Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau on a stable course

Die Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau GmbH has stabilized economically again after the restructuring of recent years. "2025 was the year with the highest turnover in the history of the group," Managing Director Dieter Trautzsch told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Accordingly, turnover amounted to 80 million euros. The long-established company currently employs 300 people. Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau specializes in interior fittings in the luxury segment.

Order book is well filled

A large proportion of turnover is generated with interior fittings for yachts. The order books are currently well filled, it said. "The turnover target for the current year is already almost completely covered by existing projects, and around half of the planned capacity utilization for the coming year is already secured by orders."

Oligarchs are a thing of the past as customers

"We currently perceive the market for megayachts as very healthy. We are even seeing slight growth in the absolute top segment. The gap created by the departure of Russian customers as a result of the sanctions has been closed by new buyer groups, particularly from the USA," explained Trautzsch.

According to the company, the entry of the French Groupe Ateliers De France 2025 has further stabilized its financial basis. "At the same time, we are benefiting from an expanded international network in the project business. The Deutsche Werkstätten brand will remain independent, with planning and production continuing to take place in Saxony."

Core business to remain turnkey interior fit-out

"Strategically, we are concentrating on our core business, the turnkey interior fit-out of mega yachts and high-quality properties. At the same time, we are working on further digitalizing our processes and making them more efficient," emphasized the Managing Director.

In the previous year, businessman Fritz Straub, who took over Deutsche Werkstätten from the Treuhand in 1992, sold 75 percent of his shares to Groupe Ateliers De France. According to Straub, apprenticeships at Deutsche Werkstätten are in high demand. Up to ten carpentry apprentices are taken on every year. On average, there are around 100 applications. A job in Hellerau is a mixture of traditional craftsmanship paired with high-tech engineering and sophisticated management.

Deutsche Werkstätten was founded in 1898. From 1966 to 1989, the popular MDW assembly furniture range was produced here - for which collector's prices are paid today. However, things did not look rosy for the company after reunification. There was no longer any money to be made from furniture production. Under Straub, the company concentrated on interior design.

Craftsmanship and high technology

"Our connection to Dresden and Hellerau as well as to art and culture, for example through the Werkstättengalerie, remains important to us. At the same time, we see ourselves as a modern manufactory in which craftsmanship, high technology and training form the basis for our long-term development," concluded Managing Director Trautzsch.