According to the Statista database, there are around 45,000 Catholic and Protestant places of worship in Germany.

Around 20,000 of these churches are equipped with products from PR Havener GmbH, as the management reports.

In total, PR Havener GmbH has already equipped more than 35,000 churches across Europe.

The company from Saarlouis in Saarland, founded over 40 years ago as a one-man business and now managed by Sandra Havener, Ronny Havener and their father René Havener, has specialized in church carpets, church bench cushions and knee cushions for Christian institutions and, according to Sandra Havener, has specialized in established as the European market leader in this area.

In 2020 the family company was able to assemble around 50,000 meters of pew upholstery in European churches.

The founder René Havener came across the business idea through his work as an altar boy.

His knees would have hurt quickly if he had kneeled for a long time, and "he thought that there would have to be a product that was laid loosely on the pew and was non-slip," says daughter Sandra Havener.

No big-name competition

The annual turnover is between 3 and 4 million euros, the annual growth rate is between 5 and 10 percent, says Havener.

According to their estimates, the domestic market share is 70 to 80 percent;

in Germany there is no well-known competition.

Some churches are fitted out by local interior decorators, but "most of them buy from us and then sell on," says the manager.

According to her, the export quota to other European countries is around 30 percent.

In addition to the main customers in Germany, Austria and France, the company also equips places of worship in the Czech Republic, Belgium, England and Finland, such as the St. Nicholas Church in Prague and Notre-Dame in Paris.

There are currently 16 employees in production and sales, five more work in the field and are responsible for advice and sales of the upholstery on site.

The production facilities are located at the company's headquarters in Saarlouis.

20 year guarantee

In total, the company offers more than 100 products in various color and fabric variations.

Seat cushions are made of velor, flat fabric, microfiber or felt.

Kneepads are offered in suede and synthetic leather.

The velor carpets, sisal carpets and robust woven carpets are very hard-wearing and therefore ideally suited for all public spaces.

According to the management, the price for a running meter of bench is 45 euros and for a square meter of church carpet is 95 euros, depending on the quality, higher or lower.

The company gives a guarantee of 20 years for its upholstery and carpets.

The materials are sourced from Germany and Austria.

According to Havener, some are produced exclusively for PR Havener GmbH.

The materials are first roughly cut by hand;

then the upholstery foam and upholstery fabric are welded and sewn together.

Thanks to this type of production, “the upholstery always retains its shape,” explains Sandra Havener.

Recycled polyamide yarn is used for the production of the velor upholstery.

Advantages of integrated systems

Since the 2000s, pew cushions have also been offered with an integrated heating system of 46 or 230 volts.

This can reduce heating costs in churches by up to 90 percent.

This also serves to protect listed building materials.

In addition, organs, paintings and art treasures in oil-heated churches are protected if the soot particles can be kept low.

There is now a clear trend towards upholstery with a heating system.

According to Havener, the communities are increasingly relying on longevity and sustainability in the selection of products, also for financial reasons: "The heating systems are also cheaper to buy than normal convection heating." Church resignations are related.

In the main season between October and February, PR Havener equips 100 to 150 churches per month.

The most famous clients from Germany include the Dresden Frauenkirche, the Ulm Minster, the Speyer Cathedral and the St. Michaelis Church in Hamburg, which were supplied with red bench cushions and carpets.

Praise from Hamburg

In the Hamburg Michel, however, knee pads were not used, as there is no kneeling in a Protestant church.

According to Ines Lessing, who works for public relations at the Hamburg church, “the fine and precise cut of the upholstery and the twenty-year guarantee of the products” were convincing.

The Ulm Minster was won over by the “good advice from the sales force and the convincing price-performance ratio”, reports Mesner Ernst-Eberhard Roller.

The upholstery is "very easy to care for and robust", cleaning with lukewarm soapy water is sufficient.

The pastor of the associated parish had contacted PR Havener.

The field service then visited the Ulm Minster two or three times to determine the dimensions and then assemble them.

Havener clarifies that they not only supply large churches, but also the village church next door.

The article comes from the school project “Youth and Economy”, which the FAZ organizes together with the Association of German Banks.