In 1965 I saw the light of this world. Born and raised in southern Hesse, unfortunately I can't
remember the first years of my life and I don't have many pictures from that time. At that time
there were no mobile phones and not everyone had a camera. I skipped kindergarten and in 1971 I
started my first year at school. Like almost all other children, I was convinced with candy and
a big pretzel that school is a good thing.
I wasn't an only child. As the eldest of three brothers, it was my job to "fight for" the rights
and freedoms of the younger siblings. Even though we fought each other from time to time, today
I am very happy and grateful to have two brothers. Both have contributed positively to my
development.
In the summer of 1984 I passed the final exam to become a toolmaker. Three years later, in 1987,
I started my own business as a contract manufacturer. A CNC milling machine, a lathe, a surface
grinder, a pillar drill and everything you need as a workshop accessory was financed with a
mountain of debt. Also in 1987, I began my training as an industrial master metalworker in evening
classes. I passed the final exam in the summer of 1989.
In 1989, together with my father, I founded Heinz Automations-Systeme GmbH. Before that, I had
already designed and built mechanical cam gears on the side, because I wanted to become less
dependent on contract manufacturing. Later, my younger brother, who had studied mechanical
engineering, joined us as the third managing director and our product range continued to grow.
When we reached our limits with our capacities in southern Hesse, we relocated our production to
eastern Germany and expanded it there. At the latest when we took over our English competitor,
Heinz Automations-Systeme GmbH rose to become the world market leader in the field of mechanical
index drives. For more information please visit
https://www.heinz-automation.de.
Andrea and I got married in 1988 and have a daughter and a son. Andrea has always supported me in
all areas and helped me to go my way. Especially as a freelancer and then as an entrepreneur, there
is often far too little time for the family and without the support and help of Andrea I probably
would not have been able to go down this path.
Our children have been standing on their own two feet for a long time now, as the saying goes, and
we are happy that they are doing well. We were very young when we raised our children. We certainly
didn't do everything right and would raise our children differently today. However, when I see our
children today, I am glad to see what wonderful grown-up people they have become.
I got my motorcycle driver's license together with my car driver's license when I was 18 years old.
Motorcycles have always fascinated me and my first bike was a Kawasaki 900. Little by little I rode
different road bikes and in the end I ended up with off-road motorcycles and there with KTM. We
spent a few off-road weekends together with very good friends on various motocross tracks. Even
if we got a few "scratches" here and there, it was a very nice time.
Canada! In 1999 Andrea and I came to Nova Scotia, Canada for the first time. We were amazed by the
vastness of the country, the many forests, the many lakes and the very friendly and helpful Canadians.
We bought a piece of land by a lake on Cape Breton Island. Directly behind the lake there was a
large, grass-covered, dune and behind it a kilometer-long lonely sandy beach on the Atlantic. We
built a house there and spent more time there every year. Canada has increasingly become our second
home.
In the summer of 2007 we applied for a work and residence permit (permanent resident card) for
Canada. It took a long time, but in December 2010 we received the relevant documents. At that time
we had already booked our winter flights to Canada. Our flights went from Frankfurt via Toronto
to Halifax. When we arrived in Toronto in January 2011, we went straight to immigration and
immigrated to Canada. We received our permanent resident card a few weeks later in the regular
mail.
In early 2016 we moved from Cape Breton Island to the Halifax area. Shortly thereafter, in 2017,
we applied for and received Canadian citizenship. We had previously applied for retention of German
citizenship in Germany and received our certificate of retention from there. So Andrea and I have
been dual citizens with German and Canadian citizenship since 2017.
After we moved, in the middle of the Canadian winter, at the beginning of 2016, shortly afterwards,
in early summer 2016, we had another baby. Sammy, a little Parson Russel terrier came to us at the
age of 9 weeks and has really messed up our lives. He is very playful and a very nice dog. Our
educational measures were sometimes more and sometimes less fruitful. As a terrier, he has an
enormous hunting instinct and that made him feel like he was in paradise in Canada from time to
time. The properties in Canada are larger than in Germany and there is more wildlife. Even a
fenced yard will prevent a dog from escaping, but it will not prevent certain wild animals from
entering. So Sammy was regularly on the hunt for squirrels, ground squirrels and rabbits. This
was always harmless and only rarely was his hunt successful. More problematic were the larger
animals that came onto our property and were tracked down by Sammy. While fighting raccoons was
often evenly matched, with both parties dealing and receiving, encounters with porcupines were a
different matter entirely. Pretty much any animal looks pretty bad against a porcupine. Sammy has
experienced this several times and has therefore already been to the vet. I don't know about other
dogs, but a terrier doesn't seem to learn from experience in this regard.
In 2013 I founded Atlantic Canada Metals Inc. with my friend and partner Bernd Schröder. We
also flew to Toronto and visited Brink's Canada Limited and their precious metal warehouse there.
Atlantic Canada Metals Inc. then entered into a precious metals storage and insurance contract
with Brink's Canada Limited. Atlantic Canada Metals Inc. has been storing its customers' precious
metals at Brink's since 2013, not in Toronto but in Halifax. For more information on this, please
have a look at my
precious metals page.
Since 2013, for more than 10 years now, I have been taking care of the safe storage of my customers'
precious metals. Customer bullion is held in Halifax, Canada, in a 24-hour secured high-security
warehouse. In addition, the precious metals are of course also insured. Each customer gets their
own sealed box in which only their precious metals are stored. There is no minimum holding period,
so you can sell your precious metals at any time. For new customers there is no setup fee, premium
or anything like that. If you want, you can pick up your precious metals yourself at any time from
the high-security warehouse. Twice a year, usually in June and September, I offer all customers
and prospects a short 3-4 day trip to Canada. We go to the high-security warehouse together and
every customer can have their precious metals shown to them. You can also touch, count and photograph
your precious metals. After visiting the high-security warehouse, I show all participants the
beautiful port city of Halifax and the surrounding area. In the 3 or 4 days we also drive to the
famous lighthouse in Peggy's Cove and take a short walk on the seabed of the Bay of Fundy, which
has the highest tidal range in the world at up to 16 meters. For more information about the trips
and to register, please see
www.atlanticcanadametals.com/deu/kanada_kanadareise.php
.
Since 2013 I have been trading in the precious metals silver, platinum and gold. With my Canadian
precious metals trading company SIPLAGO LP I buy and sell precious metals. The company name SIPLAGO
is made up of the initials of the precious metals silver, platinum and gold. All precious metals
that my customers buy through SIPLAGO LP are stored by Atlantic Canada Metals Inc. in the high-security
warehouse in Halifax, Canada. You can find all information, prices, documents, etc. on the
SIPLAGO LP website. Please feel free
to take a look and if you have any questions, feel free to contact me directly. I'll say that you
won't buy silver or platinum cheaper anywhere else than from me. If you should discover cheaper
prices somewhere, please let me know. If cheaper prices are called somewhere, then you will often
find some premiums, setup fees or other fees that have to be included in the price. You can find
more information about this here on my private website, also in the menu item
Precious Metal Business.