Dr. Wilfried Palm Foundation
Since the company was founded, members of the Palm family have campaigned for local historical and cultural issues, supporting associated projects time and again. Since 2002, this action for the common good has been delivered through the Dr Wilfried Palm Foundation, founded by Dr Wilfried Palm himself and to this day is carried on by his descendants.
"'By supporting regional projects covering themes such as culture and local history through the Dr. Wilfried Palm Foundation, Palm not only wish to provide concrete assistance, but also wish to show gratitude to the communities local to Palm operations for their ongoing support and long-standing solidarity."
Dr. Wolfgang Palm
Kocherburg castle, Aalen
It is no coincidence that one of the larger projects Palm supports is dedicated to the Kocherburg. The company's founder himself, Adolf Palm, had begun to excavate the castle foundations, together with the Swabian Jura Association in 1913. The castle was first documented in 1136, extended to become a manor house between 1627 and 1632 – and completely destroyed in 1645, during the Thirty Years' War. In 2008, when an initiative started further research and protection of the ruins, Palm provided significant financial support.. The planned works originally intended to secure a small, free-standing wall soon expanded. With work carried out over several phases, all main walls of the former castle were excavated and secured by the end of 2021. In particular the vaulted crypt mentioned by Adolf Palm became visible again. The castle ruins can now be experienced in person, and have become an important testimony to the culture and history of the Unterkochen area. Today, situated in a beautiful landscape, they make an attractive destination for a day trip.
Congratulations
The Initiative Ruine Kocherburg (INKO) in the Geschichtsverein Aalen e.V. has won the Silver Hemisphere award of the German Prize for Monument Protection 2023. Over a period of 16 years, members of the initiative have acquired funding, developed further concepts for its use and invested thousands of hours of their own time and efforts in the restoration of Kocherburg Castle keeping in line with its status as a listed building. Since 1979, the prize has been awarded by the German National Committee for Monument Protection to individuals and groups who have given outstanding services to the preservation and communication of architectural and archaeological heritage.
Organ of the St. Johann Church, Aalen
The documentation and preservation of a historical treasure is the focus of another project: St. John's Church in Aalen, which was first mentioned in a document in 1360. In 2010, the history of the church which is more than 650 years old will be reviewed in a book co-financed by Palm. In addition, in 2012 Palm donated the main share for the restoration of the organ. During the research for the book, the organ turned out to be a 210-year-old instrument by the renowned organ builder Allgeyer – truly a sensation.
Organ of St Mark's Church now in KubAA, Aalen
Another organ is also at the centre of major project Palm supported. In 2018, the Protestant congregation in Aalen's Hüttfeld will give up its St. Mark's Church there to make way for a residential development. This gave rise to the idea of continuing to use the organ in a meaningful way: in KubAA, Aalen's cultural station, which at the time was being built. Palm fully financed the relocation of the organ to KubAA, where it found a prominent place in the gallery of the large hall and was inaugurated on 2 October 2020.
Bike Park, Aalen
Palm supported the construction and initiative of a Family Campus in Aalen.
A Bike Park for the whole family was created near the Palm paper factory in Aalen-Unterkochen and offers a sporting leisure facility for local families. A variety of different obstacles ensures that all skill levels have fun!
One obstacle on the course was part of the 2022 Mountain Bike World Cup course in Aalen: The cyclists rode over a roll of paper.
Support for people in need
In emergency situations, Palm's plants and individual locations offer rapid support with their products and infrastructure.
For example, our corrugated cardboard company Nestler and also Packwell Höchstädt donated thousands of cardboard boxes for collection and citizens initiatives for the Ukrainian population.
The packaging plant Europack in Wörth am Rhein produced and donated cardboard boxes for the aid package campaign of the Lebenshilfe group in Karlsruhe and our company Emil Stahl also supported local organisations with shipping boxes.
Furthermore, Packwell with its sites in Monheim and Andernach was able to provide a total of 30,000 packages in cooperation with the Tabea relief organisation for donations for Ukraine.
The support of our employees was also enormous during the flood disaster in the Ahr valley, Rhineland-Palatinate. Packwell supported the local German Red Cross in their work in the flood area. In order to pack and distribute the numerous donations, Packwell donated thousands of boxes and was thus able to help quickly with no hesitation.
Emil Stahl and Packwell were also able to support the aid for the earthquake region in Turkey in spring 2023 with packaging. Numerous employees implemented direct aid measures with Turkish associations from the region.
Pump track, Einsiedeln
Our packaging plant WellPack in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, supported the construction of a pump track. A pump track is a circuit which is a series of rollers and banked turns that can be ridden on bikes and is therefore suitable for all ages.
Construction of the pumptrack began in autumn 2022 and was completed and opened at the beginning of summer 2023.
