Commemorating a Life´s work: The city of Chemnitz and business representatives honour Prof. Dr. Carl H Hahn

Allow me to briefly introduce myself: I'm Uwe Bauch, CEO of community4you. Our company headquarters are in Villa Hahn at the Chemnitz city park - a building that was named in 2008 after the man whose life's work we have honoured in so many speeches today.

The house has had an eventful history. Built in 1923 by the architect Eugen Weber for the manufacturer Erich Barth, it has since been sold to the Jewish Frank family, who had to emigrate to the USA in 1933. The hosiery manufacturer Luis Bahner from Oberlungwitz was also the owner of the villa for a short time.Until in 1934, Auto Union AG took over the building and gave it to Carl Hahn Sr. and his family as official residence. Carl and Wolfgang Hahn spent their youth here. Later, the house was hit by bombs during the war, then repaired in a makeshift manner and converted into an East German children's home. In 2003 the roof truss burned out.

Then we as community4you took over the villa and set about restoring the building to its original glory. It's a beautiful house - no question about it. We are very fortunate that we were able to save it. But not only because of the architecture, the great location or the large garden, but especially because we were able to get to know Carl Hahn in this way.

I vividly remember my first call to Carl Hahn. Carl Hahn was immediately enthusiastic. There was no hesitation, no reserve towards us – a still small and fairly unknown company. The first meeting took place relatively quickly. He was appalled and saddened by the state of his former home. By showing and providing his family pictures - explaining where everything had been, he made it possible for us to renovate the villa true to its original plans in the first place.

Carl Hahn used many opportunities to see the house of his youth again. And he wanted to get to know us. He showed genuine interest in our work and asked for everything to be explained to him in detail. And so, in the 19 years that we've known each other, it wasn't just one visit. Mutual respect developed into a friendly relationship.

I have fond memories of the visits from Carl, Marisa and Wolfgang Hahn. You could tell right away that he was a man of stature. No small talk, no platitudes, but authentic, heartfelt conversations. He had a winning quality about him. He spoke openly about the things that really excited and interested him. Every room in the house awakened new memories for him. He beamed when he told how the Hahn family welcomed guests, how the rooms were furnished, how he and his brother played in the house and filled the house with life and jokes. It was a great act of faith that he shared these memories with us.

We knew: Carl Hahn had seen just about everything in the world. As an international top manager, he associated with the rich, beautiful and powerful throughout his life. How do you deal with such a person? At first we didn't know what we could offer such a man. It was comforting to see that he didn't enjoy glitz and glamour but rather little things. Mindfulness or even just being able to speak Italian with my business partner.

What we are remembering and honoring here today is not just the extraordinary life and achievements of Carl Hahn. We pay tribute to a man of character. A down to earth man with values ​​and principles. A man who never forgot his roots, even though he had seen the whole world and finally found a new home in Wolfsburg.

In his honor, we planted a ginkgo together with SIS last year - a tree of life. Unfortunately, Prof. Hahn was physically unable to attend in person.

Carl Hahn not only left behind jobs or an internationalized VW group. He leaves behind people who owe him a lot and who remember him fondly.