On the occasion of its 120th anniversary, on 2 May 1937, bathroom manufacturer Duravit introduced the image of the wood grouse as trademark alongside the manufacturer’s mark. The then managing director, Eduard Cronn, explained it as follows: “The wood grouse is the largest, most beautiful and rarest bird in our forests. At all times, its image should carry greetings from our beautiful Black Forest homeland to all four corners of the world.” As word-and-design mark, the logo still features this original heraldic animal in a stylised form. All over the world, this logo stands for innovative bathroom design and, at the same time, indicates that “having and cultivating roots” is a source of strength that still energises the company today during the course of its worldwide activities. Its deep roots in the natural landscape of the Black Forest have also shaped the company’s values; responsibility towards the environment is a fundamental aspect of its guiding principles worldwide.
Germany’s largest nature park
Against this background, it almost goes without saying that Duravit became involved as both sponsor and partner when the Black Forest Nature Park Central/North was first founded in December 2000. The chairman of the Black Forest Nature Park Central/North, Peter Dombrowsky, describes the Black Forest as one of the most beautiful regions in Germany and a world-renowned holiday destination. The aim of the nature park is to conserve and develop this region in a sustainable way. It comprises a total of more than 100 local communities in seven rural district authorities and two town councils, two thirds of these in the Karlsruhe administrative district and one third in the Freiburg administrative district. With a total area of approx. 350,000 hectares, it is the largest nature park in Germany. It has approx. 700,000 inhabitants.
Leading the way into a sustainable future
Environmental education is one of the key objectives of the German nature parks.
“Children recognise more car brands than they do native animals and plants. We have to turn this around and show our children the richness and beauty of nature”, continues the chairman of the nature park. During the early years of the nature park, the emphasis was on promoting a contemporary tourist infrastructure, particularly hiking, mountain biking and Nordic walking, however, the focus is now moving towards conserving the landscape and marketing regional products. This also includes extending the “echt Schwarzwald” regional brand, established in Ortenau, to the other administrative districts within the nature park. Another key area is nature education. In a nutshell, all efforts are aimed at preserving the diversity of the Black Forest and leading the way into a sustainable future.
Acting responsibly with natural resources
As southern gateway to the Black Forest, Hornberg, the home of Duavit, plays an important part in the overall concept of the nature park. Promoting this further is an important reason why Duravit has become a sponsor of the Black Forest nature park. The logical consequence of this partnership took place very early on in the Ruhestein nature conservation centre located on the Schwarzwaldhochstraße where, throughout the year, visitors can find out about the interaction between the landscape and the animal and plant world: the sanitary rooms were fitted with products from the Starck 3 range. However, at Duravit, the close link between nature and tradition is not restricted to sponsoring. The latter is only a small part of a comprehensive environmental policy that is implemented in all areas of company management. This starts with resource-saving manufacture, which utilises technologies such as water treatment and heat recovery. The logical continuation of this is manifested in the products themselves, which help to save valuable water. Even with its product developments, Duravit takes account of the possible environmental impact and ensures that, whatever it does, it uses natural resources responsibly. This commitment became “official” once again in 2008: in addition to Duravit China, Duravit AG was also certified as an environmentally-aware company in accordance with ISO 14001.