Bernhard Stempfle

At its meeting on 23 June 2010 the supervisory board of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH chaired by Lord Mayor Dirk Elbers, has appointed Bernhard Johannes Stempfle (45) as the new Chief Financial Officer. In this position he succeeds Herbert Vogt (63), who will be retiring from the company on 31 August 2010.

Bernhard Stempfle is expected to assume his new office at Messe Düsseldorf GmbH on 1 October 2010 so as to ensure smooth transition. After stepping down Herbert Vogt will retain the position of the Chairman of the Board of Veletrhy Brno a.s., a subsidiary of Messe Düsseldorf. 

“We are pleased that we were able to win over Bernhard Stempfle for this position. He is an acknowledged financial expert with extensive leadership experience acquired at home and abroad both in the industry and in the banking sector. With this personnel decision we aim to ensure consistency in business, thereby providing continuity and continued quality in our financial management,” says Werner M. Dornscheidt, President & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH.

After training as a bank clerk at Deutsche Bank AG and obtaining a German business administration degree from the University of Passau and an Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Ashridge Management College in England, Stempfle held various executive posts in the Corporate Clients Business Unit of Deutsche Bank Group AG in Germany and France from 1992 to 2003. From 2003 he was responsible for corporate controlling at the holding of the Freudenberg Group, Weinheim, before he took over as Chief Financial Officer and board member for the Freudenberg Simrit Europa Group in  2005. 

Commenting on this decision the Lord Mayor and Chairman of the Board, Dirk Elbers, said: “We are sure that Mr Stempfle is the ideal successor to Herbert Vogt both on a personal and professional level.” Unlike any other, he adds, Vogt stands for clarity, stringent and sustainable corporate governance and has made a crucial contribution to the more than solid financial position of the Messe Düsseldorf group of companies both nationally and internationally. He sees this pledge being honoured by Stempfle even today.

Bernhard Stempfle is married with four sons.

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Contact:
Messe Düsseldorf GmbH
Dr. Andrea Gränzdörffer
Tel.: +49(0)211-4560-555
Fax: +49(0)211-4560-8548
Email: graenzdoerffera@messe-duesseldorf.de

Düsseldorf, 28 June 2010

The Messe Düsseldorf Group
With a turnover of 256 million euro in 2009, the Messe Düsseldorf Group was able to consolidate its position as the most successful German exhibition company despite the economic and financial crisis. In this year with a small number of events 22,000 exhibitors presented their products to 1.1 million visitors in Düsseldorf alone. With over 40 trade fairs, including 23 globally leading exhibitions in the five areas of com-petence - machines, plant and equipment, trade, handicrafts and services, medicine and health, fashion and lifestyle as well as leisure time - at the Düsseldorf location and roughly 120 own events and international participations, the Messe Düsseldorf Group is one of the leading export platforms in the world. Messe Düsseldorf GmbH is ranked no. 1 in terms of internationality in capital goods exhibitions. In Düsseldorf, just under 60 percent of exhibitors and over 40 percent of visitors came from abroad; overall, our exhibitions in Düsseldorf attract customers from 151 countries. Sales organisations in 127 countries (66 international representation offices) and competence centres in nine countries make up the Group’s global network. The average number of employees in the Group over the year is 1,400.

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