In April, an external electrical engineer conducted the regular inspection of the emergency generator. This generator is a mandatory part of the building and required – to quote the official German – in order to obtain a permit to operate the hall as an assembly venue. In addition, the generator is used to power all safety-related systems, the ventilation systems and the associated control units in the archives and the exhibition space to maintain a constant climate in the event of power failure.

A power outage was simulated to check whether the generator starts automatically and supplies all important parts of the system. And it did not stop there: external load was also applied to the emergency generator to check its good working order and operational safety at full load. Performing this test first required a controlled shut-down of the entire IT system as well as the ventilation and safety systems. IT professional Thomas Wendlinger provided advice and practical assistance to the team of technicians during this task.

And there was cause to celebrate, as the generator worked flawlessly in all areas.

The workshop needs a second workplace

Healthy, efficient work

Aside from their main tasks, the technicians at Draiflessen have long been responsible for other functions and in this capacity have acted as fire protection assistants, safety officers, have performed tasks in the Sustainability WG and much more besides. The technicians now needed as second workplace in order to fulfil their increased responsibilities. In principle, there was enough space in the area of the lower forum in workshop U1F333, but the conditions needed to be created first.

The team drafted a plan for optimised use of the workshop. First on the agenda was rearranging the furnishings like cabinets and workbenches etc. It soon became clear that the demands of occupational health and safety would also require an adjustment of the lighting system. So the fitted strip lighting was moved and replaced with energy-efficient LED luminaires in the process. Special LED panels were installed to ensure healthy conditions at the two computer workstations. The in-house carpentry team was able to construct the supporting structure for these panels. In doing so, they recycled available timber materials – with a steady eye on sustainability.

The entire work was carried out by the technical crew: refitting the workshop, converting the lighting system, extending the sockets and IT connections, constructing the support frame for the LED panel lights and the filling and painting of walls.

Maintenance of the semi-timbered house

PRESERVE AND SECURE THE PROVEN

As part of the regular structural inspections, Thomas & Bökamp Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH from Münster examined the semi-timbered house on the Draiflessen site in the second third of the year and checked it for stability. In the process, deficiencies were identified around the supporting structure of the attached flat roof. The wooden structure was replaced for safety reasons in order to rectify these defects. Dismantling the roof also involved removing the lightning protection system from the flat roof. Once refurbishment was complete, the roof surface was rebuilt and replaced. These measures completely restored functional safety.

Hospitable and stylish accommodation

Almost 180 overnight stays in the guest house

Did you know? Guest houses became popular in the 17th century. At the time, it was common in the higher echelons of society for guests to be placed in separate guest houses instead of the main building. These overnight stays were necessary back then as guests were required on long journeys by carriage and often needed to depart the same day. To this day, for example, politicians and heads of state are still put up in guest houses.

Although guests visiting Draiflessen no longer arrive by horse-drawn carriage, they are still welcomed and offered this traditional form of accommodation. But the house must be kept in good shape so that they feel completely comfortable. So it was only natural that maintenance and renovations were carried out in 2022 as well.

Hoffmann, a specialist firm from Mettingen, painted and restored the façade, as well as dismantling and painting all 56 shutters. These measures were necessary, as the rendered façade had become discoloured with age and had also developed cracks in some places. The shutters – which lend the house its stylish look – had become weathered and therefore needed to be touched up. Weather-related damage to the columns around the terrace was also repaired.

The interior needs to be spotless as well. A new carpet was fitted in two of the rooms where had a chemical reaction had caused discolouration.

This maintenance was certainly worthwhile, as it was pleasing to note that the number of guests almost doubled in 2022 compared to the year before. Our guest house manager Caroline Hertel looked after and attentively cared for almost 180 visitors. She has internalised the welcoming mentality that is a hallmark of Draiflessen and delights her guests – many of them artists who have travelled from far afield – with the high standards of the guest house.

Introducing Draiflessen

We want to raise the public profile of Draiflessen and promote our wonderful concerts and the museum. It was a real pleasure to get back to work after the corona-related hiatus in 2022. So we set out to introduce Draiflessen to citizens and young people, once as a GmbH & Co. oHG at Mettinger Brücke and together with colleagues from the Collection at the Christmas market in Tecklenburg.

Mettinger Brücke – Youth cooking

Martin Laubrock and Isabella van Hamme were delighted to take part in the Mettinger Brücke 2022. Their aim was to inspire school kids from Mettingen to embark on an internship or apprenticeship in the kitchen, to show them many different facets of kitchen life and to dispel one or two prejudices. Our chef presented the youngsters with some examples of his cooking skills, while Isabella van Hamme was on hand to answer questions from the inquisitive teenagers. As a token of gratitude for their interest, he always gave the young visitors a small glass of honey from the four hives in Draiflessen. Two students felt so inspired that they expressed a specific wish to embark on an apprenticeship as a chef, while others showed strong interest. This was all the more pleasing for us, as we are now, for the first time, training chefs in Draiflessen as well.

The Mettinger Brücke is a network of schools and companies that helps students explore career opportunities and build networks with companies. This event provides young people with some insight into companies, businesses and the various professional fields. The opportunity to meet in person with company representatives produces a win/win situation, in which students can learn more about potential internship and apprenticeship positions. For their part, companies can get to know potential future employees and to showcase the benefits of their own businesses.

Inspiration and a place to linger

The museum shop and café

Now that the COVID 19 pandemic has subsided, the museum shop and the café are again popular places for many visitors. Aside from exhibition catalogues, the museum shop also stocks stylish gifts, while the café is a welcoming place to rest, linger and enjoy a snack. Our student assistants now also serve our home-made cakes at the café on weekends. We are delighted to note how well this service is received by our visitors – indeed, the response is so positive that guests often come just for the cake, which they are happy to take home as well.

The range of products on sale in the shop have a clear focus on sustainability – a very important aspect for all areas at Draiflessen. The products are largely sourced from small businesses that have adopted sustainable and socially equitable policies. A large proportion of the shop items specifically reflect this theme, e.g. accompanying items for Michael Pinsky’s exhibition with ‘The Final Bid’ and the ‘Pollution Pods’. Visitors strongly welcome the focus on sustainability, so that this aspect will be maintained and expanded throughout the range in 2023. Examples of sustainable shop items include the ‘Holde Isolde’ (candlesticks glued to discarded saucers), LED bottle lights (placed on old bottles for stylish lighting), seeds for insect meadows, books on the topic, bee wax cloths, bags made from recycled packaging and pencils that can be planted after use.

Instead of gift wrapping, the staff use posters from past exhibitions to pack the items – a great idea for at home as well that can be easily put into practice with a wide variety of packaging materials.

Bees – a colony escapes

A story by our gardener Birgit Haarmeyer

Birgit Haarmeyer could barely believe her eyes and ears while working in the Draiflessen garden in spring: A large swarm of bees came flying, accompanied by an omnipresent and persistent buzzing, although the bees were flying at quite an altitude. Naturally, Birgit Haarmeyer wondered where the colony had come from and where it was headed. So she started tracking the bees at a safe distance. Lo and behold, the bees have nested in a crack in a beech tree in the park, and the queen has also moved into her new territory. It turned out later on that the colony had escaped from one of our hives, but were successfully recaptured by the beekeeper. This was a fortunate turn of events, as the bees blessed us with a rich summer harvest of honey. The honey has become one of the top sellers in our museum shop and is now sold out in no time at all.

Far more than a duty

Staff induction in occupational health & safety and fire protection

Although mandatory, the staff induction in occupational health & safety is by no means an annoyance. The annual trainings that our colleagues from the technical department again organised for all staff members on four separate dates were highly competent and also entertaining. Not only did the participants refresh their knowledge of all important aspects, they also learned some interesting new facts, for instance about reducing oxygen as an effective means of preventing fire:

The oxygen content of the ambient air in our archive rooms is lowered from approx. 21% to approx. 14.5%, which ensures permanently active fire protection, as it has been established that fire cannot start at an oxygen content of 14.5%. Draiflessen produces its own nitrogen to displace oxygen in the ambient air. This process is known as oxygen reduction.

The section on the topic of fire extinguishers was also fascinating:

There are currently 54 fire extinguishers installed at Draiflessen. Most of them belong to the foam extinguisher type. Activating the extinguisher releases a foam mixture that very effectively suffocates fire. There is also a grease fire extinguisher in the kitchen area and carbon dioxide extinguishers to put out fires in electrical equipment. Water extinguishers are also installed in the archive area. They are intended for use on paper fires and should prevent the destruction of books and other records so that they can be restored. An independent specialist firm maintains the fire extinguishers every two years to comply with legal requirements. All employees attend a fire protection training every two years to receive instruction on practical use of the fire extinguishers.

Emergency

An industrial accident unfortunately occurred at Draiflessen on 24 March 2022, which required the deployment of an emergency doctor. He was flown in by ADAC emergency helicopter in order to respond as quickly as possible. The only positive side to this incident: We were able to test all our procedures for these situations and managed to ensure efficient deployment of emergency services due to our valuable and regular instruction and training in first aid. It is good to know that a rescue helicopter can land safely in our garden and can therefore provide rapid first aid on the ground. 

The kitchen and service staff

Nothing works without them

A special place at Draiflessen could never function without special people. Last year we presented our team of technicians. This time we will focus on our kitchen and service staff. They usually work in the background and reliably ensure that the guests at our establishment feel perfectly at home.

The contribution made by service team in particular is not always directly visible – things are just self-evidently nice at Draiflessen. The food produced in the kitchen is not just tasty, but healthy and sustainable as well. I would therefore like to use this annual report to extend my sincere thanks to our colleagues in service and the kitchen on behalf of all guests and the team. Another thing is true as well – the service team is certainly the most international one at Draiflessen.

BIRDS’ EYE VIEW OF DRAIFLESSEN

In October, our colleague Andrea Torka from Mettingen Grundbesitz took a balloon ride over Mettingen – and used the opportunity to shoot some stunning aerial photos of Draiflessen. See for yourself.

‘More live’ than ever before

Events are completely en vogue

Internal and external events

We were finally able to ‘go live’ again in 2021 – and were ‘more live’ than ever before as an event venue in 2022. Our team returned brimming with motivation after the reboot of the entire event industry in 2021. So we planned, conceived and accompanied all events with a great sense of joy and enthusiasm. Aside from the traditional formats held at Draiflessen Conference, we also organised other events and were honoured to welcome interesting new customers at our establishment.

The year 2022 was a game-changer for Draiflessen Conference. Dates were stacked up in quick succession and there were often several events held simultaneously on the premises – which frequently involved stiff technical and logistical challenges.

Meetings of entrepreneurs and the younger generation

Open Days were held in the Draiflessen Conference in April 2022 for the first time after a two-year hiatus. The team collaborated with proven partners to organise this event to the satisfaction of everyone involved.

We experienced our first fully-booked week in June 2022, which placed ambitious demands in terms of room equipment and conversion phases: After the Open Days from 26–30 June, three functions took place at the same time, namely two Graduation events and a Porticus Meeting. In addition, the Laudes Foundation met at our establishment on 28 June with over 70 guests, who stopped off for an off-site visit to Draiflessen with a digital guided tour of Mettingen. We were honoured to welcome over 500 guests in this week alone. It was a tour de force by the entire team!

Dance Weeks participants joined us for a gospel service in June and July. Together with Father Benedikt Ende from the parish church of St. Agatha and a gospel choir from Düsseldorf, the young family members hosted a service in our foyer with rousing music and lively dances.

The B-Meeting was held with partners as a two-day event in September.

We organised a conference and dinner to accompany the Pater Familias Consultation in May and November.

Whether it was at these events or the Senior Leadership Board, the Jongeren Weekend in August or the Pre-Leadership Board in July: The main focus was to encourage communication between the participants.

To achieve this goal, the event team created the right mood and organised excellent catering, an atmospheric ambience and professional service.

Meeting in the great outdoors

Growing numbers of our customers are learning how beautiful it can be to meet in the ‘great outdoors’ here in Mettingen. Guests from the circle of family businesses included the COFRA CEO Executive Meeting and a meeting of the COFRA Management Team at the beginning of the year. Introducing the guests to Mettingen as the family’s home town was a particularly exciting aspect of these meetings for the team. We organised guided tours of the town – which everyone thoroughly enjoyed – in cooperation with out colleagues from the Draiflessen Collection.

COFRA organised its first Business Forum in 2022 – here with us at Draiflessen. All of our skills were required to organise two intense days with an ambitious event design. Multiple set-ups – including several major conversions – were on the agenda. Workshops were held at six stations, shuttle services needed to be organised and a tight conference programme called for precise workflows on the part of our team. While Hall 2 was used as the ‘After Hour Lounge’ in the evening with its atmospheric lighting, it opened the next morning with a completely different look: as a spacious plenum connected to Hall 1 for the final event in the Business Forum.

Everything worked like clockwork, which pleased the participants as much as it did the event team.

External customers

Our group of external customers grew cautiously but steadily this year. Among them was the BA. Group from Ibbenbüren, which conducted an executive training seminar on our premises in May. In June, the general meeting of the Westphalian Association for Genealogy and Genealogical Research met in room 1 at Draiflessen Conference. We were honoured to hosed a symposium by the Society for Corporate History in September.

Another new customer then came to us in December: Ledder Werkstätten, a social services provider for persons with special needs from Tecklenburg-Ledde, trained their managers in one of our conference rooms.

Our kitchen team served regional/seasonal dishes to all participants, who were often given guided tours of the Collection’s current exhibitions after their event to give them an impression of Draiflessen’s work.

meetMUSIC creates a small concert community

Events with a very particular charm

meetMUSIC has come back to life even more radiantly after the COVID 19 pandemic. It is developing a unique momentum and becoming increasingly established. We are delighted to observe how a real community is growing among our meetMUSIC guests. This very special atmosphere in the audience is transferred to the artists and not least to the event team, which together adds up to the extraordinary charm of our events. This is precisely what Isabella van Hamme had in mind when she launched meetMUSIC: to meet for and in the interests of music, to experience it together and to make particularly fond memories.

The unique ambience, a delightful concert programme – which earned a fantastic response – and a fresh visual look with pink as the colour of the year attracted well over 1,250 people to our concerts: a truly eye-catching number!

To reflect this success story, we have successfully obtained legal protection for the ‘meetMUSIC’ brand from the German Patent and Trade Mark Office.

Chansons in February

The Dutch singer and artist Renee van Bavel got the concert year under way with her programme “What a Wonderful World”, which she presented together with her pianist. A former student of the legendary singer-songwriter Herman van Veen, she performs chansons, classics and pop songs with a soulful voice and asks the question: Is this not a wonderful world? Or is it perhaps a crazy one? Renee van Bavel’s unequivocal answer: It is a wonderfully crazy world! Interestingly, we established contact between the artist and the Collection, which marked the beginning of the wonderful collaboration with THE MIRROR OF PEACE.

Easter tradition in April

In keeping with a fine tradition, we again organised a meetMUSIC Easter Monday concert in the parish church of St. Agatha in Mettingen. This concert has now become a popular date for the congregation and our other visitors. Trio D’Anches Osnabrück performed chamber music on woodwind instruments and played a varied repertoire of familiar compositions. Works by Bach, Chemin-Petit, Ibert, Mozart and others were interpreted by the oboe, clarinet and bassoon as a real treat for the ears. As always, the solemn setting and the wonderful acoustics at the church contributed to the festive Easter atmosphere.

In keeping with tradition, the proceeds from the meetMUSIC Easter Monday concert went to a good cause. The Asylum Working Group in Mettingen was delighted to receive a donation of €1,647.00 this year.

Jazz meets classic in June

An extraordinary jazz concert entitled ‘B – A – C – H’ was held in the foyer of the Draiflessen Collection in June. The internationally acclaimed bassist Dieter Ilg performed well-known works by Johann Sebastian Bach with Rainer Böhm, a prominent jazz pianist, and the extroverted Frenchman Patrice Héral on drums, which Ilg reworked for jazz. The main concern of the virtuoso and likeable artists was to create a new sound for familiar pieces with their tremendous improvisational skills. Their recital was based on the Goldberg Editions and the Well-Tempered Clavier.

The trio revealed themselves as true masters of maintaining musical tension to the very last note. The audience was so carried away that it could barely wait until the end of the piece to reward such musical sensitivity and creativity with rapturous applause. It was a thoroughly successful evening, in which the artists, audience and organiser merged into one.

July: Clarinet and orchestra went East

The clarinettist Blaž Šparovec & das c/o chamber orchestra received standing ovation in the Main Hall of the Draiflessen Conference in July. At the Summerwinds Festival, the musicians performed works by Eastern European composers with incredible intensity. Some of the works were not particularly well-known, for instance by Grażyna Bacewicz, although the repertoire also included familiar pieces by Béla Bártok and others. In glorious summer weather, 165 music enthusiasts followed the ‘Go East’ concert with rapt attention until the end.

The performance by Blaž Šparovec, a young Slovenian clarinettist and recipient of numerous awards, was truly bewitching. The sound of his clarinet captivated the audience from beginning to end, as even the last row could not escape the passion and intensity of Blaž Šparovec’s performance. It created a magical connection between the musicians and the audience, who repeatedly smiled at the unexpected twists in the orchestration and the joie de vivre expressed by the artists.

The 16 young string players from twelve countries in the c/o chamber orchestra perform without a conductor. They caught the eye with their powerful and highly professional musical cohesion, the sheer volume of their performance and the delicate solos by the violins and cellos.

Christmas and drums in December

In December, Alexander Glöggler and Philipp Jungk presented a real firework as the Double Drums duo in Draiflessen. The two artists performed their Christmas programme ‘Groovin’ Christmas’. The recital featured all kinds of percussion instruments, from drums and boxes to marimba and even a ladder. Occasionally so fast that the audience was left gasping, the beats sometimes turned very haunting and quiet as well. Personal interpretations of well-known pieces such as the opening chorus of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Silent Night and Zuckowski’s Christmas Bakery were interspersed with their own compositions such as an impressive piece with an Asian touch. Jungk and Glöggler interacted with guests of all ages from the beginning, drawing them into the programme and making them smile. One of the most authentic, thrilling and heart-warming elements was the incredible pleasure that the two artists brought to the stage. The over 350 visitors – more than ever before – were captivated from start to end and rose repeatedly from their seats in rapturous applause.

The summer highlight

The magic of the meetMUSIC Open Air 2022

Magical is the only word to describe the three-day festival in August 2022. It was magical to witness the artists performing on the commanding stage, captivating not just the audience but all other onlookers as well. Although different, each in their own way, the concerts shared a sense of magic that thoroughly enchanted the audience.

The beautiful Draiflessen park was again the perfect backdrop and a truly impressive venue, especially in the evening with the colourful lights illuminating not just the stage but the surrounding old trees as well. The guests settled down at tables for animated and highly enjoyable discussions – the meetMUSIC community we mentioned earlier. Some guests were even reluctant to return home. The Draiflessen chef prepared small delicacies from regional ingredients for guests to enjoy, accompanied by cool summer wines and zesty Münsterland beer.

The festival began on Friday evening with a culinary concert with the violinist Mairéad Hickey and Agnès Clément on the harp. It was amazing to watch how the two young musicians performed works by Camille Saint-Saëns, Henriette Renié and others. The delicacies conjured up by our chef-de-cuisine Martin Laubrock contributed to the general sense of well-being. To match the repertoire, he served the 80 guests classic starters from Italian, French and Irish cuisine along with a welcome aperitif.

Saturday’s programme featured the German Gents, a charming vocal quartet, and the enchanting Dutch chanson singer Tess Merlot. There were also guest performances by Martha Lea Hasselberg and Antonio Del Castillo, winners of the German national youth competition Jugend musiziert. By the afternoon, the atmosphere had become so electric that numerous guests bought tickets for the second concert and lingered until the late evening hours.

The sisters Anouchka and Katharina Hack, again appointed as artistic directors of the Open Air, and their three highly talented friends provided real goosebump moments. They opened the Sunday in a matinée performance with a virtuoso and varied programme for cello, piano, violin and viola. Performing a mixed repertoire from operetta to opera, the gifted Slovenian soprano Nika Gorič closed the festival with her duet partner Johan Barnoin..

Everyone was reluctant to believe that the Open Air Summer Festival had truly come to an end. It was a celebration for all the senses! And the best bit is that the preparations for the Open Air 2023 are already in full swing

FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRADE FAIRS

Numerous employees again made use of the training and further education programme in 2022:

January

• Nordstil trade fair in Hamburg focusing on articles for the museum shop that reflect the annual motto of sustainability at Draiflessen and upcoming exhibitions | Director of Draiflessen GmbH & Co. oHG and shop colleague

February

• Visit to the Pollution Pods in the Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle, Bonn, regarding construction and technical details for the installation in Draiflessen | colleague from the technical team

March

• First aid refresher course, mentioned earlier

April

• Management-Institut Kitzmann, Münster, with the Draiflessen Management Team on the topic: ‘Team coaching on personality profiles’ | Director of Draiflessen GmbH & Co. oHG
• Offsite in Münster on the topic of Draiflessen Change Management | Head of Events

June

• The Wellbeing Summit for Social Change, Bilbao; Head of Conference together with the Head of Collection
• German Music Council, meeting of the special prize sponsors in Oldenburg to select winners of the national youth competition ‘Jugend Musiziert’ for support; three categories to support young musicians within the framework of the meetMUSIC Festival | Director of Draiflessen GmbH & Co. oHG and the Head of Events
• Münster University of Applied Sciences on sustainable project management | Head of Events

September

• MFT EVVC (European Association of Event Centres) Symposium in Münster | Heads of Operations and Events
• Loehr law firm: EnSikuMaV, Energy Saving Ordinance | Head of Events

October

• Light & Building trade fair in Frankfurt (world’s largest trade fair for electrical and lighting technology) for members of the technical team; core topics: efficient LED lighting, e-mobility, outdoor lighting, general electrical and safety technology | members of the technical team
• Loehr law firm: Update on COVID 19, contract design and domiciliary rights | Head of Events

November

• Further training/annual induction for electricians at the Osnabrück Chamber of Industry and Commerce; mandatory for all electricians | members of the technical team

November/December

• EVVC – European Association of Event Centres in Freiburg. Topics: Energy-efficiency measures, lighting concepts, legal basis for hybrid/digital events and sustainability in the event industry | members of the technical team 

December

• Loehr law firm: Event Management | Head of Events

Why go far afield?

Team building on site

In October, the day in Mettingen had many surprises in store that were kept strictly secret at first. It all began with a morning meeting for Action in front of the Mettingen Town Hall. Divided into ten teams, the participants set off on an action-packed tour through the town, a bit like a paper chase. It was all about solving tasks, taking photos and answering questions in order to get to know Mettingen and the family’s roots and to inhale the Mettingen spirit. Impressive: The teams were guided through the tour with the help of an app that IT specialists had developed together with colleagues from the Collection. This app also comes with different tours and contents that are offered to other groups visiting Draiflessen and is highly popular – among guests and colleagues alike. By lunchtime, everyone had agreed: It really was fun!

The participants walked over to Draiflessen after a fortifying meal at Tüötten Houk. Action II began in the Main Hall with the game ‘1, 2 or 3’, which many participants will have known from their childhood. The first host Michael Schanze, who presented the eponymous TV show from 1977 to 1985, performed an unforgettable version of the theme song: 1, 2 or 3 … It’s up to you, 3 fields are free … Taking this line as a motto, the questions and three possible answers dealt not only with professional responsibilities and company matters, but also addressed personal secrets. It was amazing to note what you can learn about colleagues and also about Draiflessen.

Action III then began after another break for coffee and cake: ‘Team games’ in groups of 17. The sports group was kind enough to provide the games.  The Tower Building game was all about assembling individual wooden blocks into a tall structure. It sounds easy, but isn’t, as all players were asked to stand in a circle and hold a string that was used to control a swinging grabber. The groups needed active communication and a clever strategy to stack endless successions of wooden blocks to produce a tower.

In the ‘Domino’ game, the teams were asked to practice their skill, imagination and inspirational qualities and to identify the ideal course together. The group’s collaboration was considered successful if the entire course toppled over at the end.

Running in one direction while still keeping strings taut to ensure that a ball does not drop from a balancing plate: Team game no. 3. The players were asked to keep the plates as level as possible and to complete an obstacle course as a team. This requires skill, coordination, balance and teamwork. Like in the other games, everyone had to give their best to bring the ball successfully over the finishing line.

The teams then proceeded to a well-earned dinner at Die WERKSTATT, an event eatery in Mettingen. Everyone gathered around a long table in the stylish setting of the restaurant. But anyone who believed it was their turn to be served was sorely mistaken. The likeable young chef takes pleasure in allowing his guests to the WERKSTATT to experience what it takes to produce culinary delicacies under professional guidance. Participants were invited to learn the secrets of baking bread, chopping herbs and many other tricks to produce magical dishes. Guests enjoyed delicious food and drink – and, as so often at Draiflessen, a good dance at the end. After such a long time, it was a wonderful day and evening and, above all, a great opportunity to get to know the new colleagues!

HALLO AND GOODBYE – DEPARTURES AND NEW ARRIVALS

We again welcomed some new staff members and said goodbye to others over the course of this year.

Indeed, the year began with lots of new faces.

Birgit Haarmeyer, who has long-standing experience in maintaining parks and gardens and already looked after the Draiflessen garden for the gardening team at Mettingen Grundbesitzt in 2021, is now officially part of the Draiflessen team, where she will take care of the gardens.

Ms Haarmeyer will receive support from Stefan Esslage and Thomas Schleutker. Employed on marginal contracts, they will reinforce the gardening team at Draiflessen. The gentlemen already have experience of working together. The family fathers were initially employed as an electrician and miner at RAG-Anthrazit Ibbenbüren AG (Preussag) and later took charge of maintaining the outdoor facilities at the Tüöttensportpark.

Olaf Dieckmann started work as an assistant on the technical team in January as well. A father of three, he was also employed as a miner at RAG AG. But early retirement is not retirement for him, so he has now accepted a marginal employment contract to assist the technicians with various tasks.

Linda Lang has now also joined the service and cleaning team after a long recruitment process. She came to Germany from Kazakhstan in 1995 and most recently worked at Farüchoc Schokoladenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG for two decades. Now Linda Lang is a part-time member of the team at Draiflessen.

The vacant position on the technical team was also filled. Fortunately, the central heating and ventilation engineer Martin Plake was told about us by a colleague and started work on the specialised air conditioning and ventilation systems at Draiflessen in April. The father of two is now a full-time member of the technical team.

Angela Emons has strengthened the team in the areas of media, communication and public relations since May. A graduate of German studies, she is a communications professional with decades of experience and soon fitted in due to her work as a freelance editor in 2021.

Ms Kalong Kölker provided urgent support to the service and cleaning team from November. Born in Thailand, she and her family came to Germany in 1991. Kalong Kölker has run a Thai snack bar in Ibbenbüren, worked as a cleaner at various places and has accompanied her husband – a development worker – on several international missions.

We are delighted to welcome our new colleagues and wish them all the best. It is our hope that they enjoy working in the Draiflessen team for many years to come.

Michael Tegeder left the Draiflessen technical team in December after more than ten years. We wish all the best in his future career.

BACK FROM MATERNITY LEAVE

Marieke Lütke-Drieling left on maternity leave in February and her son Felix was born in March. She has now returned to work part-time at Draiflessen.

ABOUT US

The team