Klaus Schäfer, Managing Director of BEUMER‘s Danish group company, is appointed honorary consul: Fostering closer ties

Klaus Schäfer, Managing Director of BEUMER‘s Danish group company, is appointed honorary consul: Fostering closer ties.

The German coat of arms was recently installed on the building of BEUMER’s Danish group company in Aarhus. Managing Director Klaus Schäfer has been appointed honorary consul of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Central Jutland region. In addition to his day job for BEUMER Group, his new duties include fostering closer ties between Germany and Denmark – with an emphasis on both trade and culture. Klaus Schäfer has many years of professional experience in Denmark, making him ideal for the job.

Sometimes things simply fall into place – and years of carefully-maintained contacts combine with knowledge and skills to create something completely new. That’s what happened to Klaus Schäfer, a native of the German state of Hesse who is the managing director of the BEUMER group company in Aarhus, Denmark. He is well connected, familiar with local conditions, and closely networked in Aarhus and the Central Jutland region. This makes Schäfer ideally suited to the position of honorary consul, so the German Foreign Office decided to tap him for the job. He will perform his new duties from his office, which is still located in our Danish branch. “I’m part of a German Embassy team made up of several consuls in different regions of Denmark,” he explains.

Assisting German citizens with request for passports, certifying documents, or helping German citizens who need support when problems arise – those are only a few of the tasks he’ll be performing in addition to his day job as managing director of BEUMER’s Danish group company. “In my new position, I hope to be a helpful contact person for German citizens in Denmark,” says Schäfer. Aarhus is also the second-largest city in Denmark and has been selected as European Capital of Culture for 2017. That will bring many ceremonial duties for Schäfer this year: attendance at cultural events, lectures and musical performances; opening exhibitions; and maintaining contacts with universities. Promoting close relations between Germany and Denmark as business partners is particularly important to Schäfer: “With my experience and the many contacts that I have made during my professional career, I can bring the right people together,” he says. “I know conditions on the labor market, so I can provide solid information to German employees and companies.”

Germany is one of Denmark’s most important trade partners. The main Danish exports are industrial goods, machinery, and agricultural products. In return, Germany ships machinery and vehicles, semi-finished and finished goods, chemicals, and agricultural products to Denmark.

There was no public bidding procedure for the position of honorary consul – and there’s no salary, either. It is a purely voluntary activity. “It doesn’t offer any particular privileges or benefits, either,” says Klaus Schäfer. “I’ll still have to pay any parking tickets I might get.”