60 Years of Hess GmbH: And the Story Continues…
The launch of our new website marks a special anniversary for our family’s group of companies. Our company’s story began in 1965 – that is 60 years ago.
Through the decades and the founding of new companies, some things have remained constant: first and foremost, our location in Kirchzell, and also our family – the Hess family. As managing owners of our companies, we gladly take responsibility for our projects, and above all, for our team. That’s why we are especially proud to have built a highly skilled staff over the years – and even to have supported several partner companies in their own growth.
Another constant has been our openness to change and progress. On this website, we showcase several projects from the history of the Hess companies that are a testament to this. But you don not necessarily need to look back – because Hess GmbH is still going strong and actively involved in a wide range of projects. Sometimes visibly, like with webartifex or Plantman – and sometimes behind the scenes, supporting areas like forestry, real estate, or business development.
You want to learn more about our story? Dive deeper into our website (in german language). A great place to start is the page titled “60 Years, 60 Pictures.”
Back in 2015, for our 50th anniversary, we sent a message to our partners, friends, and employees that deliberately recalled the “hard and lean times” we overcame. Because in business, history is often romanticized in hindsight – and that is not just a social media phenomenon. Today, we are thankful for our companies’ success, but we also recognize how much our family and team had to give to make it happen.
“From hardship to daily bread” is more than just a phrase – it’s how we look back on the founding of Rudolf Hess’s cone-picking business. That this would one day lead to multiple companies in forestry and beyond was impossible to predict in 1965.
And the rest is history. Here’s a small selection of key milestones:
• 1965: Company founded by Rudolf Hess (June 1, 1965)
• 1984: Hess GmbH becomes a certified training company
• 1990: Expansion into landscaping, followed by the founding of Green Design later on (2005)
• 1990, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2009: Storms Wiebke, Lothar, Erwin, Kyrill, Klaus
• 1991: Founding of Interforst GmbH for international timber marketing
• 1995: Acquisition of Köhler & Wallace
• 2004: Launch of forest district management services
• 2015: Founding of webartifex GmbH
• 2020: Launch of Plantman
• 2023: Interforst and Green Design sold to new owners, while Hess GmbH continues with other projects
A detailed look at our company‘s history can be found here.
What Hess GmbH Has Done and Continues to Do: Overview of Current and Past Companies and Projects
In more than 60 years of business, we have founded and built several companies successfully and sustainably. In recent years, some of these were sold to other businesses. But our passion and interest for these heart-driven projects remain. At the same time, our own business story continues to evolve.
Alongside company sales, we have launched new ventures and exciting initiatives in recent years. One thing is for sure: even after six decades, our entrepreneurial spirit is as strong as ever – supported by a broad network and fresh ideas for our home region and beyond.
The Most Important Companies and Projects from Hess GmbH:
• Plantman: A reforestation project with the motto “From the Region. For the Region.”
• Interforst GmbH: Our largest and most well-known company. Now part of the Brüning Group.
• Timberscout: Software that makes timber purchasing easier and more efficient. Still in partial use today.
• Green Design: Everything to do with your garden and green spaces. Later sold to Christoph Abb from Weckbach.
• Köhler & Wallace: Property maintenance and more. This division was later sold to our former employee Dirk Wörner.
• Hess Design: An umbrella for many creative ideas related to forest, garden, and beyond.
• Webartifex GmbH: The third generation of the Hess Group. Webartifex offers innovative services and consulting in areas like digitalization, artificial intelligence, and data science – and develops custom software solutions.
• Just Live: A dream come true – a unique and highly versatile event location.
• HMC GmbH: Over the years, we have gathered valuable business experience and know-how. This has shaped our approach to sustainable entrepreneurship and now forms the mission through which we support and advise our partners.
Looking Ahead
We want to continue being a source and a hub for creative ideas – ideas that fulfill us personally but also bring value to our community and society as a whole.
Projects like Plantman, Webartifex, Just Live, and others will remain active in the years to come – just like Hess GmbH – and will surely spark one initiative or another, both regionally and beyond.
We’ll continue using this platform to keep you in the loop.
All reports on recent events can be found here.
Otherwise you can always start a nice journey through our strory starting from the homepage of hess-forst.de.