K&S : K+S places a sign to commemorate reunification

29 June 2015

3.6 meters high and vivid green - this is what the highly visible sign commemorating German reunification looks like, which State Minister Eva Kühne-Hörmann and Chairman of the K+S Board of Executive Directors Norbert Steiner unveiled today in front of the company headquarters in Kassel.

"Unification Man" is the name of the figure created by artist Ottmar Hörl, who was inspired by the Berlin "walking figure" after 25 years of German Unity and interpreted the logo of East Berlin's pedestrian lights in a new light. "With unification something big and also wonderful came into being," said State Minister Kühne-Hörmann. "The installation is a successful approximation of this important event for our state, the region and K+S."

"The reunification of both German states significantly transformed the K+S Group and has influenced it up to the present," explained Steiner. "Without German Unity the merging of the East and West German potash industries would have been unthinkable. It provided the unique opportunity to jointly take up a new starting position in international competitiveness. We are therefore pleased to support the celebrations of the State of Hesse on the 25th anniversary."

Steiner recalled that the potash merger was a great success after reunification. "Together with the Treuhandanstalt [an East German public-law institution], a forward-looking concept of economic and social reason was developed, which was bound up with considerable though necessary impacts on East and West," he said. "With the potash merger, many thousands of jobs could be subsequently saved." The positive results can be seen in what is still a largely stable number of employees in Germany. Of the current approximately 10,000 employees of the K+S Group in Germany, about 3,200 are in the Zielitz (Saxony-Anhalt) and Unterbreizbach (Thuringia) potash plants, as well as in the Bernburg an der Saale (Saxony-Anhalt) rock salt plant. At the same time, the Company has made considerable efforts since reunification to significantly reduce the impact on the environment in connection with raw materials production.

A further copy of the "Unification Man" unveiled in Kassel can also be seen as of today in front of K+S' Merkers Adventure Mine in Thuringia.

Information on the State of Hesse's celebrations and the art project can be found at www.grenzen-ueberwinden.de

You can also find pictures of the Unification Man's assembly at www.k-plus-s.com.

K+S is an international resources company. We have been mining and processing mineral raw materials for 125 years. The products we produce from them are used worldwide in agriculture, food and road safety and are important elements in numerous industrial processes. Potash and salt are integral nutrients for the megatrend of a constantly growing and increasingly prosperous global population striving for a higher standard of living. This will result in increasing consumption of mineral resources. We serve the resulting growth in demand from production sites in Europe, North America and South America as well as through a global distribution network. K+S is the world's largest salt producer and one of the top potash providers worldwide. With more than 14,000 employees, K+S achieved revenues in financial year 2014 of about € 3.8 billion and an EBIT of € 641 million. K+S is the commodities stock on the German DAX index.www.k-plus-s.com.

• Press Release 29.06.2015 (PDF | 25 KB)

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