Ullrich Kasselmann
A lot has to happen for the Lord Mayor of Osnabrück, the proud City of Peace, to officially announce that in future, he will just refer to “Osna-brück near Hagen“. All the more so since the Hagen in this case does not mean the city in nearby North Rhine-Westphalia, but the small town of Hagen am Teutoburger Wald (a.T.W.) with its population of 14,000, located on the outskirts of Osnabrück. The reason for this humble announce-ment made by Hans-Jürgen Fip, former Lord Mayor and now honorary citizen of Osnabrück, can be found in this “little” Hagen at the address ‘Am Borgberg’: it is an equestrian centre called Hof Kasselmann.
Many years ago, when the Eastern European host of the European (!) dressage championship suddenly dropped out at the last minute, the resulting major emergency was resolved when Hof Kasselmann stepped into the breach, hosting a perfectly organised European championship here in Hagen on the spur of the moment. The official opening ceremony was held in Osnabrück’s historical market square and even broadcast live on television: this was what extracted the subsequently frequently quoted saying “Osnabrück near Hagen” from the former city leader.
Plenty of good reasons, therefore, to take a look at Hof Kasselmann and visit Ullrich Kasselmann, the mover and shaker behind this globally renowned top venue for equestrian sport. He welcomes us with an amiable smile and invites us with a friendly gesture to join him in the Yellow Salon, a buil-ding next to the family’s private home that is admirably stylish with an open fireplace and bar, while also being tastefully functional. The hospitality here is legendary. It is the host himself who serves coffee just as we like it, while providing the first explanation for the multilingual hustle and bustle of the riders on the picturesque, spacious estate: “People from 25 different countries live and work here, covering all possible aspects of working with horses.” This is where riders and equestrian specialists from all over the world come together at what must be a globally unique private equestrian centre. It offers neat timber-framed cottages for residents and visitors, six indoor riding and lunging arenas, four outside dressage arenas, a showjumping arena, the equestrian stadium for events, the and race track and paddocks, as well as a farrier and veterinary station, forming a world of its own covering around 40 hectares.
This daily view that people from many countries have of his tranquil Hagen a.T.W. in the Osnabrücker Land is what has inspired Ullrich Kasselmann’s latest idea and his request for the political powers-that-be, but more about that later. Let us first at least fast-track through the successful career of this horse expert – after all, the many details and stages of his professional journey would fill a book of its own. So, how did it all begin? “My family has owned the land for a thousand years“; says Kasselmann, who ensured that the eventful his-tory of his family was researched properly and written down in a book of 200 pages.
Needless to say that the heir in the 14th generation naturally keeps the professionally restored original of the charter issued by Frederick the Great in a place of honour. This document enabled his ancestor Heinrich Casselmann to purchase his freedom from military conscription and bondage, for the price of exactly 1512 thalers in 1763, thereby also obtaining a hereditary leasehold for the land. An awareness of the historical roots is also one of the reasons for their current success, says Ullrich Kasselmann: “Like all good free farmers, we always think in long lines and generations. We don’t serve any ‘other lords’, such as shareholders.” Despite his cosmopolitan approach and his many contacts with the economic and political powers-that-be, Kasselmannn still retains close ties to his piece of land. This is a stroke of luck for Hagen a.T.W., regularly bringing the big wide world to the small, well-tended town in the foothills of the Teutoburg Forest.
But back to family history: what happened next? “It was with my grandfather August that things started to get more interesting: he turned the farm into a holiday location, referred to in those days as a summer resort”, says his grandson: “My grandfather even had the first swimming pool built in Hagen for the guests who paid good money to come here. These often included wealthy business people from the Ruhr conurbation, or the Jacobs family of the eponymous coffee brand.” Already in those days, the family always thought in larger dimensions, so the grandfather sent his daughters to Italy to learn the art of Italian cuisine and bring it back home to Hagen. Following the chaotic war years, a devastating fire in 1967 with subsequent reconstruction, and a change in the line of succession from primogeniture to postremo geniture, it was in 1972 that the estate came into Ullrich Kasselmann’s hands. His contribution to the future of the estate consisted in his previously acquired know-how and contacts in the equestrian world. He had been a successful auction rider working for the renowned equine expert Hans-Joachim Köhler in Verden, although he learnt the skills of the trade from famed dressage riders such as Bubi Günther, Willy Schultheiß or Harry Boldt: “The latter had competed at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, winning the silver medal in the individual dressage competition and gold with the team. He also won the silver medal again twelve years later in Montreal, before becoming the national coach for Germany’s dressage riders.” It was also here in Verden that the man from Hagen met his future wife Bianca, herself a national dressage and showjumping champion.
Equipped with all these illustrious skills and having found the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, Ullrich Kasselmann was well prepared for one of the most important friendships of his life, in both business and personal terms: “In the 1980s, Paul Schockemöhle asked me if I would be interested in buying a stud farm with him, but the deal didn’t go through and Paul told me that we should organise a horse auction in the USA, so I flew to New York. Here ‘Performance Sales International’ (P.S.I.) was created and in 1981 the first auction with our horses was held in Newport, Rhode Island. The second auction followed in 1982 in Ocala, Florida.”
After the successful auctions in the USA, where he even met the legendary actor Yul Brynner, things in America became too risky. “I had a bad feeling about product liability, which has become increasingly unpredictable over there due to the legendary cat in the microwave.” The two outstanding horse experts therefore brought their business back to Germany. Under the quality brand “Performance Sales International” (P.S.I.), they have been holding their globally esteemed auctions in Ankum north of Osnabrück for decades. The annual events generate a turnover of 20 million Euro and more. One thing in particular makes Ullrich Kasselmann proud: “We are the only auction of this magnitude worldwide where all the horses come from our own breeding program.” When the best 50 animals from more than 500 foals each year are auctioned, this also verifies a fundamental truth of horse breeding: “Quality comes from quantity”.
Quality and the strictest standards are part of everyday life on Hof Kasselmann, and not just for the noble horses. Many exciting big names from inter-national business, sport and politics walk through the doors which are always hospitably open. And although Ullrich Kasselmann makes no fuss about it in his confident, reserved manner, it doesn’t go unnoticed when an employee comes to him during a meeting in the Yellow Salon with an urgent ques-tion about the musical support for a planned event, and the boss simply replies that he’s already settled everything with Natascha von Dyk. Just a minute – the Natascha von Dyk, PR and marketing expert and ex-wife of the world-famous DJ? Ullrich Kasselmann smiles: “Yes, when it comes to horses you find yourself meeting people from all walks of life and media, as well as sport.” The former chief editor of Germany’s most important news magazine or the chief editor of Germany’s largest tabloid newspaper are just as welcome as guests at Hof Kasselmann as young up-and-coming future reporters for the local daily newspapers, who are likely to find some exciting people to talk to here. The fact that Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius, who comes from Osnabrück, celebrated his wedding at Rittergut Osthoff in nearby Georgsmarienhütte, also home to the Kasselmann family’s Osthoff Stud, is also only mentioned in passing.
Anything else? Oh yes, world citizen Ullrich Kasselmann’s above-mentioned request to the political powers-that-be in the region: “The any people from other countries that come here with their children keep asking about an international school. That would be a really great objective for promoting our region, also with a view to Osnabrück University and University of Applied Sciences, or international companies such as Volkswagen or Hellmann Worldwide Logistics.” It wouldn’t be Ullrich Kasselmann’s first far-sighted vision to come true one day.
Hof Kasselman GmbH & Co. KG
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