50 years at KRIWAN - Mr. Spiegler celebrates his 50th anniversary on August 1st, 2020. We would like to know how his career at KRIWAN started and what he has experienced in the fifty years. In our interview, he gives interesting insights into the early days of the company's history and describes the development from family business and production in an apartment to an international company with almost 200 employees.
How did your career at KRIWAN start and can you still remember your first day at work?
Mr. Kriwan already knew in 1969 that he would soon move his company to Forchtenberg. That is why he specifically wrote to school graduates in Forchtenberg. Therefore, I wanted to take a closer look at the KRIWAN company in Künzelsau with my father. We got lost there because I thought we were going to see a production building. We ended up in an apartment in which Mr. Kriwan had all the necessary equipment to produce the first INT69. I liked it right away and so I became part of the small KRIWAN family.
My first day of work was August 1st - a vacation day. Therefore, I had 14 days of vacation before I could take the train to Künzelsau for my first real working day. I was surprised that I was the only one waiting for Mr. Kriwan in front of the apartment door. He and his wife greeted me warmly and showed me my future working place and introduced me to the 7 employees of the still very small family company. Then for the first time I got to know the INT69, which is still famous today.
Why have you stayed with KRIWAN for so long?
Because I just liked it here. Right at the beginning, the KRIWAN company was like a small family, which has grown as the Company has grown. I am especially impressed with the commitment of Mr. Kriwan, who taught me a lot in my first year of work and then over and over again, he strengthened my feeling that I wanted to grow “old” at KRIWAN.
What was your best moment in your time at KRIWAN?
When I met my wife Ute (shown in the photo) here at KRIWAN. And life at KRIWAN never got boring. New ideas and developments were always in progress. The visions of Mr. Kriwan made it possible for everyone to develop themselves personally and professionally.
What do you think, how has KRIWAN changed since you started?
When I look back at the development, I am amazed. We started in an apartment in Künzelsau with a few employees, then we moved to Forchtenberg and suddenly the small family grew to a proud group of 50 employees. And since then KRIWAN has continued to grow.
This could also be observed very well with the development of the products. At the beginning we only worked on our motor protection device, the classic INT69. It has been continuously optimized, and its function expanded. Then we continued with a pigsty ventilation. I can still remember well how a gentleman from the far north regularly came to beautiful Hohenlohe to do his shopping at the local companies and to collect the associated controls from us.
A personal highlight for me was the temperature and tightness tests of our transmitters and receivers of a light barrier for the escalator control. Believe it or not, KRIWAN had a sauna installed in our office building at the end of the 1970s for testing purposes.
In your opinion, what skills does an applicant need to have at KRIWAN?
The will to learn something, then everything is possible here. I was admittedly not the best student myself, but I just enjoyed learning new things and seeing progress in the development of the products. Of course, this also requires your involvement in new things.
What will you miss most when you retire?
In the morning I go my way to KRIWAN. It is just part of my life. If I am on vacation for more than 2 weeks, I already miss it. In the end it is the whole company, with the people I have gotten to know there and the changes that I have seen from the start. I will really miss all that.
What are your wishes for your future, which projects do you want to work on now?
I bought a property about 7 years ago. I would like to completely renovate the old hut that stands on it and turn the property into a small oasis. I also want to travel through Germany with my wife. The many old ruins here have a special charm for me. Old monasteries and castles fascinate me.
And what are your wishes for the future of KRIWAN?
That it continues and that the philosophy and life's work of Mr. Kriwan lives on in the company.
We would like to thank Mr. Spiegler very much for the interview and wish him much joy and, above all, good health in his retirement.
