Anyone who thinks of jewelery and watches in Germany will quickly think of the name “Wempe”.

Quite a few associate this with the image of Hellmut Wempe, who is considered a grand seigneur in the industry: a genuine Hanseatic entrepreneur, always classically dressed, walking upright, with an authentic passion for his profession.

Susanne Preuss

Business correspondent in Hamburg.

  • Follow I follow

Hellmut Wempe died last Sunday in his hometown of Hamburg at the age of 90.

The company announced on Thursday that he fell asleep peacefully.

The awards that recognize his entrepreneurial work include the Lifetime Award from the German Retail Association (HDE) in 2006, as well as the “Hamburger Sparkasse Founder’s Prize” for his life’s work in 2015.

Actually, Hellmut Wempe wanted to become a political journalist.

However, he did not realize his career aspirations, but instead took on responsibility in his father's company early on because his older brother had not returned from the war, according to the Wempe statement.

After graduating from school, he completed an apprenticeship at the École Supériere de Commerce in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

Shortly thereafter he joined the company and became a personally liable partner in November 1955.

Since 1980 on Fifth Avenue

Hellmut Wempe stands for the expansion of the company founded in 1878.

The first shop outside of Hamburg was opened in Lübeck in 1966. In 1980, Wempe fulfilled its dream of having a presence on Fifth Avenue in New York.

He recognized early on that modern trade needs more than just sales.

Since 1997 he has expanded the watch service and enlarged the workshop in the Hamburg parent company.

Today, with a second location in Glashütte, Saxony, it is one of the largest service workshops of a European retailer, according to Wempe.

It was not until May 2003, when he was already 71, that Hellmut Wempe handed over operational management to his only child, Kim-Eva Wempe, who is now 62 years old.

A year ago, he transferred another significant tranche of his company shares to his daughter and, for the first time, part to his grandchildren, 26-year-old Scott Hellmut and 24-year-old Chiara Marie Wempe.

The advice of the deceased to the young representatives of the fifth generation: "Don't always think with your head and don't always only look at the numbers.

Also listen to your gut feeling.”

Manager Magazin ranks Kim-Eva Wempe and her family as the 557th richest German family, on par with Alfred Ritter and Marli Hoppe-Ritter of the chocolate square dynasty.

While chocolate was a comfort to many during the Corona pandemic, the lockdowns in the gold and jewelry industry initially came as a shock.

It doesn't seem to have done any lasting damage to assets: the magazine recorded an increase from 0.25 to 0.3 billion euros.