Eberhard Bezner turns 90. The long-standing managing director and current co-owner of Olymp Bezner KG, and co-founder of the eponymous foundation in Bietigheim-Bissingen, Baden-Württemberg (Ludwigsburg district), will celebrate his milestone birthday on December 31. As a German fashion entrepreneur, Bezner brought numerous innovations in modern shirt-making to fruition, laying the foundations for the company’s outstanding market position today.
Shirt specialist, patron of the arts and philanthropist: Eberhard Bezner celebrates his 90th birthday at the turn of the year. – OLYMP
Eberhard Bezner was born on December 31, 1935 in Stuttgart, Württemberg, the only child of company founder Eugen Bezner and his wife, Wilma (née Klaus).
Bezner grew up in Bietigheim and Ingersheim in the district of Ludwigsburg. After completing his schooling in Bietigheim in 1950, he began a structured apprenticeship as a textiles and retail merchant with a textile wholesaler in Ludwigsburg.
Bezner then joined his parents’ company in September 1953, initially as a junior employee. Following the sudden death of his father, Eugen, in January 1960, he had to take responsibility for the fast-growing, medium-sized shirt manufacturer overnight, at just 24 years of age.
As managing partner, he devoted himself to this role for many decades, until the complete handover to his son and successor, Mark Bezner, who now successfully runs the internationally active family business in its third generation.
One of Eberhard Bezner’s key entrepreneurial achievements was recognising, as early as the late 1960s, the growing difficulties facing domestic textile production in Germany.
The demand for qualified production workers could scarcely be met at that time. In the face of near-full employment, the local textile and clothing industry, particularly in the Middle Neckar region, continuously lost workers to traditionally strong sectors such as mechanical engineering and the automotive industry.
As a result, alternatives for shirt production had to be found abroad- this was the only way to preserve the medium-sized company and safeguard jobs in Germany.
In addition to his many years as an entrepreneur, Eberhard Bezner also took on political responsibility at municipal level in his hometown of Bietigheim for decades. From 1968 to 2004, he was at times the longest-serving councillor in the CDU group on the Bietigheim-Bissingen city council and also served, on an honorary basis, as deputy to the then Lord Mayor, Manfred List (CDU).
For his numerous services to the community as a citizen, patron, sponsor, and elected official, he received the Badge of Honour of the state of Baden-Württemberg and also holds the Cross of Merit on ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In October 2013, Eberhard Bezner was additionally honoured by the Baden-Baden Economic Forum for his life’s work as the doyen of the German shirt industry and as a shareholder of OLYMP.
Guided by the humanist maxim “It is far more blessed to give than to receive,” the committed philanthropist Eberhard Bezner has long been active in charitable humanitarian projects. Together with his son, Mark Bezner, and his daughter, Birgit Bezner-Fischer, he founded the Olymp Bezner Foundation in 2008 with a private endowment of one million euros, which has since worked worldwide to support the education, health, and welfare of children and young people.
In 2010, Eberhard Bezner opened the “EBERHARDS” hotel and restaurant, now run by his grandson Bastian Fischer, as a stylish address in Bietigheim-Bissingen. In a prime city-centre location- right on the River Enz, beside the Bietigheim railway viaduct, the town’s landmark, and opposite the municipal indoor swimming pool- EBERHARDS combines high-quality accommodation for business travellers and holidaymakers with culinary experiences for connoisseurs and lovers of regional cuisine.
Eberhard Bezner is also an avid music lover and the initiator of the “Jazz im OLYMP” festival, which has been held annually on the company premises since 2001 and has established itself as a cultural highlight in the Stuttgart region with its numerous international music groups, performers and bands. As a sports fan and sponsor, Bezner has also been a major supporter of local sports clubs in Bietigheim-Bissingen for decades.
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A French ban on the production and sale of cosmetics and most clothing containing polluting and health-threatening “forever chemicals” goes into force on Thursday.
New regulations could see certain cosmetics brands change their ingredients – Shutterstock
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are human-made chemicals used since the late 1940s to mass produce the non-stick, waterproof and stain-resistant treatments that coat everything from frying pans to umbrellas, carpets and dental floss.
Because PFAS take an extremely long time to break down- earning them their “forever” nickname- they have seeped into the soil and groundwater, and from there into the food chain and drinking water. These chemicals have been detected virtually everywhere on Earth, from the top of Mount Everest to inside human blood and brains.
Chronic exposure to even low levels of the chemicals has been linked to liver damage, high cholesterol, reduced immune responses, low birthweights and several kinds of cancer.
The French law, approved by lawmakers in February, bans the production, import or sale from January 2026 of any product for which an alternative to PFAS already exists. These include cosmetics and ski wax, as well as clothing containing the chemicals, except certain “essential” industrial textiles.
A ban on non-stick saucepans was removed from the draft law after intense lobbying from the owners of French manufacturer Tefal. It will also make French authorities regularly test drinking water for all kinds of PFAS.
There are thousands of different PFAS and certain ones have been banned since 2019 under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, but China and the US are not among the more than 150 signatories. This includes perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), used since the 1950s by US company DuPont to manufacture its non-stick Teflon coating for textiles and other everyday consumer products.
The Stockholm Convention also bans perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), known for its use as a waterproofing agent by the US group 3M, which has been heavily restricted since 2009.
A handful of US states, including California, implemented a ban on the intentional use of PFAS in cosmetics beginning in 2025, and several other states are slated to follow in 2026.
Denmark will ban the use of PFAS in clothing, footwear and certain consumer products with waterproofing agents beginning on July 1, 2026. Denmark has banned the use of PFAS in food packaging since 2020.
The European Union has been studying a possible ban on the use of PFAS in consumer products, but has not yet presented or implemented such a regulation.
French luxury giant LVMH announced on Tuesday its 100% acquisition of French publishing house Les Editions Croque Futur, integrating three publications, Challenges, Sciences & Avenir, and La Recherche, into the UFIPAR investment company.
LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault – Shutterstock
The acquisition, “reflects LVMH’s commitment to promoting high-quality information and scientific culture, as well as making it accessible to a wider audience,” the business announced in a press release on December 30. LVMH has acquired 100% of the business’ shares with its holding company UFIPAR and the move builds on UFIPAR’s previous investment in Les Editions Croque Futur alongside its founder, publishing mogul Claude Perdriel.
Following the acquisition, Les Editions Croque Futur will accelerate the development and distribution of its three publications, with a focus on digital formats. This is designed to help the business secure a long-term future in the ever evolving industry.
Claude Perdriel’s long-time advisor Maurice Szafran has been named as president of Les Editions Croque Futur as part of the LVMH transaction. Szafran will take on the role of publishing director for all three titles and will harness his expertise in the media industry to promote long-term growth in the business.
Robbers used a large drill to break into a German bank’s vault room during the extended Christmas break and steal cash, gold, and jewellery worth 30 million euros ($35 million), police and the bank said Tuesday.
Gold seized included coins, bars, and jewellery (photo for illustrative purposes only) – REUTERS/ Ajay Verma/File Photo/File Photo
The spectacular heist in the western city of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia state, saw thieves smash open more than 3,000 safe deposit boxes and make off with the loot. While the criminals remained at large, hundreds of distressed bank customers massed outside the branch on Tuesday demanding information.
According to police, the robbers drilled their way into the underground vault room of the Sparkasse savings bank from a parking garage. The bank said the branch was “broken into over the Christmas holidays” and that “more than 95% of the 3,250 customer safe deposit boxes were broken into by unknown perpetrators.”
German businesses were closed for Christmas on Thursday and Friday last week, and investigators suspect the gang may have spent the holidays and weekend inside, breaking open the deposit boxes. The robbery came to light after a fire alarm was triggered in the early hours of Monday and emergency services discovered the hole.
Witnesses reported seeing several men carrying large bags in the stairwell of the parking garage during the night from Saturday to Sunday, police said. Footage from security cameras showed a black Audi RS 6 leaving the parking garage early Monday morning, with masked persons inside.
The car’s licence plate had been stolen earlier in the city of Hanover, police said. A police spokesman told AFP that the break-in was “indeed very professionally executed,” likening it to the heist movie “Ocean’s Eleven.”
“A great deal of prior knowledge and/or a great deal of criminal energy must have been involved to plan and carry this out,” he said.
Police said the thousands of boxes had an average insurance value of more than 10,000 euros, and therefore estimated the damage at some 30 million euros. Several victims had told police that their losses far exceeded the insured value of their safe deposit boxes.
The police spokesman said that “disgruntled customers” were outside the bank branch which did not open for security reasons, after threats had been made against the employees. “We’re still on site, keeping an eye on things,” he said, adding that “the situation has calmed down considerably.”
The bank said it had set up a hotline for customers and that all those affected would be informed in writing as soon as possible while it was working with the insurance company to determine how to process the claims.
“We are shocked,” said bank press spokesman Frank Krallmann. “We are standing by our customers and hope that the perpetrators will be caught.”
Politics8 years ago