Weinheim, February 9, 2024. Dr. Hans-Jochen Hüchting, a Management Board Member of Freudenberg & Co. from 1994 to 2004, has passed away. He died on February 2, 2024, at the age of 81.
Martin Wentzler, Chairman of the Freudenberg Board of Partners, paid this tribute to him. “Dr. Hans-Jochen Hüchting was the last family member to serve on the Management Board. He rendered outstanding service to Freudenberg and played a major role in shaping the company for many years. He is closely associated with the decentralization of Freudenberg in the 1990s and the modernization of human resources. The education of young people was always one of his special concerns as well. He also worked with the city of Weinheim, building a successful relationship with it.”
Dr. Mohsen Sohi, CEO of Freudenberg Group, emphasized Dr. Hüchting’s work on the development of the Freudenberg Guiding Principles that shape the actions of the company even today: “Dr. Hans-Jochen Hüchting was a model for these values based on his personal convictions. To him, they formed the soul of our company. First, because they build on a long tradition of successful entrepreneurship. Second, he saw our values as a guarantor of economic success in the future.”
Dr. Hans-Jochen Hüchting studied law in Freiburg, Berlin and Hamburg. During this period, he gained his first experience abroad in the United States. He completed his legal clerkship in Mannheim, passed his second state exam in Stuttgart and earned his doctorate in Bochum. After positions at a private bank and the Industrie- Treuhand GmbH in Mannheim, he joined a foreign trade company in Hamburg. In his last position at the company, he was in charge of its subsidiary in Hong Kong as a member of its Management Board.
Dr. Hüchting joined Freudenberg in 1986 and assumed responsibility for human resources, and social services. His integrity, his sincere interest in people and his personable nature contributed to the high esteem he enjoyed in the company.
In 1994, he was named to the Management Board, and was appointed as a General Partner a year later. He was responsible for technical trading activities, materials management, the shoe and leather business, and Partner issues, in addition to personnel and social services. The “Tanner” program that Freudenberg launched in 1999 on the occasion of Freudenberg’s 150th birthday can largely be traced back to him. Freudenberg employees took the children of their colleagues abroad into their homes for several weeks. Horizons were expanded when the children got to know new acquaintances in another culture in surroundings far from home. The experience also deepened the young people’s foreign language skills and contributed to their personal development.
In mid-2004, he left the Management Board for the Board of Partners. He had already been a member of the panel between 1982 and 1986 before joining the company as an employee; he served until 2008, again contributing his expertise after an active career. Outside of Freudenberg, Dr. Hüchting was involved in multifaced activities as a volunteer with a special focus on his local region.
We are grateful to him and hold him in our memory. Our deeply felt sympathies go out to his wife Ingrid Hüchting as well as his children and their families.
Freudenberg & Co. Partners, Board of Partners, Management Board and Employees
