The Sun Rises in The East

In the fall of 1989, the wall, which divided Berlin for almost four decades, fell. Shortly thereafter, the country was reunited. A political economist from Munich, Klaus Deutsch (then aged 50), sought and found his fortune in the former East Germany, or GDR: he started his new future in Dresden with a one-color GTO. His son, Christoph (38), has now been at the helm of his father's company for about three years and is successfully leaving his mark.

The GDR anthem recalled the country's revival from ruins after the destruction of World War II. However, when this new state was carried to its grave in 1990, there were few people with tears in their eyes: in many of the country's cities, including Dresden, the scars from the war were by no means healed due to the socialistic economy of scarcity. Still, after reunifcation, East Germany had many opportunities on offer, which people like Klaus Deutsch hoped to take advantage of.

Klaus saw his opportunity in the vestiges of the "Volkseigenen Betriebes VEB Kombinat Robotron". During GDR times, the name stood for high-tech solutions in a socialist world, and the GDR's most modern public enterprise manufactured computers and typewriters in Dresden.

After reunification, the company changed hands and became part of the Munich Siemens group. In 1990, Klaus took over the company's print shop, which primarily printed instruction manuals. He exchanged all of the old machines for a GTO from Heidelberg and opened his print shop not far from the ruins of the world famous Frauenkirche. In the meantime, the Frauenkirche has been restored to its former glory, and the former print shop is now a  joint stock corporation with the name of SDV, Sächsische Druck- und Verlags AG. The business, with 210 employees and a turnover of 44 million U.S. dollars (30 million Euro), considers itself a media company. At its core is the concept of offering services for diverse forms of media. This includes printing high run mailings in endless rotations, individualized digital print items, direct marketing software, as well as - above all else - offset products and postpress services. The five companies that make up the group thus fulfill a broad spectrum of customer wishes as well as managing complex projects together.

Modern media service provider
Klaus handed over direction of the business to his son Christoph in 2004 and joined the board of directors. His son leads the group of companies with the same pep as his father, but he brings with him new ideas and a new style. He focuses more intensely on continually aligning business and company strategies with the future. "Where will my clients be tomorrow? What will they be doing in the future? And how can I help them? These are the questions that drive me," he explains self-confidently and adds, "I consider myself to be a media service provider because I regard printing as a service - and doing so in a contemporary, modern way delights my customers."

Enter or sell
Progressive thinking and the willingness to try new things - these traits most likely stem from Christoph's early experience abroad: He completed his degree in biotechnology during a two-year stay in the United States. Afterwards, he worked for a large British-Swedish pharmaceutical corporation. But then he got a call from his father: Enter the business or I will sell. Those were the options. He decided to try it out for a year to get a taste of things."

That is now more than three years ago. The fascination of the industry and its possibilities got the better of him. While Christoph Deutsch does not necessarily dream of printing presses, he is that much more enthusiastic about the ideas that will secure the future of his business for generations to come.

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