Schauenburg Foundation honors top IHK graduates

On Monday, October 27, 2025, this year’s winners of the Schauenburg Foundation awards were honored. The Schauenburg Foundation, which is primarily dedicated to promoting young talent in technology and economics, awards its sponsorship prize to ten graduates of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for Essen, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Oberhausen and Essen. The prize has been awarded since 1990 to the best graduates from Mülheim at the aforementioned Chamber of Industry and Commerce – this year marks the 36th time. In addition, a special award was presented to a trainee from a portfolio company of the Schauenburg International Group to highlight his exceptional performance as one of the best graduates of the North Westphalia Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Isselburg. The award winners completed the following training courses: industrial clerk, wholesale and foreign trade management clerk, office management clerk, technical product designer, and industrial mechanic. In addition to the award winners, the training managers were also invited to the award ceremony.

 

The award ceremony took place in a festive setting at Mülheim City Hall. In addition to Florian G. Schauenburg, who presented the awards on behalf of the foundation, Marc Buchholz, mayor of the city of Mülheim-Ruhr, Robert Schweizog, Head of Education and Testing at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for Essen, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Oberhausen and Essen, and Rainer Lüdtke, Head of the “Science and Environment” team at the German Foundation Center, also congratulated all the award winners on their outstanding achievements. “With this award, we recognize the extraordinary achievements of these young people, because the future is not created by technology alone—it is created by people who have the courage to shape it,” summarizes Florian G. Schauenburg, CEO of Schauenburg International.

 

The winners of the 2025 sponsorship award:

Industrial clerk

• Lars Werner, Siebtechnik GmbH
• Toby Bartels, Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG
• Niklas Zimmermann, Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG

Wholesale and foreign trade management clerk

• Jan Pohlschmidt, Salzgitter Mannesmann
• Hendrik Schrübbers, METRO Cash & Carry Deutschland GmbH

Office management assistant

• Marleen Marzian, ALDI International Services SE & Co. oHG

Technical product designer

• Lasse Paland, Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG

 

Industrial Mechanic

• Ole Nießen, Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG
• Daniel Schmitz, Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG
• Steffen Hermes, Max Planck Institute for Coal Research

Additional recognition for outstanding achievement:

• Joel Specking, Construction Mechanic, deconta GmbH

About the Schauenburg Foundation

The SCHAUENBURG Foundation aims to support scientific projects, promote the professional training of young people, and engage in social and cultural projects.