As a regional specialist wholesaler, we can look back on more than 150 years of history - and thus eventful and eventful decades in which many things have changed, except one thing: our core values as a medium-sized family business.
At the same time, GEORG C. has always kept up with the times. Or has been a bit ahead of it here and there in order to develop further. So there is a lot to report:
After months of renovation work, the Husum bathroom exhibition celebrates its reopening and shines in completely new splendor with an inspiring concept. The Flensburg showroom is also reopening this spring after a facelift.
At the end of the year, the new fully automated high-bay racking system will go into operation at the new central warehouse in Flensburg. It rises 18 meters into the air and accommodates over 2,200 drawers. It also includes a packaging facility.
The steel wholesaler Gustav Gross and the specialist wholesaler GEORG C. are joining forces at the Flensburg site. From November 1, 2021, they will operate jointly under the umbrella of GEORG C. Am Sophienhof 3.
Matthias Gölzer, owner of Gustav Gross Stahlhandel GmbH and Jan Friedrich Dehn, owner of GEORG C.
How big they have become! The positive business development of recent years means that more space is needed at GEORG C.. Therefore, in 2016 we celebrate the openings of the XXL express warehouse in Husum and the new warehouse in Flensburg.
The new warehouse in Flensburg
And there's another award we're delighted about: as Customer Champion 2016, we show that service quality, advice and customer orientation are top priorities for us.
GEORG C. opens a building in Niebüll and establishes its latest branch on the west coast.
GEORG C. is an excellent place to work! Our employees know this, too, and so the entire team was delighted in 2014 to receive the TOP JOB seal for outstanding personnel policy.
Marion Petersen, Marion Lorenzen, mentor Wolfgang Clement and Jan Friedrich Dehn (from left)
Growth and setbacks, new beginnings and farewells, economic miracle and world war: The history of GEORG C. is and remains exciting! On the occasion of our 150th anniversary, we look back - and at the same time look forward to the years to come.
Jan Friedrich Dehn at the anniversary celebrations in 2013
Best training company in the chamber district:
As a specialist dealer, GEORG C. focuses on competence and experience. We are happy to pass this on to our trainees - and thanks to this philosophy, we were named Training Company of the Year by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in 2009.
A fourth branch was established in Heide on an 8,000m2 site to strengthen the company's presence north of the canal. Thus, an exhibition, a collection warehouse and, of course, workplaces were created in Dithmarschen.
One year later, the company grows again. Friedrich Warnke GmbH & Co KG, a specialist wholesaler for building services and steel, is taken over completely. The Flensburg location in Sophienhof later became the main headquarters on the fjord and is still an integral part of GEORG C. today, as is the Schleswig Ratsteich.
The next generation is getting ready: Jan Friedrich Dehn follows his father into the company and takes over the management at Rossen in Flensburg.
The rise of GEORG C. also continues in the 90s. Thus, at the beginning of 1996, the company Rossen Stahl KG with 20 employees was taken over and continued as an independent Gebr. Rossen GmbH & Co. KG with headquarters in Rudolf-Diesel-Straße in Flensburg.
In June 1995, the steel hall on Matthias-Claudius-Strasse already had to be extended again. An open-air warehouse for construction steel mesh was built. Two external cranes and two cranes for the internal warehouse were also purchased. In line with this, the company invested in a racking system to transport the goods to the man. The purchase of a fully automatic band saw line was also made.
Friedrich Dehn expands GEORG C.'s product range and opens a specialty store selling tools, machine tools, but also automotive accessories, garden furniture and equipment, and two-wheelers. His courage is rewarded and this line of business develops into a solid mainstay for GEORG C.
Dehn family From left: Malte, Gabriele, Friedrich, Jan Friedrich and Imke (1988)
At the insistence of Max Hansen, a steel hall with a span of 15 meters was built on Marienhofweg in 1967. An overhead crane and insertion compartments for steel bars were integrated into its extension. An articulated lorry was also purchased. The first warehouse was built on the industrial estate "Am Marienhofweg 133-135" and the company fleet was also increased.
The business flourishes and within two years rises to become the most important steel trader in North Friesland. As more space is now needed, the entire company moves into a new building at Marienhofweg 133-135, the current location.
The company's fortunes are once again passed on to new hands: In 1966, Friedrich Dehn joins GEORG C. and becomes managing partner two years later.
Picture: Friedrich Dehn brought the turnaround in the company, here with his wife Gabriele (1960s).
In the 1920s, the trade in colonial goods and delicacies was abandoned, and the assortment was supplemented with iron haberdashery, household goods, tools for craftsmen, beams and building hardware.
In 1921, Max Hansen, son of GEORG C. Hansen, joined the company as a partner and took charge of the reconstruction under difficult conditions (1916 -1976).
With the First World War, business activity almost came to a standstill. The male staff was drafted for military service, while the women tried to keep the business going. Due to increasing material shortages of iron, there were virtually no stocks left at the end of the war.
In 1898, sales amounted to an impressive 166,000 marks. In addition to hardware and colonial goods, technical articles and firefighting supplies were now also included in the product range.
Georg C. Hansen, 1894-1916
Since company founder Johann Christiansen had no children, he sold his business to his former apprentice Georg Cornelius Hansen (1894-1916). The latter lent his name to the business - which it still bears today. After his death in 1916, first his widow and later his son Max continue to run the business in his spirit.
In the middle of Husum
In 1877, the young entrepreneur Johann Christiansen moved his wholesale iron business to the property at Markt 23, which was to remain the headquarters of GEORG C. for many decades. The flourishing business after the Franco-Prussian War had increased the need for space, so that the existing building had to be torn down and the front building, iron and coal store had to be rebuilt.
Johann Christiansen, 1835 -1914
The history of GEORG C. has its beginning! In Husum, where the merchant Johann Christiansen (1835 -1914) founded his own iron wholesale business.