Bethel - They have been working for Bethel for almost 70 years

"I'm proud to receive the crown cross," says Wiebke Nitz, "27 years is a really impressive achievement." The 61-year-old works as an assistant to the regional management of Bethel.regional. She started in 1995 - also as a secretary - at Gilead Hospital, now the Bethel Protestant Clinical Centre. She then worked in strategic personnel and education work. She enjoyed and still enjoys her work "because it is varied and I always had and still have great people around me". She also looks forward to her retirement, which is not too far away, with melancholy, because "I will miss the people here".

Her husband is a real Bethel veteran. Wolfgang Nitz has been with the company since 1980, for 28 years as Operations Manager of Orthopaedic Shoe Technology. During his first twelve years at Bethel, the now 60-year-old worked for the former dairy and bakery alongside his work as an orthopaedic shoe technician. He supplied companies with milk, yoghurt and baked goods. Wolfgang Nitz sat at the checkout in the former Ophir department stores'. "I liked the fact that I met so many people and always had to adapt to new things," he says, looking back.

Like his wife, it is the contact with people that appeals to him about his job to this day. "I'm particularly fascinated by interacting with people with disabilities," he says. "Getting a smile from them motivates my team and me to find the best individual solution for shoes or insoles for each and every one of them."

Incidentally, Wolfgang and Wiebke Nitz didn't meet at Bethel. They met in a dance club in Bielefeld. An employee of Wolfgang Nitz introduced the two of them to each other. Without Bethel as a connecting element, the two might never have found each other. A year and a half later, Wolfgang proposed to Wiebke in the very place where he had first met her. That was almost 20 years ago. So the next anniversary is not far away for Wolfgang and Wiebke Nitz.

Text: Philipp Kreutzer | Photos: Christian Weische