Claus Wisser

Claus Wisser (born 30 June 1942) is a German entrepreneur and a patron of music and the arts. He was head of the service company Wisag which he founded, and has been chairman of its supervisory board from 2011. He is also known for being a founding member of the Rheingau Musik Festival, and chairman of its supporting association. He was twice a member of the Federal Convention to elect the German President.

Claus Wisser
Born (1942-06-30) 30 June 1942
Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany
EducationGoethe University Frankfurt
Occupation
  • Entrepreneur
  • Patron of music and art
Organization
AwardsGeorg August Zinn Medal

Career

Wisser was born in Wiesbaden, the son of a shopkeeper. He attended the Friedrich List School.[1] When he was 14, his father had to close the shop, and the boy took several jobs during his time at the gymnasium. While still at school, he joined the SPD. He studied business administration at the University of Frankfurt, and took part in the beginning Studentenrevolte, opposing the German Emergency Acts.[2] He heard Carlo Schmid in public lectures at the university.[3]

In 1965, Wisser founded a company for the cleaning of office buildings, dropping out of the university. He led it from small beginnings to Wisag, a concern for cleaning, maintenance of parks, security, and catering, among others.[2] He describes the services as for industry, administration, airlines, and airports, especially the traffic on the ground for the latter.[3] In 2011, he passed on his position as chairman of the board to his son Michael Wisser,[2] and has been chairman of the supervisory board since.[4]

In 1987 he was one of the founding members of the Rheingau Musik Festival,[2] together with Michael Herrmann, Tatiana von Metternich-Winneburg, Michael Bolenius, Hans-Clemens Lucht, and Ulrich Rosin.[5] He succeeded Walter Fink as chairman of the Rheingau Musik Festival Förderverein, an association to support the festival.[6][7] Honoring his 60th birthday on 30 June 2002, the festival staged a performance of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana at Eberbach Abbey, with soloists Annette Dasch, Gert Henning-Jensen, and Željko Lučić, the choir Orfeón Donostiarra, and the hr-Sinfonieorchester conducted by Hugh Wolff, which was recorded.[8] Wisser has also sponsored the Städel museum and the Caricatura Museum Frankfurt, and the University of Frankfurt.[9]

Wisser was a member of the Federal Convention for the election of the German Bundespräsident, in 1999 and in 2017.[10][11]

Awards
  • 2005: Georg August Zinn Medal[12]
  • 2013: Ehrenplakette der Stadt Frankfurt am Main[9]
  • 2015: ULI Leadership Award[13]

References
  1. "Der Weg zurück zur Gründung der Schule (Chronik von 2015 bis 1902)". Friedrich List School, Wiesbaden. 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  2. Göpfert, Klaus-Jürgen (30 June 2017). "Claus Wisser: Der rote Kapitalist". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  3. "Im Gespräch: Wisag-Gründer Claus Wisser: "Ich musste arbeiten wie ein Tier"". FAZ (in German). 1 February 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  4. "Claus Wisser" (in German). University of Frankfurt. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  5. "Vor 20 Jahren wurde Rheingau-Musik-Festival gegründet" [Rheingau Music Festival was founded 20 years ago] (in German). Blasmusik. 4 December 2007. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  6. "Rheingau Musik Festival support association". Rheingau Musik Festival. 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  7. "149 Konzerte an 40 Spielstätten / Rheingau Musik Festival vor dem 31. Sommer voller Musik". Rheingau-Echo (in German). 1 February 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  8. Carmina Burana : Jubiläumskonzert: 15 Jahre Rheingau Musik Festival, 60 Jahre Claus Wisser ; Kloster Eberbach 2002 ; live recording. 2002. OCLC 174868584.
  9. Göpfert, Klaus-Jürgen (7 March 2013). "Mäzen Frankfurt / Ehrenplakette für Claus Wisser". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  10. "Ein Tag der Freude, den wir gemeinsam feiern". Frankfurter Neue Presse. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  11. Hanack, Peter (27 November 2016). "Diese Hessen wählen den Bundespräsidenten". Frankfurter Rundschau. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  12. "Bisherige Preisträger der Georg August Zinn-Medaille" (PDF) (in German). State of Hesse. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  13. "Liste der Preisträger des ULI Leadership Awards" (PDF). germany.uli.org. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
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