Relentless Drive for Improvement
A 90th Birthday Conversation: How Annemarie and Gerhard Sturm Combined Courage and Technical Expertise to Build a Global Enterprise.
Gerhard Sturm’s life story is remarkable. Initially set to become a pastor, he instead completed an apprenticeship in Esslingen and, a few years later, founded Elektrobau Mulfingen (ebm)—now known as ebm-papst—alongside Heinz and Günther Ziehl. Under his leadership, the company grew from humble beginnings into a global family business, generating billion-euro revenues and earning its status as a world leader in air technology. In this conversation, Gerhard and Annemarie Sturm share their insights on the values and principles that have guided their journey.
Family man, entrepreneur, inventor, thinker, politically engaged citizen. Mrs. Sturm, which Gerhard Sturm did you like best during your 56 years of marriage?
Annemarie Sturm:Gerhard Sturm, the person. And that has been true from the very beginning. He was different from other friends I had at the time. His knowledge, personality, and determination fascinated me. Later, although ebm dominated our lives, he made sure to dedicate quality time to the family when he was at home. That was important, especially as, in recent years, the family has naturally moved to the forefront.
You were his secretary in the mid-1960s. What was he like as a young man? As a boss?
Annemarie Sturm: He challenged me quite a bit and was also strict. There was a significant age difference between us. I often had to stay late because he still had things to dictate—even on Fridays at times. He always seemed to have too little time. But his determination impressed me deeply—he never gave up. Whenever he traveled, he always brought back new orders. Knowing the company and many of its employees later on was an invaluable help for me.
Let’s talk to the thinker Gerhard Sturm. We are in times of transformation, which also always offer opportunities to start something new. Do you see parallels to the time when you founded ebm?
Gerhard Sturm: : There are parallels, but the times were very different. After the war, the economy was in ruins. It was a challenging period, but business conditions were relatively stable, creating growth opportunities. Today, we all live at a much higher standard of living that has steadily evolved, but there is greater uncertainty in many areas. The world has become more global and complex. What hasn’t changed is the necessity to seize opportunities, even when others are skeptical. Recognizing an opportunity when it arises remains crucial.
Looking back, it always seems quite easy to set up and run a successful company. Somehow natural. What was your feeling back then?
Gerhard Sturm: We didn’t take anything for granted. We had to start from scratch and develop entirely new products that nobody had thought of before. The first years were tough, and there were certainly moments of doubt. I sometimes lay awake at night worrying we wouldn’t make it. But I never gave up. A decisive moment came when we received an order for 500,000 motors from the household appliance manufacturer Gaggenau, even though our product wasn’t fully mature yet. And to receive such an order in that quantity right away—it was both an enormous challenge and a great opportunity. Since then, this motor has been built more than 200 million times and is still in production today. Belief in our ideas and support from partners like Heinz Ziehl drove ebm forward.
Heinz Ziehl recognized your potential early on…
Gerhard Sturm: Yes, Heinz Ziehl was a significant mentor and supporter for me. He saw something in me that I might not have recognized myself. After completing my training as a mechanical engineer in Esslingen, I joined Ziehl-Abegg. Immediately, I felt at home there, learning a lot while also earning my master craftsman’s diploma. Heinz Ziehl decided I didn’t need an engineering degree, saying I would have enough opportunities in the company regardless.
You actually climbed the ladder quickly without a university degree…
Gerhard Sturm: Yes, I was promoted to department head at Ziehl-Abegg relatively quickly and later became technical director in 1960, succeeding Wilhelm Gebhardt, who had already started his own company by then. By that point, I had been working with the external rotor motor for quite some time. My idea was to use a smaller version of it as the basis for a fan. Initially, we faced many setbacks. But Heinz Ziehl helped me; together, we worked on the idea, and he believed in the concept. Without his trust, founding ebm would not have been possible. I remain deeply grateful to him to this day.
To what extent did your childhood and youth prepare you for entrepreneurship?
Gerhard Sturm: My childhood in the countryside and agriculture had a profound influence on me. My father was a Bauernschulz—a farmer and part-time mayor of the then-independent village of Nagelsberg near Künzelsau. However, entrepreneurial thinking wasn’t something I inherited. I had to develop that on my own. We grew into our roles with the company. Initially, there was a completely different plan for my life—I was supposed to become a pastor and, therefore, attended high school.
You didn’t become Pastor Sturm. But you always maintained a clear set of values. What role did that play in your success story?
Annemarie Sturm: Oh, it played a big role, if I may say so. Gerhard always held on to his basic Christian values, which were reflected in how he treated his employees—with genuine appreciation. He always kept an open door, and anyone could come to him.
Gerhard Sturm: I always asked a lot from my people; that was part of it. But fairness was a central value. I also encouraged my employees to serve their communities and contribute to society.
Annemarie Sturm: He valued that in others and lived by it himself, often supporting charitable causes or helping individuals on a personal level. He never wanted to talk much about those efforts, though.
How important were reliability and continuity in the company to you, particularly regarding your management team?
Gerhard Sturm: Very important. Many of the people who were with us in the early days stayed until retirement.
Annemarie Sturm: And in turn, people could always rely on him—102 percent.
Gerhard Sturm: Continuity and reliability helped us navigate crises and achieve long-term success. At the same time, we had to keep reinventing ourselves to remain competitive. That’s why openness in the company was so vital to me. I wanted everything to be on the table at all times. Only then could we evaluate situations collectively and move forward. That’s how innovation happens.
We’re sitting here in the Jagstmühle in Mulfingen-Heimhausen—a sign of your close ties to your home region. What makes Hohenlohe so special for you? You’ve seen the whole world by now…
Gerhard Sturm: Hohenlohe is not just my birthplace but the foundation of who I am. The hardworking people here, particularly the farming families, deeply influenced my values and shaped ebm’s success. Their reliability and dedication were pivotal in building our company. Despite my travels around the globe, Hohenlohe has always been my home, where I feel the strongest connection and sense of comfort.
You also became politically engaged for your home region. Was that an involvement of the private citizen Gerhard Sturm or of the entrepreneur?
Gerhard Sturm: It was a mix of both. People valued that I brought an entrepreneurial perspective to the committees, especially when it came to keeping the region attractive and competitive. My political work brought me great satisfaction—I spent more than 35 years on the municipal council and 25 years on the district council.
Wasn’t it also a risk to put yourself up for election as an entrepreneur? It could have gone wrong…
Gerhard Sturm: Of course, it was a risk; you’re bound to have critics, whether you’re an entrepreneur or not. However, I was fortunate that the election results were usually favorable. While I didn’t always top the polls, the support I received was a great encouragement (laughs).
Which topics and projects were especially important to you?
Gerhard Sturm: Education and regional development were my priorities. For instance, I successfully lobbied the Bishop of Rottenburg to maintain the school in Mulfingen. With our support, it worked out, and the Bishop was very grateful for that. But I told him: We don’t expect gratitude. We need employees. A school is important if you want to encourage families to move to our Jagst Valley.
Did they always listen to you in local politics?
Gerhard Sturm: Not always. For example, I pushed for an indoor swimming pool in Mulfingen, but it never materialized. In hindsight, given how costs for such projects have escalated, it might have been for the best. We were more successful with promoting the university campus in Künzelsau, for which I worked alongside Reinhold Würth. I was on the advisory board of the Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences with Dieter Schwarz, the founder of Lidl. As far as entrepreneurs go, the region is well-connected (laughs). We were all very concerned with training the next generation of academics—in our case primarily engineers—locally.
Where else did you network and connect?
Gerhard Sturm: On the tennis court. It was a popular pastime then—mayors, district administrators, and entrepreneurs all played. These casual interactions often grew into lasting friendships.
How is it to maintain friendships when you’re on the road so much?
Gerhard Sturm: Well, it’s certainly a challenge. As an entrepreneur, business often takes precedence, and you have to step back at times. While time for friendships was limited, the connections we made were precious. Many of my closest relationships grew through our shared work and commitment to the region. It’s true that being an entrepreneur can be somewhat solitary. I always tried to find a balance. Being part of the local choir helped me achieve that.
With the singing, your husband maintained a down-to-earth hobby. Where was your retreat, Mrs. Sturm?
Annemarie Sturm: My retreat was our family. When Gerhard was home, we made the most of our time together with the children. We enjoyed games, especially during Christmas, and later took up sports like tennis as a family activity.
At some point, ebm developed from the valley into the wider world, later becoming ebm-papst. How was it for you, Mrs. Sturm, when suddenly America and China appeared on the travel schedule?
Annemarie Sturm: It went without saying that Gerhard needed to travel wherever business required. It was a natural extension of our responsibility to secure work for our employees. While I didn’t join every trip, I accompanied Gerhard on several memorable ones, such as visiting India for a subsidiary inauguration. These experiences opened our eyes to the world. When you see the Indian slums, you quickly become humble and deeply grateful for your own situation.
Mr. Sturm, how do you see globalization today, considering ebm-papst still benefits from it?
Gerhard Sturm: Early internationalization was a cornerstone of ebm’s success story. Despite our limited English skills, we were determined to do business with IBM. Globalization opened many opportunities for us, helping us grow and develop new markets. However, today’s globalized world brings significant challenges. We can observe its complexity and risks on a daily basis.
What role does money actually play for you—is it also a driving force?
Gerhard Sturm: Privately, not at all. Money provided security but never drove me. For the company, profitability was essential to sustain growth and avoid difficult decisions. Ensuring economic fairness has always been important to me, even supporting higher taxes for the wealthy to mitigate inequality. When people are doing poorly, it leads to extreme positions. We can see that right now in the election results.
Many people view artificial intelligence with concern. What are your thoughts on this technology?
Gerhard Sturm: I observe it with great interest but from a distance. I see AI’s enormous potential, particularly for improving efficiency. However, I cannot fully assess the changes it will bring—that would require the kind of intensive engagement I had with technologies in the past. But we’ve seen major changes before. Think about when the first computers arrived at the company. Or email. In the past, you wrote a letter, knowing that nothing would happen for several days.
Your love for technology has accompanied you throughout your life. What are you still particularly proud of today?
Gerhard Sturm: The evolution of the external rotor motor and the integration of EC technology remain my proudest achievements. These innovations revolutionized the industry and continue to be key drivers of ebm-papst’s success. Because of these innovations, we were able to acquire our former competitor Papst in 1992. Thus, ebm became ebm-papst in 2003.
Early on, you established the rule that each newly developed product must exceed the economic and ecological performance of its predecessor. How did that come about?
Gerhard Sturm: It stemmed from our need to remain competitive and responsive to customer needs. While efficiency wasn’t a global priority at the start, it finally became increasingly significant. In the beginning, it was impossible to know that efficiency would become so important one day. That said, sometimes I had the right idea long before others saw it.
You registered numerous patents yourself. Did you see yourself as the company’s chief inventor?
Gerhard Sturm: In the early days, that was certainly my ambition. I often conceptualized ideas that my team then developed into products. Many patents bear my name, but they were collaborative efforts inspired by shared innovation.
Where did the self-confidence come from—especially in the beginning? How did you know that what you had thought up was really good, something special?
Gerhard Sturm: I don’t know exactly. The self-confidence came from a mixture of technical understanding, market knowledge and the belief in our abilities. While my ideas sometimes faced skepticism, I trusted my instincts about future market needs and dared to pursue them. We had to consider what customers would need in five or ten years—even before they knew it themselves. That’s why I always advocated for building larger and even larger motors. Fortunately, I was often right in the end. Still, it wouldn’t have worked alone. You need the team.
How did you develop innovations in the team at ebm?
Gerhard Sturm: We didn’t write letters or e-mails. Collaboration was key. We had open, frequent exchanges of ideas, which enabled us to iterate quickly and effectively. This culture of teamwork was the foundation of our innovation.
Today one would probably call that “agile working”.
Gerhard Sturm: Yes, maybe. Some developers joked about dreading Mondays when I would return with weekend ideas. But it kept us moving forward.
Does it still need a boss today who understands the technical details and drives improvements?
Gerhard Sturm: Absolutely. Technology is at the heart of our products. And if you don’t master that, you can’t successfully lead the company. At the same time, for an ebm-papst CEO today, it’s also a management task that goes far beyond what it once was. Today, even more than before, it’s about finding and promoting the right people for specific tasks.
Now, the company which was your entire focus for so long probably no longer plays the most important role in your daily life. What’s important to you today?
Gerhard Sturm: My family is my greatest joy now. My wife and I enjoy our daily life together. It fills me with joy that I am still largely independent and can live through the day with my Anne. The family, especially our children and grandchildren, are now the center of our attention. I enjoy when the grandchildren come to visit or when we go on vacation together. As for our assets and holdings, I trust my son Ralf to continue the very successful development of the family office in the future. It reassures me to know that the company is in good hands. I do hope of course that ebm-papst continues to do well.
When you look back on your life—as an entrepreneur, inventor, family man, and active citizen—how would you describe yourself in a few words?
Gerhard Sturm: I have always remained curious and tried to take responsibility—for my family, my employees, and my home region. I was certainly sometimes stubborn in my convictions, but always open to new ideas. My life motto was to never give up and always look for improvements.
What do you wish for your husband on his 90th birthday, Mrs. Sturm?
Annemarie Sturm: Health, of course. My greatest wish is that we can stay together for a long time.
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