On April 1st, 2011 - Mr. Günter Thömmes was able to reflect back on almost half a century – 40 years in the shipping department of FRITSCH Milling and Sizing. Mr. Thömmes summed up the time period from 1971 to 2011, to the point: From a manual note pad and pencil to the linked work place or from the telex and postcard to fax and e-mail communication.
Günter Thömmes experienced numerous changes in his career: For example, forty years ago the “Volkscomputer” TA 10 was considered a milestone of modern office technology, 1981 the electronic typewriter was implemented and additional technological innovations followed in quick succession and have in the meantime become standards. Especially memorable was the dinosaur of office technology the template copier for manual copes – difficult was especially the refilling of the ink –hands dyed blue were a common occurrence. Of course perfect typing was a must with the IBM ball hitch typewriter without correction ribbon.
But not only office technology changed rapidly, also the political landscape and its effects on every day work life. Mr. Thömmes explained that after September 11th, nothing was the same. And it seems that almost every month new embargos or safety regulations become effective. The Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) monitors the foreign trade with strategically important goods. Focus of the tasks of the BAFA is verification if the export of a good requires permission and is licensable. This is very time consuming and means an immense administrative effort.
Much easier though was back then the shipment of goods with an express company. When a shipment was to be picked up, a sign was posted clearly visible on the wall of the FRITSCH company building and when the driver of the express company drove by, he knew that FRITSCH had something that needed to be picked up. The former company building was located directly in the Hauptstraße (main street) the former arterial road of Idar-Oberstein. With more than 5 transport boxes destined to Russia, employees who helped with the loading received per person one shot of Schnapps – as a small compensation for the missing loading ramp. Additional little incentives were the so called May money - a cash allowance of 20,- DM paid on each May 1st per year - and food stamps valued 1,50 DM per day.
The FRITSCH-Team wishes Mr. Thömmes lots of joy working and Confucius says Choose a profession you love, then you don’t need to work another day in your life.
