A Life Dedicated to Innovation and Mechanical Engineering

Passing of Company Founder Horst Groninger A Life Dedicated to Innovation and Mechanical Engineering

2025-11-17 Updated on 2025-11-17 Source: Press release Groninger 3 min Reading Time

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For decades, Horst Groninger shaped mechanical engineering in Heilbronn-Franken and far beyond. With his courage, technical passion, and entrepreneurship, he created a family business known around the world. Now, the founder of Groninger has passed away at the age of 86.

Horst Groninger, founder of the Groninger Group, created his life’s work with courage, passion, and endurance. His values – honesty, discipline, and innovation – still form the foundation of Groninger today.(Source: Groninger) — Horst Groninger, founder of the Groninger Group, created his life’s work with courage, passion, and endurance. His values – honesty, discipline, and innovation – still form the foundation of Groninger today.
(Source: Groninger)

It is with deep sorrow and sadness that Groninger bids farewell to Horst Groninger, the founder and long-time shaper of the Groninger Group. He passed away at the age of 86. With his passing, the Heilbronn-Franken region has lost not only an influential entrepreneur but also a passionate visionary who dedicated his life’s work to innovation, responsibility, and sustainable success.

The Strong Will to Create Something of His Own

Horst Groninger was born in Langenburg in 1939. He developed a wish to become an entrepreneur at an early age. After graduating from high school, he studied mechanical engineering in Stuttgart and Ulm – an education that not only provided him with technical skills but also laid the foundation for his later entrepreneurial career. Characterized by determination, hard work, and the firm will to create something of his own, he founded Groninger & Co. GmbH in Crailsheim in 1980 together with his wife Eva. What began with a small group of dedicated all-rounders developed over the following decades into a leading global manufacturer of filling and sealing machines for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and consumer healthcare industries.

Today, the family-owned company with more than 1,600 employees at three locations in Germany and the USA is one of the most important employers in the region and one of the innovation leaders in its industry. This extraordinary development is inseparably linked to Horst Groninger’s vision, his tireless commitment, and his entrepreneurial courage. He recognized opportunities, met challenges with passion, and always put people first – whether they were customers, business partners, or employees. “His people,” as he called them.

A Man of Principle: Direct, Honest, Curious

He saw other opinions not as contradictions but as enrichment. He sought dialogue – always on equal terms and with respect. He believed that all generations could learn from each other: the young from the old and the old from the young.

“I am particularly proud that we never had to lay off employees for economic reasons,” said Horst Groninger in an interview on the occasion of his 80^th birthday. A statement that sticks. Economic success and social responsibility? For him, they were inseparable – not a concept on paper, but an attitude and a lived reality based on conviction. This attitude now lives on in the second generation. His values – honesty, discipline, innovation – are still the foundation of Groninger today.

Courage, Passion, and Endurance

Even after handing over operational management to his sons Jens and Volker, Horst Groninger remained closely connected to the company and continued to shape it until the very end. “The Groninger Group is our father’s life’s work. His courage, passion, and endurance have made the company what it is today: a reliable, internationally respected partner in filling technology,” say Jens and Volker Groninger in tribute to their father. “We are grateful for everything he has created and will continue his life’s work with great responsibility, modesty, and respect.”

His Legacy Will Live On

Horst Groninger has received numerous honors for his entrepreneurial achievements, including the Economic Medal of the State of Baden-Württemberg in 2001 and the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon in 2012. Despite all these awards, Horst Groninger never sought the stage. Modest in his appearance and never fond of the hype surrounding him, he always emphasized that the founding and current success of the company was a joint effort – with his wife Eva, with whom he had shared his life since his youth.

On November 14, 2025, Horst Groninger’s circle of life came to a close. The Groninger Group and all its employees will honor his memory. His legacy lives on: in the people who worked with him, in the values that drive the company, and in the attitude with which the future is shaped. With Horst Groninger’s passing, we have lost an extraordinary person whose legacy extends far beyond the boundaries of the company.

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