Heidelberg Sees Drupa as an Opportunity - Maria Manns

Published: July 02, 2008

DUSSELDORF, GERMANY | Of the more than 400,000 visitors who were looking to take something away from Drupa 2008, one industry veteran brought something special to it. At 98 years old, Maria Manns was introduced by Heidelberg CEO Bernhard Schreier as the show’s most senior attendee!

Manns was born in September 1910 in Düsseldorf and was sent to work in the print shop run by her father, Hermann Stapperfenne, at the age of five. The company mostly produced account books for wholesale companies on a Tiegel press from Heidelberg, which at that time was not electrically powered. Over the years, the print shop invested in a four-color press from Heidelberg and, in 1945, Maria Manns took over her father's business, which she continued to run until 1968.

The sprightly lady held her own in technical conversations with fellow printers at drupa and was astounded at the technological progress that has been achieved. In the words of Mrs. Manns: "When I think of all the changes there have been over the years, words fail me.” She visited the first ever Drupa in 1951 and hopes to attend the next drupa in 2012.