Happy birthday, Roland Fleck!

Dr Roland Fleck is turning 60. Since the coronavirus has prevented an in-person birthday party, the NürnbergMesse team gathered birthday greetings from all over the world – more than 400 messages of congratulations from more than 60 countries. “The farthest-travelled one came in from New Zealand”, reports press spokesman Ulf Santjer, who launched and coordinated the campaign with his team. And to celebrate the milestone, the dedicated fan and Advisory Board member of 1. FC Nürnberg also got a black-and-red gift from the squad: on behalf of the staff, Peter Ottmann presented a birthday jersey signed by FCN’s pro players – of course Number 60! Dr Fleck has had many different roles during his career – banker, politician, trade show CEO. But he has always stayed true to Nuremberg. In a video message, Bavarian First Minister Dr Markus Söder also honoured Fleck’s dedication to his home town: “Happy birthday! Roland Fleck has worked in a lot of jobs, and I was once his media officer. He was one of the most successful heads of the Business Department that the City of Nuremberg has ever had. And it was at my suggestion that he went on to become CEO of NürnbergMesse.” Albert Füracker, Minister of Finance and Home Affairs, congratulates: "On your 60th birthday I wish you all the best, happiness, success and above all health! For almost ten years you have been the dual head of NürnbergMesse together with Mr. Peter Ottmann. On behalf of the shareholder Free State of Bavaria and as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the company, I would like to thank you for your great personal commitment to the good of NürnbergMesse.”

Before taking over the executive seat at NürnbergMesse in 2011, Dr Fleck had been a City Councillor ex officio and head of the Business Department since 1996, and before that had held various positions at Hypo-Bank AG (now HypoVereinsbank) since 1986. He and his colleague Peter Ottmann have headed the NürnbergMesse Group for just under ten years, and during that time he has made the firm far more international, and established it among the Top 10 German exhibition companies.

Nuremberg Mayor Marcus König: “A unique man with an incredible involvement in many different spheres. A great role model for many people.” Co-CEO Peter Ottmann also prizes the nearly ten years that he and Roland Fleck have worked together, and summed him up this way in his very personal video message: “A true stroke of luck for the wonderful company that we have the joint responsibility for.”

The long list of celebrities who sent in video congratulations also included: Dr Günther Beckstein, retired Bavarian First Minister; Dr Oscar Schneider, retired Federal Minister, Prof. Dr Elmar Forster, Chief Managing Director of the Middle Franconia Chamber of Crafts; Prof. Lucius A. Hemmer, Intendant of the Nuremberg Symphony; Ingrid Hofmann, Managing Director of Hofmann Personnel Services; Katja Hessel, retired Undersecretary of State and current Member of the Bundestag for the FDP party; Prof. Dieter Kempf, former President of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e.V.; Dr Günther Kreuzer, Honorary Italian Consul; Prof. Dr Julia Lehner, Deputy Mayor of the City of Nuremberg; Marcus Lötzsch, Chief Managing Director of the Nuremberg Chamber of Industry and Commerce for Middle Franconia; Dr Ulrich Maly, former Mayor of the City of Nuremberg; Günther W. Oschmann, Managing Director of Müller Medien; Niels Rossow, Commercial Director, 1. FC Nürnberg; Gerd Schmelzer, Managing Director, Lebkuchen Schmidt; Roland Weigert, Undersecretary of State, Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy; Dr Armin Zitzmann, Chairman of the Managing Board, NÜRNBERGER Beteiligungs-Aktiengesellschaft and President of the Nuremberg Chamber of Industry and Commerce for Middle Franconia.