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Willi Poppensieker
Willi Poppensieker Celebrates his 70th Birthday
On 14 August 2007, Willi Poppensieker, an important celebrity in the timber industry, celebrated his 70th birthday. On the occasion of this event, guests and long-time companions of Willi Poppensieker agreed that they have always been impressed by his outstanding enthusiasm about his job.
After having completed his apprenticeship as a carpenter and cabinetmaker, Willi Poppensieker studied structural engineering in Holzminden and joined the family business in Löhne in 1959. Whereas the family business commenced as carpentry and cabinetmakers's workshop, the company soon started to extend the business activities and began to manufacture laminated timber. It is interesting to note that the company also supplied structural members for the construction of the cycling stadium and riding stadium for the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972. As a keen and creative thinker Willi Poppensieker deliberated constantly on the question of how to optimize technical procedures, and in his field of business he successfully initiated and accomplished the transition from handcraft to industrial production. In the 1970s the company moved to Velpe and was considered as the most innovative company in the timber manufacturing industry. In the following years the company flourished as a successful manufacturer and supplier of laminated timber in Germany. Unfortunately, the company had to cope with hard times and economic difficulties a few years later and the company was taken over in the year 1985 by Willi Derix, the owner of a large timber manufacturing company in Niederkrüchten. The company was named Poppensieker & Derix and as a Sales Manager Willi Poppensieker enthusiastically pushed the sales of the company.
In 1994, Markus and Simone Derix have taken over the management of Derix Laminated Timber and Poppensieker & Derix. Under the dedicated leadership of Markus und Simone Derix, the Derix Group has flourished as a leading manufacturer of laminated timber in Germany an abroad. And it goes without saying that Willi Poppensieker continues support the company with outstanding enthusiasm. Good-humoured and beaming with enthusiasm Willi Poppensieker is always ready to talk about what is most important to him: structural timber engineering. Even today, aged 70, he continues to show up in the office once a week: Happy Birthday!
