Around 90 per cent of all German companies are owner-managed family businesses. But what happens when the management retires? VIVID spoke to Victoria Frankenheim and Sophie Hinkel, both managing directors of their own family businesses, about their experiences.

Family businesses are the foundation of the German economy: of the approximately 3.5 million companies in Germany, a total of 2.9 million are familyrun (source: Stiftung Familienunternehmen und Politik). According to the IFM Bonn, just over half (53%) of owners are handing over their businesses to their own children or other family members to ensure succession. Victoria Frankenheim, who joined her sister Juliane at the helm of Frankenheim Bestattungen in 2017, is one of them. "We are already the sixth generation to continue the company's 150-year tradition," she says. Both sisters had previously completed external training programmes. Victoria trained as a media executive and graduated in business psychology, while Juliane studied economics and consumer psychology in Dublin and London. After deciding to join the company, the sisters spent six months travelling around Germany on a so-called “Walz” (editor's note: working in different places and learning from other companies) to visit other funeral parlours. The aim was to get a better understanding of the day-to-day workings of the profession, and both sisters then learned the funeral profession up to the level of master craftsman.

They are the first women to run the company (currently together with their father Claus Frankenheim), but have never seen it as an obligation. Instead, they take great pleasure and personal commitment in developing the family business. To this end, they work together with a supervisor who supports them in leading the company into a new generation. "Working in a family business always means running on two tracks. You are the managing director, but at the same time you are part of the family, which naturally has its own dynamics. A generational change always brings with it a cultural change," explains Victoria Frankenheim.

In 2017, Victoria Frankenheim and her sister Juliane joined the management of Frankenheim Bestattungen. This makes them the sixth generation to continue the company's 150-year tradition.

In the Hinkel bakery, every bread roll is still moulded by hand. Sophie Hinkel, now a master baker, also learnt the trade from scratch.

This includes embracing new ideas for events, such as a true crime podcast and readings, as well as yoga for the bereaved, bereavement meetings and a bereavement college. Despite all the new approaches, traditions are important. Does that include the desire to pass the business on to your own children? "Like me, my children should be able to develop freely, but of course it would be a dream for them to take over the company one day," says Victoria Frankenheim. For Sophie Hinkel, managing director of Bäckerei Hinkel, it was clear early on that she would take over the family business. Only the timing was a little different. The generational change came earlier than planned, when her father Josef Hinkel became first deputy mayor of the state capital Düsseldorf. "It was important to me that he could be politically active - and that the business remained in family hands," explains Sophie Hinkel. She has strong ties to the family business, having worked in the bakery from a young age. She studied International Business in Maastricht, trained as a baker in her parents' business, did a Masters in Human Resources Management and a Masters in Olpe before taking over the bakery in February 2022. She will also be the first woman in the family's history to run the business, which was founded in 1891. What would have happened if she had chosen not to? "As my siblings all wanted to do something else, we would probably have sold the company." But she and her staff are passionate about the business and put their heart and soul into it. "We still make every roll by hand," she says proudly. The generational change has been very well received by the workforce. It was particularly important that Sophie Hinkel learned the trade from the ground up. "I had the same training as everyone else in the company, and that was exactly the right step.

„I had the same training as everyone else in the company, and that was exactly the right step.“

Sophie Hinkel realised early on that she wanted to take over the bakery from her father, and she was already working regularly in the family business as a schoolgirl.

It is important for Sophie Hinkel to add her own touch to the business. For example, she introduced weekly meetings with the managers, which did not immediately meet with enthusiasm. "Some of the master bakers have known me since childhood, and they first had to understand that I didn't want to talk to them about feelings, but to implement modern business management," she laughs. She has also brought a management consultant on board to coach all the managers and herself. Sophie Hinkel also wants to breathe fresh air into the company's operations. "This ranges from a more modern checkout system with a connected app to new ideas such as placing sales vans in the neighbourhood. And I want to make marketing even more professional. Of course, sustainability and energy efficiency are also important. With more than 130 years of history, we are a modern company - and we want to show that to the outside world.” •

Words: Katja Vaders
Pictures: Frankenheim, Michael Lübke

Family Business