The extraordinary development from a one-man business into an international group with 5,500 employees worldwide is an almost unrivalled German success story, especially considering that the rise of the business did not take place in the post-war era but only in the 1970s and 1980s. The 50 year history of the Gauselmann Group is primarily also the history of its founder Paul Gauselmann, who still today decisively shapes and moulds the fate of the company. Indeed, it was initially not foreseeable that this man would turn into one of the leading global providers of amusement machines with and without cash prizes and money handling machines. Paul Gauselmann, born in Borghorst near Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia in 1934, grew up in Münster and initially trained in a technical vocation and became a telecommunications inspector. His affection for all types of games since early childhood later turned into a passion for coin-operated machines.At the end of his regular apprenticeship Paul Gauselmann was invited to take part in a six-month special training course at the “Telefonbau und Normalzeit” (T+N) company headquarters in Frankfurt. He completed both the apprenticeship and the special training course with distinction and started his professional career as a telecommunications inspector. Aged 21 he became inspector for T+N in the town of Lengerich. He had two technicians report to him, had his own car and earned approximately DM 370 month – a very good salary at the time. However, a colleague working for a coin-operated machine business told him that he could earn DM 600 month in his industry. Paul Gauselmann was inspired – because he already had to provide for a family with two children – and therefore changed jobs and on 12 March 1956 started working for a coin-operated machine company in Coesfeld, the general importer for American Wurlitzer jukeboxes. Despite the heavy workload and the long working hours he still found time for his hobby – inventing. Among other things he developed a remote selection control for German jukeboxes. In November 1956 he presented his invention to a coin-operated machine company in Espelkamp. The technical director, Mr. Foelkel was so thrilled that he employed him immediately. The remote selection control was his first patent-protected invention – more than 300 were to follow!

This was another step on Paul Gauselmann’s career ladder. This was followed by another only a few years later (1960), when he was made head of the development department for coin-operated machines. Paul Gauselmann owed this position not only to his technical competencies, but also to his imaginative ideas, his inventive spirit, and above all to his drive and persistence. Paul Gauselmann took the decisive step to becoming an entrepreneur in 1957. As well as his regular work – at the time a working week meant six working days and 48 working hours – Paul Gauselmann decided “I am going to built coin-operated machines” by initially installing jukeboxes as a sideline. This was the birth of his gaming machine empire. The success story started with 17 jukeboxes, a capital of DM 2,000 and a crossed bill of exchange of DM 100,000! A year later his brother Willi joined him in the young company and his brother Eugen followed in 1962. In 1964, Paul Gauselmann took the final step to complete entrepreneurial independence, after having successfully built up his “after hours-business“ with plenty of hard work and commitment. At the time, the young company already employed a staff of 15. This was the definitive start of the steep rise of the company and of Paul Gauselmann. The conversion of second-hand US jukeboxes that received a new housing was at the time the core activity of the company. Paul Gauselmann explains the success of the young company as follows: “I gained experience in the industry with jukeboxes and electric cigarette vending machines in Espelkamp. I brought along my technical training with ‘Telefonbau und Normalzeit’ and the necessary inherent assertiveness. Action and managing is something I had to learn in the years after the war.“Probably the best-known “invention” of Paul Gauselmann is considered to be the modern gaming arcade, the “Merkur-Spielothek”. Until then society has had a negative image of arcades as “gambling joints”. But thanks to the concept of attractive entertainment centers with well-lit, modern equipment “Merkur-Spielothek“ revolutionised gaming machine operations and distinguished itself positively from what was offered at the time. Since opening the first “Merkur-Spielothek“ in Delmenhorst in 1974 the Gauselmann Group has set yardsticks in this segment of the industry. With 200 of its own “Merkur-Spielothek“ arcades in Germany, the biggest German arcade chain evolved, and is now also represented in nine European countries with 65 outlets under the name of “Merkur Casino”. There are “Merkur Casino“ entertainment centers in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Russia, Latvia, the Netherlands, and Spain.

Even two years before the first “Merkur-Spielothek“ arcade was inaugurated the decision was taken to develop, manufacture and sell the company’s own AWP machines. While Paul Gauselmann had harbored the idea for a while not to limit his activities to being a dealer and operator of AWP machines, but to produce the gaming machines himself, it took an external trigger to realise it, in this case the supply boycott of a major manufacturer.

Therefore, in 1972 the decision was taken to develop and also to manufacture AWP machines. It took four years until the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) granted the approval for the first AWP machine made by Gauselmann shortly before the end of 1976. The brand name Merkur (1976 was the year in the sign of Mercury, in German Merkur) is now synonymous with some of the most popular and successful AWP machines in the German market. Once again, the technological skills, love for mathematics, and positive gaming passion of Paul Gauselmann bore fruit. Merkur B – the correct name of the first Gauselmann AWP machine – did extremely well right from the start in 1977 under the sign of the Merkur sun. The success of the first AWP machine also continued with its successors, so that the Merkur brand slowly became a well-established player in the industry, which until then had been dominated by two major manufacturers and their products. The reason for this was mainly the new and varied features of the Gauselmann machines and last but not least Paul Gauselmann’s talent “to look into the heart” of the players. Thanks to the combination of the groundbreaking ideas of Paul Gauselmann and those of a development department with a staff of 500, the coin-operated machine company has always been able to secure its business, even when the general economic and political situation made this difficult. In order to maintain this strong position the Gauselmann Group has also always set the benchmark in quality matters. Thus, the company is the only one in the industry to be TÜV tested. The DIN EN ISO 9001:2000 certification for development, production, sales and after-sales services is a clear sign for the outstanding quality management of the family-managed company in East Westphalia.

The sustained success of Paul Gauselmann and his company would not have been conceivable without the help of his family. His wife Karin is a member of the supervisory board and at the same time is chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Gauselmann Foundation. She has been active in the company for almost forty years. In addition, his sons helped to establish important parts of the company. Paul’s eldest son, Peter Gauselmann, a graduated computer scientist, has worked in the company for ten years and was responsible for setting up the systems house BEIT GmbH. Michael Gauselmann, who holds a degree in business administration, has been with the company for 25 years, and for the last 15 years has been responsible for developing Atronic and hence the “worldwide casino machine business.” Today he is equal to his father a co-chairman of the Gauselmann AG. Armin Gauselmann, who also holds a degree in business administration, has been working in the company for 15 years; as a member of the management board he is responsible for new business activities, human resources and real estate, the Sammlung Gauselmann – Deutsches Automatenmuseum as well as the Gauselmann Foundation. The youngest son, Karsten Gauselmann, has served 20 years in the company and currently manages the vehicle fleet, which has approximately 700 vehicles. “Only with the help of such a strong and dedicated family, who always backed me all the way, has it been possible that the company underwent such a successful evolution. In particular my wife Karin, who was the one to mainly raise our four sons and who has always been my best advisor also in stormy times, contributed decisively to the success of our company“, says Paul Gauselmann.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend