[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”90%” custom_padding=”0px||0px||true|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||30px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
On February 18, 2023, Wolfgang Karstedt would have turned 100 years old. As Otto Diersch’s son-in-law, he significantly shaped the fortunes of our growing group of companies since 1954. With his acquired commercial knowledge in wholesale and retail, his good command of English, his open and approachable manner in dealing with people, but above all with his strategic foresight, he drove the internationalization of mineral oil purchasing and thus also strengthened the independence of the family business. At that time, Otto Diersch increasingly focused on developing the new shipping and chemical sectors. Since 1953, Diersch Schr\u00f6der has been operating at the current company location on Memeler Stra\u00dfe in Bremen’s Holzhafen. The initially two-story company building soon became insufficient, so the current office building was constructed in the early 1960s. Ingeborg and Wolfgang Karstedt not only gave life to their three sons Bernd, Axel, and Svend, but also ensured the sustainable continuity of Diersch Schr\u00f6der as a family business. <\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#D4D4D4″ divider_weight=”1px” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”30px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/ds-bremen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/zitat.svg” title_text=”Quote” admin_label=”Anf\u00fcrhungszeichen” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” max_width=”80px” module_alignment=”left” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Zitat” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”1.8em” text_line_height=”1.1em” text_font_size_tablet=”1.6em” text_font_size_phone=”1.6em” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it were that easy, others would be able to do it too\u201d<\/strong> [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Zitat” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Wolfgang Karstedt, former Managing Director of the DS Group<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#D4D4D4″ divider_weight=”1px” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”30px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||30px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n In a personal conversation, the two remaining sons Bernd and Svend Karstedt give us a private insight into how they experienced their father Wolfgang Karstedt.<\/p>\n Bernd Karstedt, you joined the family business in the late 1970s. How did you perceive your father as a superior? <\/strong><\/p>\n Bernd Karstedt:<\/em> When I started in sales in 1979, I reported to Mr. Gerken. A good friend of our father had advised him not to take me directly under his wing. My father let me run freely, but was always there to support me with advice and action. <\/p>\n Did you still have points of contact?<\/strong><\/p>\n Bernd Karstedt:<\/em> Yes, we made many trips and were also internationally active together: Moscow – Russia, Caracas – Venezuela, Scandinavia, Kuwait, Algeria, South Africa, …<\/p>\n Do you have any special memories from all these trips that you’d like to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n Bernd Karstedt (smiling):<\/em> My father usually carried a three-pack of Underberg for the stomach during foreign trips. Even on trips to Arab countries. With the phrase: \u201cThis is my medicine for my heart,\u201d he was allowed to take the stomach bitters with him. <\/p>\n Many trips mean many people \u2013 how was Wolfgang Karstedt in dealing with others?<\/strong><\/p>\n Svend Karstedt:<\/em> Our father was very good at dealing with people. He was a cheerful person and loved to laugh. Above all, it must be said that “Vattern” was very conscientious and a man with clear principles. A saying he coined was, for example: \u201cFirst do your work \u2013 then drink and laugh.\u201d \u2013 first the work, then everything else. <\/p>\n Besides you, were there people he exchanged ideas with?<\/strong><\/p>\n Bernd Karstedt:<\/em> He managed his business areas alone, when it came to new ideas and ways, he liked to exchange ideas with his advisors and quoted my grandfather: \u201c\u2026 Willi, say something against it \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n And how was the relationship with his father-in-law and Diersch Schr\u00f6der founder Otto Diersch?<\/strong><\/p>\n Wolfgang Karstedt gave up his good job in the wine trade and entered the mineral oil trading business in 1954.<\/p>\n Svend Karstedt:<\/em> The relationship was good \u2013 according to the motto: nothing strengthens one more than trust \u2013 Otto Diersch had once told him that should his marriage to his daughter not last, he would want Wolfgang as his successor. Both professionally and privately, our father was very straightforward, generous, and fairly correct. <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#D4D4D4″ divider_weight=”1px” admin_label=”Teiler” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”30px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”90%” custom_margin=”20px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||true|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/ds-bremen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/bernd-karstedt-ds.jpg” alt=”Bernd Karstedt” title_text=”Bernd-Karstedt-Ds” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” max_width=”850px” module_alignment=”left” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Bildunterschrift” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”14px” text_line_height=”1.2em” max_width=”850px” module_alignment=”left” custom_margin=”||30px||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]Bernd Karstedt, Shareholder of the Diersch Schr\u00f6der Group and son of Wolfgang Karstedt[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/ds-bremen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ds-geschaeftsfuehrung-1993.jpg” alt=”Management of DS in 1993″ title_text=”Ds-Geschaeftsfuehrung-1993″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” max_width=”850px” module_alignment=”left” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Bildunterschrift” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”14px” text_line_height=”1.2em” max_width=”850px” module_alignment=”left” custom_margin=”||30px||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]Managing Directors 1993: Bernd Karstedt, Wolfgang Karstedt, Horst H. Peifer (seated, from left), Peter Roth, Dieter Grundsch\u00f6ttel, Karl-Heinz Miske (standing, from left)[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”90%” custom_padding=”0px||0px||true|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_divider color=”#D4D4D4″ divider_weight=”1px” admin_label=”Teiler” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”10px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||30px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Were there habits your father maintained or favorite foods?<\/strong><\/p>\n Bernd Karstedt:<\/em> Indeed: At exactly 12:45 PM, he would drive home for lunch with our mother. …<\/p>\n Svend Karstedt:<\/em> … and return to the “office” – as he always called it – at 3 PM. Regarding food, he was very down-to-earth, as with everything else, and loved home-style cooking, such as K\u00f6nigsberger Klopse (Prussian meatballs). <\/p>\n When the weekend approached, was there time for leisure activities?<\/strong><\/p>\n Svend Karstedt:<\/em> Like all of us, our father was very enthusiastic about sports. As a young man, he successfully played hockey and tennis, and became the northwest German champion in doubles with his friend Hermann Segnitz. Due to his knee injury during the war, he later switched to golf. Our Saturday evenings always included watching Sportschau, and when a boxing match with Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) was broadcast at night, our mother would even set out cookies for us. <\/p>\n Bernd Karstedt remembers:<\/em> He also coined the phrase: “As long as the youth are still playing sports, the world is still in order,” – he said this once when we were driving home one evening along the Osterdeich and saw young people playing football under floodlights on the adjacent sports fields. As a family, we founded the Otto Diersch Foundation in 2002 for Otto Diersch’s 100th anniversary, through which we are particularly committed to supporting youth and sports in Bremen and the surrounding area. <\/p>\n Thank you very much for our wonderful conversation.<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/ds-bremen.de\/wir-sind-ds\/#geschichte” button_text=”About the History of DS” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On February 18, 2023, Wolfgang Karstedt would have turned 100 years old. As Otto Diersch’s son-in-law, he significantly shaped the fortunes of our growing group of companies since 1954. With his acquired commercial knowledge in wholesale and retail, his good command of English, his open and approachable manner in dealing with people, but above all with his strategic foresight, he drove the internationalization of mineral oil purchasing and thus also strengthened the independence of the family business. At that time, Otto Diersch increasingly focused on developing the new shipping and chemical sectors. Since 1953, Diersch Schr\u00f6der has been operating at the current company location on Memeler Stra\u00dfe in Bremen’s Holzhafen. The initially two-story company building soon became insufficient, so the current office building was constructed in the early 1960s. Ingeborg and Wolfgang Karstedt not only gave life to their three sons Bernd, Axel, and Svend, but also ensured the sustainable continuity of Diersch Schr\u00f6der as a family business. \u201cIf it were that easy, others would be able to do it too\u201dwas a popular saying by Wolfgang Karstedt. Even today, it is often heard in the hallways because it still shapes us: accepting challenges, finding flexible solutions, doing it better than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-we-are-ds"],"acf":{"titel_h1":"100 Years Wolfgang Karstedt: From Bremen to the World","titel_h2":"A Journey into DS's Past","vorschautext-news":"On February 18, 2023, Wolfgang Karstedt would have turned 100 years old. As Otto Diersch's son-in-law, he significantly shaped the fortunes of the DS Group since 1954. 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was a popular saying by Wolfgang Karstedt. Even today, it is often heard in the hallways because it still shapes us: accepting challenges, finding flexible solutions, doing it better than others. <\/p>\n