Chronicle

Hans Lindner was born in Arnstorf as the only child to publicans Hans and Therese Lindner.

Hans Lindner goes to the grammar school at Kloster Metten (monastery school). He spends the holidays at his parents’ inn in Arnstorf, which was mainly and passionately run by his mother. It is where Hans gets first hand business experience for his professional career. In addition to the inn, his father Hans Lindner had started up a small timber trade in the years after the War.

The entrepreneurial spirit of the parents has a lasting impression on Hans Lindner. Today, he says that through many schools hours he much more "thought about the marketing possibilities of agricultural products and the construction of houses than the conjugation of Latin verbs".

At age 17 Hans Lindner began a commercial apprenticeship at Wimmer sawmill in nearby Pfarrkirchen. Very soon, and despite his young age, the owner assigns him highly responsible tasks, such as steering a timber truck.

At 22, Hans Lindner graduates from the commercial branch of the ‘Staatliche Ingenieurschule für Holztechnik’ (engineering college for timber technologies), in Rosenheim. At this point he dreams of going to Finland, the ‘country of prefabricated houses’. He himself plans to build prefabricated houses in Germany after that. But events took a different turn: After his mother had become very sick in the meantime, he decides to remain in their vicinity. He works as the deputy production manager at Isartaler-Holzhaus in Holzkirchen, near Munich.

Hans Lindner sets up his own business: Akustik Lindner GmbH. The representative of a building materials manufacturer, Mr. Schmid, helped him winning his first job with a contract size of 35,000 DM, a suspended acoustic ceiling in the Agricultural Vocational School Deggendorf. The substructure of wooden slats was produced in the shed of his father. Accompanied by two unemployed carpenters from the Bavarian Forest, Hans installed the ceiling within five to six weeks to the full satisfaction of the customer. He immediately recognizes the potential of the interior fit-out market and postpones the fulfillment of his vision to build prefabricated houses.

Akustik Lindner wins their first large-scale projects, such as the University of Regensburg, several subway stations and the Stachus in Munich.

The first production facility, a joinery, is built. Ceiling and partition systems are the first products being manufactured there. The building was used until 1988.

At a time of full employment in Germany (0.5 % unemployment rate), Lindner is growing faster than the labour market allows for: vacancies remain unfilled. Hans Lindner and his early companions decide to recruit one hundred Turkish employees. They helped to build the company further and many of them soon took on managerial responsibilities within the construction site teams. Most colleagues remained with Lindner until retirement.

The company builds student houses, Olympic equestrian facilities and the Olympic Village for the Olympics in Munich. 

Consistent growth: Akustik Lindner GmbH now employs about 400 people.

1974 Lindner builds the first holiday residence for employees and their families on the Costa Blanca, Spain. The ever increasing number of staff members made it necessary to look for additional vacation opportunities in other areas. Several new multi-apartment residences were built or acquired since, so that employees can now have their vacation for free in Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, Ireland, Slovakia and Croatia. In 2012 approximately 1,000 Lindner colleagues stayed in one of the holiday residences.

Lindner’s first major general contracting job was the University of Wuppertal, worth 22 million DM. Handling a project of this size required a disciplined effort throughout the whole value chain. Fortunately it turned out well and the client was satisfied upon completion of project.

The first issue of the employee newsletter ‘Lindner Intern’ appears. Until today, each employee receives his personal issue of ‘Lindner Intern’.

Hans Lindner acquires Jade Holzwerke in Wilhelmshaven. The acquisition of the specialist for veneered panels paves the way for tendering the wooden partitions for the Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt. 25 years later, the two towers will mark another milestone in the company's history.

With the core business of interior fit-out running very well, a new division is launched: the acquisition of Röckelein, Munich, starts the operation of Lindner Insulation. The division has grown into an industry-wide respected specialist for all types of insulation and environmental protection technology.

The first foreign subsidiary in Baden, Austria, also goes into service in 1982. After some demanding early years, Lindner Austria (together with the raised floor specialist company Goldbach) has become one of the most successful subsidiaries of the Lindner Group.

After rapid growth during the first 19 years serious problems occur in the corporate structure. To secure the future success of the company, Hans Lindner opted for a fundamental restructuring of the organization. One of the main changes was to merge sale and project execution to improve client service and quality – a model that still runs successfully within the company today.

Small internal profit centres are established during that time in order to promote the individual entrepreneurial spirit of the employees.

Lindner starts the production of flooring systems. Raised and hollow floors become the third major business area within a short period of time, next to ceiling and partition systems.

At the same time Hans Lindner pushes on the internationalization of the company, for instance towards Eastern Europe and the UK.

The conversion into the corporation Lindner AG Decken-, Boden-, Trennwandsysteme is an important step to build a safe future for the company. The initial public offer takes place three years later. The regional newspaper ‘Rottaler Anzeiger’ for the first time names Lindner the district’s largest company.

Lindner Schadstoffsanierung (Clearance of Harmful Substances) assumes duties as a specialist for deconstruction and professional disposal of asbestos, PCB, PCP, etc.

The German reunification opened a new market for Lindner. The decision by the Federal Government to move their offices to Berlin makes the new capital one of Lindner’s target markets. At times, up to 1,000 site staff work at Lindner construction sites in Berlin.

Lindner celebrates its 25th anniversary.

In gratitude for the very successful development of his company, the Hans Lindner Foundation is established as a public foundation under civil law. The foundation has the objective of supporting financially suffering people and of promoting start-up companies in order to create more jobs in the rural economy of Lower Bavaria.

The Hans Lindner Foundation also acquire the former district hospital in Arnstorf. The large complex is transformed into a Multi-Generation Home, called the Parkwohnstift. Today, more than 250 people spend their retirement there in comfortable surroundings, assisted in their everyday life by skilled nurses for the elderly.

The General Contracting business now amounts for 50 % of Lindner’s sales volume. These high-responsibility projects pose a big challenge to the company and employees but also bring a lot of additional work for production, installation and project management.

The major contract Hong Kong International Airport with an order volume of more than DM 90 million is signed. With 160,000 m² of metal ceilings it represents the largest order in the company's history. The smooth and professional handling of this high-profile project fills Hans Lindner and all employees involved with pride, even more when considering the flight distance of twelve hours and six or seven resp. hours in time difference.

The quality management of Lindner AG and Lindner Insulation and Industrial Services GmbH is successfully certified to DIN EN ISO 9001. This demonstrates the companies’ ambition to operate in a transparent and reliable way and to the highest quality standards to meet their customers’ needs.

A second social foundation, Fundatia Hans Lindner, is established in Satu Mare, Romania, focusing on youth development programmes. In 1999, the foundation is extended to Kampala in Uganda, where children and adolescents are also at the very heart of operations. Hans Lindner and his family regularly spend time at the foundation offices.

Goldbach NORIT joins Lindner. A proven specialist in high quality flooring systems, the acquisition enriches the range of products tremendously and also means another burst of growth for the family business at a time when the construction industry was still struggling with an ongoing downturn. Lindner Floor Systems are now positioned as a leading member in the market.

Own project developments bring further expertise: identifying potential locations and then developing and building office space, commercial and residential centres, becomes a new area of business activity for the company. In 2000 Lindner begins to implement the first projects in Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria.

In recent years, 300,000 sq m of office and commercial space were built. The largest project is the Business Park Sofia in Bulgaria, ideally located between city centre and the airport. Developed on an area of 220,000 sqm the Business Park offers 240,000 sqm of office and commercial space, which are leased to 650 companies with 11,500 employees. In conjunction with the neighbouring Residential Park Sofia, where Lindner has built nearly 200 single- and multi-family houses on a site area of 200,000 m², the complex offers a comfortable living and working environment.

Hans Lindner is awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit.

Headquarters in Arnstorf, now comprising over 100,000 sq m of office and production area, gains another attraction: Lindner build their own sound-testing laboratories. The project-specific adaptation of self-manufactured system products has become a core competency of Lindner and the integration of own TÜV certified laboratories significantly enhances the capacities for short-term product alterations and development, especially when working to tight deadlines for completion.

Lindner AG buys an old castle, Schloss Mariakirchen, from the 16th century to preserve it from decay. An extensive refurbishment begins and turns the estate partly into a picturesque training centre for the company.

The innkeepers’ son Hans Lindner fulfils his dream: Right next to the Schloss Mariakirchen he opens his own brewery, the Schlossbräu Mariakirchen. The old stable of the castle, built in 1785, houses not only the brewery, but offers various function rooms with capacities for more than 200 guests.

Meanwhile the internationalisation of the company continues: a new subsidiary in China emphasises Lindner’s presence in Asia. Ever since then, the facilities in Taicang manufacture metal ceilings and partition systems to German quality standards.

Lindner successfully implements the first complete fit-out projects as Public Private Partnership. An increasing number of schools, public office buildings and hospitals are funded applying PPP schemes. This relieves the budget of the public sector and gives financially strong companies new market opportunities.

Out of the small company aw Türen, a new product division with a highly promising future emerges: So Lindner starts the construction of a modern production for Lindner Doors in Ostrov, Czech Republic. Finished wooden doors are manufactured true to customer specification – ranging from standard object doors through to sound and fire protection doors with special surfaces and in customised dimensions.

Hans Lindner becomes honorary citizen of his hometown Arnstorf. Prior to that, he had been granted honorary citizenship by the Romanian town of Satu Mare back in 2001.

The British curtain wall specialist Schmidlin (UK) joins Lindner and rounds off the range of Lindner Concepts-Products-Service. In Arnstorf production lines for system and custom facades are set up. The acquisition also expands the scope of duties for the major project Heathrow Airport Terminal 5: Lindner is no longer working just on the interior fit-out, but is also responsible for the building envelope. The order volume grows to approximately 130 million euros.

Lindner builds their first hotel: The Schlossparkhotel Mariakirchen opens as a 4-star hotel. The listed garden house of the castle from 1810 serves as the entrance to the hotel.

In Dubai a joint venture is established, called Lindner Depa. Lindner enters the rapidly growing market in the UAE with own local offices thereby after thorough preparation by our own delivery business. Soon after that expansion the first new major order is won: Lindner Depa starts the interior fit-out of the Dubai Metro Stations on the Red Line.

Lindner again adds a field of application to their interior fit-out expertise: At the dockyard of renowned Meyer Werft, the first of several projects for the fit-out of high-quality cruise ships start off.

Green Building becomes new target market for Lindner. The growing market for building certification and, corresponding with it, the increasing demands for carefully designed products, is a big opportunity for Lindner as a provider of the complete supply chain, from the development to the keys. The renovation of the Deutsche Bank office towers in Frankfurt is a milestone for Green Building projects worldwide by successfully winning LEED Platinum and DGNB Gold status.

The Lindner Group KG creates an umbrella for all of the company’s divisions. The former Akustik Lindner GmbH has developed into a large family enterprise employing more than 6,000 people. Every day, Lindner works at 1,500 construction sites worldwide.

The building envelope and roof specialist Prater Ltd, based in London, becomes part of the Lindner Group. With its successful development over 60 years, family-owned Prater is a perfect fit for the Group. The core competencies of Prater complement the range of services in the UK market, where Lindner now offers interior fit-out and the entire building envelope.

Also new within the Lindner portfolio: scaffolding. The daughter company of Lindner Isoliertechnik und Industrieservice GmbH significantly adds to the Group's capacity for industry projects, building construction and renovation as well as specialist interior fit-out.

The development, production and delivery of special metal ceilings for the "Holy Mosque" Masjid al-Haram in Mecca is not only a milestone for the business in the Middle East but also the most important delivery transaction order Lindner has ever had.

On the occasion of the anniversary, the Lindner Group takes a look back on pioneering projects, decisive places, classic products, mastered challenges and milestones.