Looking back on the great life's work of Heinz Hermann Thiele.

Heinz Hermann Thiele devoted his entire life to the service of Knorr-Bremse and a wide range of other entrepreneurial ventures. He described discipline, fairness, willingness to perform and a sense of responsibility as his most important principles. With his unique entrepreneurial spirit, he inspired and influenced people all over the world: employees, customers, business partners and many other social and political figures. Heinz Hermann Thiele also supported a wide range of social, cultural and scientific projects around the world.

Heinz Hermann Thiele was one of the great entrepreneurial figures in Germany, having built up and developed Knorr-Bremse over many decades. He had an unerring instinct for opportunities, which he seized with determination. With his entrepreneurial flair and willpower, he turned a relatively small business into an international group whose systems for road and rail are now trusted by millions of people around the world every day.

His approach left its mark on the company’s corporate culture right down to the present day: not settling for second best, consistently striving for excellence and market leadership, always staying alert and driving innovation forward. This attitude can be seen at various turning points in Heinz Hermann Thiele’s career.

Early perseverance

Born on April 2, 1941, his flight from war-torn Berlin to West Germany as a four-year-old along with his mother and siblings was one of his formative experiences. “That’s when I learned how to survive in hard times.” Indeed, life remained tough for the family: their property in Berlin had been lost, and money was scarce. But Heinz Hermann Thiele revealed his fighting spirit from an early age. He initially focused his ambition on athletics, eventually achieving a time of 10.8 seconds for the 100-meter sprint.

After studying law, he joined Knorr-Bremse in 1969 at the age of 28 – as a clerk in the patent department. But a passion for technology was already in his blood. Three years later he became Head of Legal and Patents; then in 1975 he took over responsibility for the Commercial Vehicle Brakes division, and from 1979 for all sales activities. In 1984 he was appointed Chairman of the Executive Board of Knorr-Bremse AG.

Huge opportunity, great risk

In 1985 he was suddenly confronted with the opportunity of a lifetime. The then owner of Knorr-Bremse, Jens von Bandemer, asked Thiele – whom he by then had given overall responsibility for all business operations – to sell the Company on his behalf. Thiele was attracted by the notion of making an offer himself, particularly as no other parties had signaled any interest. As he himself once recounted, at first glance it seemed absurd: “I had nothing but a house with a mortgage still to pay off.”

Heinz Hermann Thiele trusted in his own determination and talent. These proved credible enough to convince Deutsche Bank and its Chairman, Alfred Herrhausen to grant him the necessary loans. From 1985 onwards, he gradually acquired the company’s shares via the Knorr-Bremse Limited Partnership. A daring move. Many in the industry believed it was too late to turn Knorr-Bremse around. “Nothing was right in the Company back then,” confirmed Thiele. In 1985, Knorr-Bremse had 3,500 employees and sales of EUR 254 million, of which EUR 180 million came from brakes. Today, the Company has more than 30,000 employees worldwide, and in 2023 posted sales of EUR 7.9 billion.

Trusting his own judgment, trusting himself

Heinz Hermann Thiele confronted the mammoth task of turning the company around with great self-belief. Although the risk of failure was high, he saw it as an opportunity to make all final decisions himself as owner and Chairman of the Executive Board. Crucially, to get this right, he needed a clear strategy. A firm of consultants came to the conclusion that brakes had little future and Knorr-Bremse would do better to focus on industrial pneumatics. Thiele, who had developed a knack for business through his good contacts with customers, decided otherwise. Brake technology for rail and road was to be the core activity of his company. He gradually sold off all other activities. He also restructured his team. He wanted leaders with the most technical expertise to make swift and courageous management decisions – though these also had to stand up to scrutiny in discussions with Thiele.

A long and arduous, but successful journey

For decades, he personally handled the internationalization of the group and was constantly on the road, winning new customers and developing sites. “It was a struggle that was incredibly demanding on me and also on my people. I had imagined it would be easier.” In the process, he acquired a tremendous wealth of industry knowledge – technical expertise paired with the all-important understanding of the diverse customer and market requirements and an awareness of the cultural differences that affect how business is conducted across various regions of the world.

Growth driven by many sound decisions

After years of restructuring, Knorr-Bremse began to grow strongly. Heinz Hermann Thiele’s entrepreneurial decision to open up the Chinese market at an early stage and to build up trust with future business partners with a great deal of patience and tact bore fruit. Long-term partnerships forged at this time are still in place today. In addition to organic growth, he constantly drove inorganic growth through corporate acquisitions. Important milestones on this path included the acquisition of New York Air Brake for the North American rail market in 1991 and of Bendix for the North American commercial vehicle market in 2002.

The creation of East Germany’s first stock corporation in January 1990 – a rather bold move given that the GDR still legally existed – also throws a spotlight on Thiele’s decisiveness. Knorr-Bremse had been founded in Berlin in 1905. After the Second World War and the division of the city, the Knorr-Bremse site was located in East Berlin and became VEB Berliner Bremsenwerk (BBW). Immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, Thiele saw the opportunities that were opening up, pounced upon them and set the wheels in motion. The subsequent elaborate restoration of the old administrative building as a branch office was a matter of personal priority for Heinz Hermann Thiele.

Going public

“The fortunes of the Company have always been more important to me than personal or family interests” said Heinz Hermann Thiele on October 12, 2018, the day the Company was floated on the German stock exchange. It is now time to secure the company’s independence, he added – with new shareholders who had a long-term interest in the company and wanted to invest in its future. At this juncture, Thiele set the course for the company’s future beyond his own lifetime: “The company needs to become less dependent on me, and I have an interest in other investors helping to keep the company on track.” From the first day of trading, it was clear that investors had a keen interest in Knorr-Bremse. “I have played a major role in shaping this company over 40 years and have paid a high price for my dedication to the goal of turning a small family business into an international group. The company is now very strong, very successful and will continue on its path in this new constellation,” said Heinz Hermann Thiele as he bid farewell to the trading floor.

Thiele’s last major project: digitalizing the company

Though he always upheld tradition, experience and the company’s long history, Thiele was constantly looking ahead, forever on the lookout for new technology, new ways to grow. He attached great importance to research and development, as evidenced by the construction of the large development center at the Munich site, which simultaneously underscored his commitment to Germany and to Bavaria as a technology hub. Similarly, he was under no illusions about how crucial the topic of digitalization would be for the company in the future.

Heinz Hermann Thiele passed away on February 23, 2021 at the age of 79. With his passing, Germany lost one of its most distinguished business leaders. What remains is a unique and extraordinary life’s work.