25+1 years ROTWILD

It is partnerships that allow the creation of a company and the birth of a brand. Peter Schlitt and Peter Böhm said yes to such a partnership many years ago, with the goal of stirring up the mountain bike scene. "At the very beginning, of course, we didn't know where the journey would take us," laughs Peter Schlitt. "But we realized very quickly that we shared a love for technical innovation."

Inventiveness and teamwork

At the time, the two were tinkering with the materials of the future as research assistants at the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability (LBF). "A lot of ideas quickly matured in us as a result of working together. We developed many of them for customers and then discarded them again because we couldn't make a dent in the cost issue," Peter Böhm recounts. "But we wanted to implement our ideas 1:1. So we decided to create our own brand: ROTWILD. In doing so, we first had to learn how the industry works and ticks." They both got that down quickly after founding the brand's parent company, ADP Engineering GmbH, in the nineties. Inventiveness and a belief in teamwork still characterize the spirit of the ROTWILD makers today. "That is why we are also celebrating our anniversary with the people who have supported us on our persistent and consistent path to this day and form the foundation for our brand success," says Peter Schlitt. These include the teams in the company, the many companions from the 25+1 years and the business partners from trade and industry. Over 250 accepted the invitation to Dieburg to the company's headquarters.

Party in the heart of the company

No better location could have been found than the company's own production hall. Between high racks for production materials and the assembly and production line designed in-house, the guests met for the official part of the evening. Presenter Sissi Pärsch led through the program and repeatedly brought companions of ROTWILD on stage. One of them was Danny Herz, team manager of the ROTWILD racing team for many years and now responsible for sales in Austria. As a present for Peter Schlitt and Peter Böhm, he had something special in his luggage: a bike from a current series, but in a retro paint job from the early days of the brand. For him, too, it is clear: despite all the enthusiasm, the development of expertise and also setbacks, both have stuck to one principle. They have always thought in one direction. And they intend to keep it that way for a few more years.

"Whether it will be another 25 years, I can't say for sure," smiles Managing Director Peter Schlitt. "However, we still have a lot of ideas for innovative and new models that we want to implement with our team," says Peter Böhm. The partners also play a very important role here.