Since a dozen of years, we are realising that we have received plenty from the region: technology and staff from Clausthal Technical University, sustainable infrastructure at a world-renowned location and nearly unlimited potential for expansion including support from municipality, chamber of industry and commerce, local authorities, financial services providers, colleagues, consultants and politics. Thus, we are grateful ever since and have therefore developed our Corporate Citizenship, headlined „securing foundations, promoting talents”. The systematic project funding we channel-off from our earnings on an annual basis are on a comparable level with DAX companies, and also stimulate contributions of third parties. Over the last decade a seven-figure Euro sum was streaming into local community spirit projects, launching and realisation of which being largely flanked on honorary level. Public reconnaissance, awards and distinctions such as the Kulturkontakte-Preis of the state of Niedersachsen document relevance, acceptance and sustainability of our passionate commitment to the region.
The deep sleeping mine Caroline was reawakened with the building of our headquarters on the historic mining plot. However, this time with a provision above ground. Numerous historical artefacts on the Pulverhaus premises such as the shed for explosives „Historisches Pulverhäuschen“, the corner stones of the mining claims „Großer und kleiner Lochstein“, the surface opening of the Caroline drain „Mundloch der Caroliner Rösche“, the Caroline weather shaft „Caroliner Wetterschacht“ and the yield flags of the Caroline & Dorthee mines „Ausbeutefahnen von Caroline & Dorothee“ keep the former mining permanently present with distinctive traces. Furthermore there are visitors’ diaries with many famous guests having left appreciative comments. Among those are Goethe, Heine, Novalis, Schleiermacher, Schopenhauer as well as James Watt and another 20,000 visitors between 1709 and 1875. The historic mining environment, which has also been named a World Cultural Heritage, with its significant industrial and social implications, inspired our own social commitment as a corporate citizen.
Corporate Citizenship Concept
With the corporate citizenship concept of our sponsoring we have tackled the task to examplarily stage selected values and virtues. With the awareness that the origin builds the basis for the future, culture is in the first place, followed by education which finally leads to the promotion of talents.
Culture :: Preserving through securing of foundations
Relates our responsible self-conception to the extant traces of the formative past.
Education :: Imparting through emphasis of present
Links the categories of music with those of performing arts and sports and leisure.
Promotion of Talents :: Developing to future yielding
Unites the elements of ambition and endurance needed to cause intrinsiccaly motivated dedication and willingness to perform.
Our action is displayed with individual projects. The project systematics follows this canon of values and is underlined with the projects. The six project groups are subdivided into the static sector focussing on maintenance and mediation of objects and monuments, while the focus in the dynamic sector is on the promotion of talents. Foundations need to be secured and talents promoted so that both is linked in an optimum way to the wellbeing of society and the one is built on the other.
With the new construction of Pulverhaus its position and orientation was aligned with the found mining monuments and adjusted with the topograhy determined from the tailings. Thus the main entrance of Pulverhaus came at a distance of ca. 10 m to the neighbourhood of the Caroline weather-shaft. The sealed mouth and the backfilled shaft of about 300 m depth have been connected with a lock and gallery to the base level and joined to the former overman’s alley via museum gallery and a glass pavillion. This was the only way to prepare the new infrastructure of Pulverhaus so that a chance would remain to realise a visitors’ mine utilising historically relevant parts. Otherwise this chance would have been irretrievably lost.
This precarious outlay had to be provided from us without any guarantee. We could meet the amount from the financing volume of the new construction. Only 4 years later it became a succesful Public Private Partnership (PPP) project when the ministry of finance of Niedersachsen signaled a co-financing. First we made one hundred thousand Euro available with which the Oberharzer Geschichts-und Museumsverein (OGMV) bought the advance for touristic use from us. In this way the proprietary capital was doubled with the same appropriation and restocked to nearly half a million Euros using additional sponsorship (sponsors : European Fund for Regional Development, Sparkasse Goslar/Harz, Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung, N-Bank, Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege and Sympatec). With this the first 25 metres of the weather shaft could be re-established, the connection to the 16th century Dorotheer Rösche with a 20 metre long renovated gallery secured and the visitors’ mine finally inaugurated on the 7th October 2015 and handed over.
Thus the connection to the „Oberharzer Wasserregal“ was established and only 4 weeks later the initiative was further rewarded when with the appointment of the Oberharzer Wasserregal to a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage on 1st August 2010 the direct relation of the visitors’ mine achieved significance beyond the region.
For 20 years this most famous wooden church in Europe is under tremendous pressure for renovation with financing needs of more than 10 million Euros. In this case our contribution had to remain relatively small but the symbolic importance may not be ignored, especially as this church has developed in direct interaction to the mining and represents the most prominent symbol of the central Oberharz square in the ensemble of Town Hall, main building of the Technical University, Upper Mining Authority and the ministers meadow.
Since 2009 our sponsorship is documented with the musicians staircase of the re-built bell tower in the company of renowned supporters. For the Oberharzer community this is communicated on an annual basis with related reports in the news papers. The Sympatec staff sees this on a daily basis as proud and growing number of yield flags. During the planning and reconstruction about one third of the staff has even participated in seminars and site inspections to accompany the re-construction process of the church.
To contribute a long-term support to cultural initiatives and to animate the nearly fully re-built house of God, the Marktkirche Zum Heiligen Geist Clausthal foundation had been established. Right now, the internal restoration with renewal of the organ is being planned, for which additional 5 million Euro over the next years are required. It is the goal of the foundation to contribute one million Euro. With the project „100ToThePowerOf3“ already 25 per cent of the amount have been collected over the past two years.
Not only for visitors of the Pulverhaus but primarily for the Sympatec employees, special emphasis is put on the aesthetic impression of art objects to enhance the atmosphere in the company building. Today, the collection creates a pleasant ambience and provides an additional cultural dimension to the entire object in- and outside.
The sources for the meanwhile nearly one hundred acquisitions are exclusively in the Harz mountains. Pieces of regional artists of the BBK/Harz and far beyond are present because such objects are purchased from the established exhibition Natur – Mensch (Nature – Human) at St. Andreasberg, which for more than 20 years is an annual event in the autumn.
The rather quiet culture contact is actively being cultivated internally through participation of interested employees who are consulted for selection and test hangings after the exhibitions before purchase.
This project block comprises our numerous activities with the Technical University of Clausthal and the local schools. At this point we do not refer to the usually complex and investmen-related scientific cooperation projects. Occasionally, we are giving grants to the TU orchestra and the choirs in terms of instruments and sheet music and distribute scholarships for outstanding works of students and post-graduates together with the board of the society of friends of TU Clausthal. We support the free school of design for exhibitions of students’ art works.
In 2008 we have been appointed an Distinguished Location in The Land of Ideas. And in 2009 we hosted the literature days of Lower Saxony in the Pulverhaus. Achill Moser read in reference to the “Harz Journey” of Heinrich Heine from his book “Take along as much as you can carry”. We regularly provide support for the Forum Kultur in unserer Stadt – FoKuS.
Traditionally, we support schools with computer technology, apprentice ship offers and events – such as company tours to experience the business reality even for Kindergardens. Annually we have workshops with the Internationales Musikfest Goslar-Harz for local primary school classes at Pulverhaus.
Music offers the best integration forum to which all groups may come together. The good acoustics of the Pulverhaus central portico provided the offer of braunschweigclassixfestival to become its most southern external location.
Since 2012 we have initiated the HarzClassixFestival adding the Martkirche for the opening concert in September, the TU Aula for the German-Chinese bridge concert to the Pulverhaus portic. Per season about 1,500 listeners come from the whole region and in addition followers of the artists travel to Clausthal from all over Germany and even Denmark, Holland and Switzerland. Decision makers of the region join with students and academic members of the Technical University as well as those interested in music, the cultural interested of the Oberharz towns and from Goslar, Seeesen and Osterode, the braunschweigclassixfestival core audience and the Sympatec employees. The selection of interprets follows the proviso of highest possible expectations to show the auditorium, and first of all the staff, that we set similar high standards to our globally distributed analysis instruments to remain the best.
Sport is the classic field for promotion of talents where performance and motivation, mental capacity, endurance and orientation at short, intermediate and long-term goals take a central role. Emphasis shall be put on our sponsoring of meanwhile globally renowned biathlets Arnd Peiffer and Daniel Böhm whom we have successfully supported the transition from the amateur to the professional level.
We have just supported the Ultra Athlete Fritz Geers with his to date largest ultra-cycling project Race around Germany. End of August 2017 he set a new record for circling Germany with just 21 years as the so far youngest athlete. He successfully defeated the 3,250-km long distance along the outer borders of Germany in seven days, sixteen hours and 57 minutes. No one before him has been faster on this mammoth distance. Deeply impressed we congratulate.
