One of us

No one has characterised the Erlenhof in the second half of the 20th century as much as Leonhard Lehmann IV. He loved and lived wood, was a carpenter and master craftsman, boss and labourer, down-to-earth and yet visionary. Have a drink with Leonhard Lehmann.

Learning from the masters

He is eager to learn and learns quickly. Especially from the old masters at the Erlenhof, like Uncle August, who introduces Leonhard to three-dimensional drawing. The boy watches him with fascination, before sketching the first connections and rafters himself in the evening. At that time, computer-generated 3D images were science fiction at best; in reality, it was the talent for spatial thinking that counted.
In order to organise the succession among the seven siblings, Leonhard Lehmann III converted his sole proprietorship into a public limited company in 1959, Leonhard Lehmann AG, which from then on was run by 25-year-old Leonhard Lehmann IV and his brother Ruedi.
The brothers have different personalities, but complement each other well. The economy booms and the company grows - also thanks to Leonhard Lehmann's wealth of ideas. When many farms had to be divided up due to the construction of the motorway in the 1960s, Leonhard Lehmann recognised the opportunity for the Erlenhof.

His father had already specialised in agricultural buildings, but now Leonhard Lehmann IV wanted to standardise and industrialise them due to the expected high demand: with standard barns.
For inspiration, he travelled to northern Germany, where he visited barns and spoke to agricultural associations.

On one evening at least, however, his thoughts wander elsewhere. They are amorous thoughts.

The woman for life

Leonhard must have been a coveted bachelor: with that name! And then: just 30 and already an entrepreneur! Yet he is modest, hard-working and charming. ‘I really liked him,’ remembers Ruth Lehmann, who was still Ruth Ziegler at the time. The Lehmann and Ziegler families had known each other for a long time; Leonhard's mother, Martha Lehmann-Ledergerber, had worked in Ziegler's embroidery business. Ruth and Leonhard also know each other from dance and theatre evenings, which are regularly organised by the Catholic Blauring and the Gossau Junggesellenverein for obvious reasons. In 1966, 30-year-old Leonhard and 23-year-old Ruth got to know each other better and better, and on 3 March 1966 Leonhard Lehmann wrote ‘his’ Ruth a love postcard from Bad Iburg in the Teutoburg Forest, if not a love letter.
On 28 October 1967, Leonhard Lehmann and Ruth Ziegler married in St Andrew's Church in Gossau.

The master craftsman

Leonhard Lehmann is constantly on the move in the company: in the office, in the sawmill, in the carpentry workshop and, preferably, on the construction sites. The respect that the ‘boss’ enjoys has many reasons - the name is not one of them. You have to earn respect among woodworkers, a name alone doesn't help. It is his enormous expertise and spatial understanding that makes him a primus inter pares at Erlenhof, the best among equals. ‘He never saw problems, only solutions,’ recalls Pius Jung, who began his carpentry apprenticeship with Lehmann in 1976.

The wide-ranging expertise that the ‘boss’ possesses reflects the versatility of the Erlenhof as a training centre. ‘My colleagues from the vocational college envied me because timber construction at Lehmann was so varied, from historically detailed renovation work to residential buildings and standardised barns,’ says Pius Jung. Speaking of training: it is a matter close to the heart of the ‘boss’, who as a master carpenter personally looks after the apprentices, both his own and those of others. He has been organising apprenticeship and master craftsman examinations for the Swiss Carpenters' Association for decades.

One metre twenty

The ‘boss’ always remains on an equal footing with his employees, accepts advice and allows himself to be persuaded. The youngsters still have a lot of respect for him, there is even a code word: when the ‘boss’ drives up to the construction site in his golden VW Beetle, the first person to see him shouts: ‘One metre twenty!’ Anyone smoking a cigarette right now is better off dropping it and getting back to work. But Leonhard Lehmann also lends a hand himself when necessary.
When the mobile crane breaks down on a construction site in Altkirch and the workers around Pius Jung are waiting for instructions from the ‘boss’, he rolls up his sleeves, grabs the next apprentice standing next to him and lifts the first beam onto the roof truss with him. After all, it used to be possible to erect without a crane!
At the end of such a special shift, the ‘boss’ takes over the round of beers in the next pub. ‘He was one of us,’ says Pius Jung.
 

«There was even a code word: when the ‘boss’ drove up to the construction site in his golden VW Beetle, the first person to see him shouted: ‘One metre twenty!’»

The father of the family

At home on the Erlenhof farm, Ruth Lehmann is the ‘tätschmeisterin’. Daughter Katharina Lehmann remembers her father as a ‘friendly and fair’ person who was often a bit pushy.
If the children wanted something from him - for example the car for the trip to
to St.Gallen - they had to wait for the right moment. ‘When the father had lit the cheroot, we knew: Now he's finished work, now we can ask,’ says Katharina Lehmann.

In the Lehmanns' home, family and company life merge as ever. Meals are taken in large groups with employees, apprentices, domestic staff and family. Often the family can't even find room at the table, so Ruth Lehmann has to eat in the kitchen with her first daughter.
When she was pregnant with her second child, Katharina, Leonhard Lehmann asked her what present he could give her for the birth. Ruth Lehmann doesn't have to think twice: ‘I want you to eat with your family and not with your employees.’ A short time later, Leonhard Lehmann opens the first staff canteen at Erlenhof - not in the residential building, but on the upper floor of the office building.

«I would like you to eat with your family and not with your employees.»

The visionary

Leonhard Lehmann IV did not invest in luxury, but in the continuous modernisation of the company. Under his leadership, Leonhard Lehmann AG grew to around 80 employees and made a name for itself throughout Switzerland with the undulating roof landscape of Säntispark. This bold timber construction project set new standards and emphasised the company's innovative strength.

In 1986, the business separated from his brother. Leonhard retained the historic centrepiece of the Erlenhof - the sawmill, the timber market and timber construction. Despite economically challenging times, he showed foresight and invested several million francs in a modern log chipping plant in 1992 to strengthen the local timber industry.

The Erlenhof continued to develop: in 1995, Beni Gmünder set up a bark utilisation plant on the site, which further enhanced the value of the location. However, the urgently needed rezoning remained a contentious issue for years. The municipality of Gossau favoured relocating the company to a new industrial area, while for Leonhard, moving away was unthinkable. He fought tirelessly to preserve the site and secure the future of Erlenhof.

The master craftsman's examination

On Whit Saturday 1996, Ruth Lehmann finds her husband lying under the dining table early in the morning. Katharina rushes in and the emergency doctor is called immediately. Only a year earlier, Leonhard Lehmann III had died of a stroke. His son will survive, albeit with serious health problems: half-sided paralysis and partial loss of speech.
When work starts again at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Katharina Lehmann and Magnus Ledergerber, the commercial manager, gather the staff in the factory hall. Katharina Lehmann is 24 years old at the time and a business student. ‘She spoke in such a quiet and shaky voice that we could barely understand her,’ recalls Pius Jung.

Nevertheless, the news of the ‘boss's’ stroke got through to everyone. It has rarely been as quiet as it is now at the Erlenhof. For Leonhard Lehmann, the master carpenter, the most difficult of all trials now begins: accepting the illness, accepting the disability, letting go of responsibility, plans, getting back on his feet

... His greatest consolation: that in the years, indeed decades, that followed, he was able to observe how the Erlenhof flourished in the hands of his employees and his family and that this flourishing was also a fruit of his life. He mastered this life test with mischief, patience and, if necessary, with a blunt.

«She spoke in such a quiet and shaky voice that we could barely understand her»