"It's not done with pencil and meter rule": Crafts President explains why the professions are often underestimated

Created: 05/24/2022, 12:35 p.m

By: Carina Zimniok

As President, Franz Xaver Peteranderl represents 80,000 companies and 150 trades.

© Marcus sleep

Munich – Franz Xaver Peteranderl, 66, contractor from Garching, has been President of the Chamber of Crafts for Munich and Upper Bavaria since 2016.

In an interview, the civil engineer promotes dual vocational training - and explains why the region is not just golden ground for craftsmen.

Mr. Peteranderl, do you have a favorite construction site?

The Hofbrauhaus in Munich.

When I was 17 I built and plastered a wall for our company and we still work there today.

Your company was founded by your father in 1949, you were the successor – was that what you wanted?

Yes, that was always my dream job.

You meet different people and have to adjust to them again and again.

The construction is so versatile, just in terms of the materials.

From the excavation to the finished building - there is something for everyone.

Nevertheless, the offspring is missing.

You have to experience this first hand.

Yes, my business will probably close if I quit.

My two daughters don't want to take it over.

And I failed to build another successor.

That's how it is with many companies.

Why is that?

Young people see their parents how hard they work to run the business properly.

Many find the trade exciting, but shy away from the bureaucracy.

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Apprentices are also rare.

Are wages too low?

You have to be able to afford a life in Upper Bavaria first...

Money is rarely the problem.

The idea of ​​craftsmanship is often outdated.

The boys, but also the parents, have the idea that handicrafts are dirty and strenuous.

We have to make it clear which modern techniques are used, what advantages a manual trade has over an academic profession.

Which one?

You are freer as a craftsman.

You can get involved very quickly.

I say to the demonstrators of "Fridays for Future": Get into the craft!

Here you can implement environmental protection from day one.

You can mount photovoltaic systems on the roof, install energy-saving heating systems or use regionally produced fabrics as a tailor.

The energy transition in theory is one thing – the implementation is another.

And the craft is highly digitized.

In the wood sector, for example, rooms are measured digitally, the installation of the furniture is planned online with the client, and then it goes straight to the circular saw.

It is no longer done with a pencil and meter rule.

What is the royal road?

"First do dual training!"

Are there also sectors that are currently popular?

We have positive training figures, for example for carpenters and plant mechanics.

But overall, the gains are still too low.

Many young people aspire to the Fachabitur or Abitur, then to university – but some leave without a degree.

They would be better off in practice.

What is the royal road?

Do dual training first!

If you then want to study, you already have a completed job – and contacts to companies.

After university you can return there, set up a business with your own ideas or take over an existing company.

Upper Bavaria is golden soil for handicrafts.

What still needs to be improved?

In Munich one hardly finds any more affordable commercial real estate.

Unfortunately, in the city center it is often the case that buildings are converted into condominiums and the new owners are then suddenly bothered by the workshop on the ground floor - and want to get rid of it by any means necessary.

But also the conditions: The city of Munich has increased the cost of a parking permit from 265 to 720 euros per year - while a private person only pays 30 euros.

That's unfair.

The companies have to pass the costs on to the customers.

The customer also has to wait a long time before the craftsman even comes.

Why is it?

Different.

Many companies that used to drive from the surrounding area to the city no longer do so.

Then there is the skilled worker problem.

Many specialize.

And in some areas we simply don't have the material because the supply chains are disrupted.

In the parquet sector, for example, a lot came from the Ukraine, which is of course missing now.

Interview: Carina Zimniok

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other articles from the special supplement "Upper Bavaria - a region on the move" on the anniversary "75 years of the Munich Merkur":

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"75 years of Munich Merkur": That's how it all started back then