“I’m a cosmopolitan person. I would also like to see my city Plauen and the Vogtland region open up to the world as they once did, for example, before the Second World War. Plauen was famous for its lace industry back then.” 

Dr. Bernd Märtner, Managing Director of M & S Umweltprojekt GmbH, gets to the point quickly. “I love being in the Vogtland area and living life here,” he says with a wonderfully disarming laugh. The 51-year-old engineer is not only an internationally successful businessman and very alert, but he is also an active sportsman.

“I’ve been playing handball all my life,” says the chairman of the SV 04 Oberlosa club, which now has a real mix of ages and plays in the Saxon league. “What’s my lucky number? It’s 13,” says the optimist, Dr. Märtner. 13 is also the number on his handball shirt.

Attached to home, but cosmopolitan

His Vogtland company, M & S Umweltprojekt, was founded in 1991. The boss briefly summarises what his firm does.

“Our core expertise involves engineering, laboratory and surveying services in the environment, infrastructure and building site sectors.”

 Märtner is attached to his home region. “I’m very interested in regional history. There’s hardly anyone else on a par with me in this field!” As a genuine “man of honour” and a member of the Komturhof Plauen support organisation, the father of two children is ideally suited to his role as Vogtland ambassador. He is one of 29 men and women who represent the Vogtland region in the public arena. 

Dr. Märtner‘s commitment naturally goes beyond the Vogtland region. “As the managing director of 13 business operating sites – including a subsidiary in Lithuania and representative offices in Poland and the Czech Republic – I’m cosmopolitan and am always keen to ask questions,” he says, describing himself. 

Entrepreneur and visionary

As chairman of the Civic Trust in Plauen, he and other active volunteers ensure that the finances are freed up for various mad ideas. 

“I spontaneously think of what has become a very successful project known as Schmökersofa organised by a very young club. We were happy to support it.”

Dr. Märtner explains. He is a visionary in the best sense. Without any vision, the EDUWAT education project would never have got off the ground either; here Dr. Märtner and his team are working together with universities in Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Syria. “It’s all about reconstructing the water supplies in Syria after the war. Engineers are being trained for this as part of the project,” Märtner explains.

Innovations based on creativity

Märtner develops many innovations with his company – for example, based on the legendary Plauen lace. The material can actually do more than just be a delicate decoration for windows and tables. “It might be unusual at first sight to use lace in road building, but it works perfectly; that fascinated me.” Experts talk about technical or industrial lace in this case. Because of its flexibility and three-dimensional qualities, it provides outstanding protection against erosion on slopes. 

Innovative drawing board ideas from the Vogtland region are currently being implemented in a very practical way in the Baltic States. M & S Umweltprojekt GmbH has helped develop the so-called liquid floor process there. “This is used at waste tips for special rubbish and it leads to lower emissions of pollutants during combustion,” says the expert and Vogtland ambassador.

Vita Dr. Bernd Märtner

• Born in Plauen in 1963
• Grew up in Jössnitz
• Lives in Neundorf 
• Played handball since 1970 
• Vocational training with school leaving certificate at Stahlbau Plauen after leaving school
• Military service and university studies in Dresden 
• 1991: founded M & S Umweltprojekt GmbH 
• 2009: granted the Plauen “city ribbon”
• 2013: “man of honour” at the Plauen Komturhof

Bernd Märtner is married and lives with his wife and two sons in Neundorf. He is a member of numerous associations (e.g. the Plauen – Haselbrunn swimming pool, the Plauen Civic Trust, school support associations, Komturhof Plauen support association) and is chairman of the SV 04 Oberlosa sports club.

Hobbies

Handball, hill walking, weight training, jogging, regional history – he has no time to watch television!

Links

• M & S Umweltprojekt Gmbh
• Förderverein Komturhof Plauen e.V.
• SV 04 Oberlosa