Horn Mourns Loss of Corporate Leader Lothar Horn

Lothar Horn. Photo Credit: Horn/Sauermann

Lothar Horn, managing director of Paul Horn GmbH in Tübingen, Germany, died Feb. 5, 2023, at the age of 66 after a long illness. According to the company, Lothar shaped the Horn Group into an internationally successful manufacturer of precision tools with production sites in England, Italy, the Czech Republic and the U.S. There are additional subsidiaries in France, Hungary, China, Mexico, Turkey and Thailand.

Today, the company is the largest industrial employer in Tübingen. As chairman of the VDMA Precision Tools Association, Lothar Horn was the mouthpiece of the industry from 2009 to 2019. He is regarded by many in the sector as a pioneer and visionary. His son Markus, managing director of Paul Horn GmbH since 2018, will continue to run the company — now in its third generation of family ownership — together with Matthias Rommel, also managing director.

Lothar was a technology enthusiast and business economist who joined his parents‘ company in 1991. Before that, he gained experience in the IT industry and in management consultancies. He became managing director on Jan. 1, 1995. In 1999, Lothar Horn created new production and administration facilities as well as a demonstration, research and development center at the Tübingen headquarters. The new building combined all business processes in one location for the first time, including a coating center.

In order to further expand its position in the world market, another factory was constructed next to the Tübingen headquarters, doubling the production area. Since its completion in 2016, it has been the largest industrial building in use in Tübingen.

The expansion also involved the reorganization of processes as qualification and customer training took on increasing importance and space at Paul Horn GmbH under Lothar Horn‘s direction. It is said the Horn Academy is an investment in people and employees. In addition to training internal and external people, it also offers apprenticeships, dual study programs, retraining and further education. The facility cooperates with the Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW).

For 10 years, Lothar Horn also served as chairman of the Precision Tools Association of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA). In 2021, he was awarded the Tool and Moldmaking Medal of Honor at the Molding Expo trade fair in Stuttgart. It honours indivduals who, as pioneers and visionaries, have set groundbreaking benchmarks and are role models.