Horst Rank – 70 Years

The history of the company Braun is closely associated with the history of its Managing Partner Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Horst Rank.

Born on 9.8.1939 in Kluftern on Lake Constance, his youth was shaped by the war and post-war confusion. Horst Rank grew up without his father who had been killed in the war, but this fate by no means held him back – he obtained his higher school-leaving certificate and went on to study mechanical engineering in Constance.

Following his studies, he actively supported his mother and his grandfather Josef Braun in management of the business. His grandfather had founded the company Braun as a brick die manufacturer in 1926 and remained actively involved in the running of the company right up into his old age. Horst Rank first took over the company’s commercial operations, before being assigned overall management responsibility in 1979.

Under his management came the setting up and expansion of the electroplating division, which now forms a very important part of Braun. Thanks to the very wear-resistant coating, the lifetime of the dies could be improved considerably. In 1973 came the move to new facilities on a new company site. Although this lay only 500 m away, the new site enabled the company to expand without any space worries. This was very important with regard to the rising number of orders.

Thanks to his enormous dedication, Horst Rank was able to realize his grandfather’s dearest wish: “I wish the company Braun to become known all over the world!” Today this is reality thanks to the tireless work of Horst Rank in building up the company, who remains very involved despite having passed retirement age.

In the meantime, his two sons Christian and Markus support him in the management of the company. At the Kluftern base there are now several firms set up by Horst Rank. RankRoofing supplies plants for the production of concrete roofing tiles, while Ramko specializes in integrated packing solutions.

Alongside his great dedication to “his” company, there has been little time for his family. But Horst Rank has been happily married for 40 years, has three children – Markus, Susanne and Christian, and takes delight in five happy grandchildren.

We extend to him our best wishes on his birthday. He has had a major influence on the ceramics sector and contributed to its further development.