate identity developed specifically for the Südzucker Group, featuring colour gradients that reflect the Group’s diversity. Text and images are given equal prominence. The cover is finished with the ‘anniversary badge’ using UV varnish.

The chronicle was printed in a run of 10,000 copies, produced in German and English, and is 242 pages long. It is aimed at employees and business partners of the Südzucker Group and is not available for general sale.

Dr Wolfgang Kraus, Head of Communications at the Südzucker Group, on the collaboration with H&C Stader:

“From the extensive research and conceptualisation of the anniversary publication, through the detailed drafting and revision of the text, right up to the ‘live presentation’ at the festive anniversary evening on 19 March 2026 for our nearly 500 guests – the H&C Stader team provided us with fantastic support through their dedication. It was a very pleasant and straightforward collaboration with our entire team, including our corporate archive, which provided a wealth of content as well as visual material.”

The celebratory anniversary evening in Mannheim

A highlight of the anniversary year was the celebratory anniversary evening “100 Years of the Südzucker Group” on 21 March 2026 at the Rosengarten in Mannheim. As part of the stage programme, Dr Ingo Stader, CEO of H&C Stader, and Dr Max Schlenker, Division Head, together with Mannheim’s Lord Mayor Christian Specht, spoke about the history of the Südzucker Group and examples of the partnership with the city of Mannheim. They particularly emphasised the Südzucker Group’s close collaboration with the agricultural sector and the relevance of its own corporate history to current and future transformation processes.

Dr Ingo Stader:

“Those who know their own history also understand the forces that make change possible. The history of the Südzucker Group illustrates how closely origins, transformation and future viability are intertwined.”

The press release can also be found here.