{
  "id": 5002261,
  "title": "Krisenresistent: Acht deutsche Familienunternehmen älter als 400 Jahre",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/02/krisenresistent-acht-deutsche-familienunternehmen-alter-als-400-jahre",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-02T03:00:19.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/krisenresistent-acht-deutsche-familienunternehmen-aelter-als-400-jahre/100251352.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "Eight German family businesses with histories exceeding four centuries have defied all historical catastrophes, according to the updated ranking of the 50 oldest German family businesses published by the Stiftung Familienunternehmen in Munich. The top two positions are still held by two companies from North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) which have been on shaky ground for more than a millennium: Coatinc Company in Kreuztal, which was established in 1502, and Prym Group in Stolberg, founded in 1530. This group of the fifty oldest companies consists exclusively of Western German firms since family businesses in the former East Germany were nationalized. Among the top ten, only companies from Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg feature in the list. The youngest company on the list, W. Albrecht, a sheet metal company in Lindlar near Cologne, was founded in 1634. The tenth place is occupied by the textile factory Mehler in Tirschenreuth, Bavaria, which has been in existence since 1644. The most recent company is the machine builder Kurtz Ersa in Kreuzwertheim, Bavaria, which was established in 1800, during Napoleon's lifetime. Stefan Heidbreder, the managing director of the Stiftung Familienunternehmen, said that these companies have always reinvented themselves over the centuries, with the family as the anchor of stability and the rock in troubled times. \"They are just as resilient today and make the German economy resilient in these crisis times.\" The list was created based on publicly available data, and companies with at least 50 employees that have remained in uninterrupted ownership of one or more connected families were included. Four types of traditional small businesses were not considered, including pharmacies, inns, mills, and farms. The Fugger family, once the most powerful German business family, is also absent from the list, even though they are far from extinct. Although the present-day descendants of the Augsburg Fugger family do not run a commercially active family business, they manage nine charitable foundations, all of which were established in the 16th century. Additionally, state-owned enterprises can also be resilient. Some non-family-owned companies have also proven to be extremely stable. The historic brewery Weihenstephan in Freising, Upper Bavaria, has had brewing rights since 1040, making it the oldest brewery in the world. The world-famous Munich Hofbräuhaus, established in 1589, has also withstood all crises, wars, and disasters. If one were to count monasteries as economic enterprises, they would be the unbeatable leaders. The Tholey Abbey in Saarland was first mentioned in writing in 634.",
  "summary": "Manche Firmen gehen in Krisen insolvent. Andere stellen den Betrieb ein, weil der Chef keinen Nachfolger findet. Und dann gibt es die unverwüstlichen Unternehmen, die alles überstehen.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}