On the 100th birthday of the visionary entrepreneurREINHARD MOHN (1921-2009) is regarded as one
of the most important German entrepreneurs of the 20th century. Returning home from World War
II he took over his parents' publishing company in 1947 and in the decades that followed
beginning with the founding of the Bertelsmann Lesering in 1950 set the course for
Bertelsmann's development into an international media group with a corporate culture based on
social partnership. The economic success of Bertelsmann AG which Mohn managed from the East
Westphalian provinces was accompanied by a high reputation as one of the most attractive and
progressive employers in the Federal Republic. In 1977 Mohn established the Bertelsmann
Stiftung which is dedicated to promoting a democratic civil society and is today considered
the most important of Germany's foundations.
