Setting the Stage for Success
Pinsker Druck und Medien in Mainburg started out in 1897 as a
oneman bookbindery and now has 120 employees. Its not entirely
undramatic success story - a tale of the passion for printing -
splits neatly into five acts.
Act 1: The celebration. A print shop that has been around for 132 years like Pinsker Druck und Medien has a good many stories to tell - tales of happy years and tales of tragic ones.
One happy tale comes from 2004 - July 23 to be precise - when the print shop celebrated its 125th anniversary. More than 230 guests gathered at a castle, Schloss Ratzenhofen in Lower Bavaria, to celebrate with staff and business partners. Company owner Horst Pinsker gave a lighthearted speech. In just 30 minutes, he managed to cover the family company's entire history, from its humble beginnings as a one-man bookbindery to the present day. In the process, he mentioned every single one of the 100 plus employees by name - and had a kind and sincere word for each of them.
Then came the highlight of the evening - "Gautschen" - an old ritual of the German Printers' Guild to "baptize" young employees into the honorable profession of printing. Master of ceremonies Horst had dressed
specially for the occasion. In medieval garb, including a hat with a peacock feather, he called "Gutenberg's children" forward to be "baptized" to the accompaniment of drums and flutes. That particular evening, 26 employees answered the call. And Horst took devilish delight in seeing each of the "victims" being sat on a wet sponge, splashed with water and then unceremoniously thrown into a barrel of water by three burly men. Horst himself also ended up taking a dip. It was a wonderful, festive evening - a real ball!
Act 1: The celebration. A print shop that has been around for 132 years like Pinsker Druck und Medien has a good many stories to tell - tales of happy years and tales of tragic ones.
One happy tale comes from 2004 - July 23 to be precise - when the print shop celebrated its 125th anniversary. More than 230 guests gathered at a castle, Schloss Ratzenhofen in Lower Bavaria, to celebrate with staff and business partners. Company owner Horst Pinsker gave a lighthearted speech. In just 30 minutes, he managed to cover the family company's entire history, from its humble beginnings as a one-man bookbindery to the present day. In the process, he mentioned every single one of the 100 plus employees by name - and had a kind and sincere word for each of them.
Then came the highlight of the evening - "Gautschen" - an old ritual of the German Printers' Guild to "baptize" young employees into the honorable profession of printing. Master of ceremonies Horst had dressed
specially for the occasion. In medieval garb, including a hat with a peacock feather, he called "Gutenberg's children" forward to be "baptized" to the accompaniment of drums and flutes. That particular evening, 26 employees answered the call. And Horst took devilish delight in seeing each of the "victims" being sat on a wet sponge, splashed with water and then unceremoniously thrown into a barrel of water by three burly men. Horst himself also ended up taking a dip. It was a wonderful, festive evening - a real ball!
