One family for STIHL
STIHL sees itself as a true family company. This is also reflected in the workforce, where it is not uncommon for several generations of one family to dedicate their professional lives to STIHL. The Stawski family is no exception: Norbert, Christian, and Annika Stawski have each found their own career path within the company. A story where business and family history become inseparably intertwined.
Every life story has its own beginning, its own cause. For Norbert Stawski, born in 1940, it sounds like this: “My father was a forester. That’s where it all starts.” Looking back, his father’s work as a forester seems to have provided an excellent foundation for Norbert Stawski’s career at STIHL. Even though the path that eventually led him to Waiblingen and — this much can already be revealed — also to Dieburg, was anything but straightforward.
Forester nevertheless
To begin with, there is a war-torn torn and fractured Europe which, in the 1950s, is already on the verge of drifting into the next conflict — the Cold War. And there is a mother who hopes her son will become a dentist. Yet Norbert Stawski chooses to become a forester and is determined to leave his home country of Poland to explore the Western world. After completing his training, he comes to Germany. His first stop is Freiburg, where he plans to study forest mechanization. From there, a professor who is acquainted with Andreas Stihl refers him to Waiblingen.
Train Journey to Waiblingen
At the station, he was picked up in a Mercedes, as Norbert Stawski recalls — and he comments with a tongue-in-cheek smile: “Very classy, just as it should be.” His job interview was conducted directly with Andreas Stihl himself. At that time, Norbert Stawski was just 19 years old — adventurous, worldly, and apparently making quite an impression. He was even supported with finding an apartment in Neustadt, only a few hundred meters from his new workplace.
In his element with the STIHL 090: Norbert Stawski, probably at the end of the 1960s.
Norbert Stawski“June 24, 1959 – that is my official date, that is when I started at STIHL. And in the same year, the Contra was launched…”
Christian Stawski“And from then on, things really took off.”
Annika Stawski (with a wink)“This was of course all thanks to Grandpa.”
A second Home
Looking back, Norbert Stawski remembers his early years at STIHL as an exciting and above all product‑intensive time. He starts out in the chainsaw testing department: “Back then, every series that came off the line was tested manually. With every Contra, with every chainsaw, we made test cuts before it went to the customer. We put on a teethed chain and got to work.” It is likely during this period that Norbert Stawski’s closeness to — and love for — STIHL chainsaws truly deepens. First in the repair department and in development, later also in field service, he passes on this passion not only to STIHL partners and customers, but eventually to his son as well. Before long, Norbert Stawski knows the saws down to the very last screw — and STIHL becomes his second home. This is also thanks to his good relationship with Andreas Stihl, with whom he would sometimes sit in a tavern in the evening, enjoying/ sipping a glass of wine and talking shop about chainsaws: “He took care of things — many things. He also wanted to know how I sharpened the chains. He would appear out of the blue and look over my shoulder.”
Life out of a Suitcase
Norbert Stawski keeps moving for STIHL — joining field tests in the Black Forest, but also traveling to Hungary, the former Yugoslavia, Finland, France, the former Czechoslovakia, even the Philippines and South Africa. Thirteen years go by this way until, in 1972, the German sales organization in Dieburg is founded. By then, being a proud husband and father of newborn son Christian (born in 1972), he eventually transfers there. “I was always on the road, practically living out of a suitcase. I came home only briefly, just to head back to the airport. And at some point, I didn’t want that anymore. I wanted to be with my family.”
Until his retirement in 2004, Norbert Stawski worked at the STIHL sales headquarters in Dieburg – still travelling Germany from there.
The Heart remains in Waiblingen
Taking things slower works only to a limited degree. STIHL continues to rely heavily on him. In field service he is at least only traveling within Germany now. He swaps the airplane for a car — air miles for high mileage on the road. From then on, his work revolves around sales, customer and dealer relations, and the training of field staff. Meanwhile, he and his family settle in Gundelsheim near Heilbronn. He stays in this role until his retirement in 2004. Yet his early years in Waiblingen never quite let him go: “I was working in Dieburg, but my heart was always in Waiblingen. Of course, I kept in touch, talked on the phone to old colleagues, and I visited often — especially once Christian got started.”
Christian Stawski“When we were together on the weekends, for example in our basement in Gundelsheim, we were always talking about STIHL.”
Norbert Stawski“That’s still the case today. I have work photos hanging on my bedroom wall. When I open my eyes, the first thing I see are chainsaws. And that’s how it will be until the day I die.”
“I want to join STIHL too”
Christian Stawski’s journey with STIHL officially begins in January 1995 – although, in truth, it started much earlier. “When Dad came home, everything revolved around STIHL. I think I was already sawing in my cradle as a baby, and as a teenager I ran around wearing a STIHL cap and knew the catalogues by heart.” He was also deeply familiar with more complex topics such as chain and guide bar technology. At some point, the day came when Christian made it clear to his father: “I want to join STIHL too.” And so, it happened – although first in the Bavarian Forest. There, he learned the craft of repairing and selling STIHL equipment from the ground up at a dealer. In 1995, he then moved on to STIHL’s trade fair department.
Close to the customer and to the chainsaw: Norbert (on the left) and Christian Stawski each at work – 1987 and 2017.
Just like his father before him, Christian spends his early years traveling the world and attending trade fairs before eventually moving into Visitor Services. There, he finally arrives in the family’s place of longing: Waiblingen where he presents products he has loved since childhood to international dealer groups and their customers and sparks genuine enthusiasm. A long training period is something he never needed: “When it came to STIHL products, I had always been deeply immersed. I could jump right in.” He also benefits from his technical expertise during factory tours. Christian remains in Visitor Services for 20 years. During that time, he also leads forestry excursions for new employees — and it is on one of these tours that he meets his future wife, Ilona. As the new secretary to Dr. Rüdiger Stihl, she is sent into the forest by her boss to practice using STIHL machines and tools. It marks the beginning of a marriage that has now lasted 25 years. In 2015, Christian Stawski moves into International Sales Promotion. He travels abroad, trains dealers and importers — tasks that once again connect him closely to the path his father followed.
Christian Stawski“When you walk into our garage, we’ve got a nice little seating area in the back – and what’s hanging there in the corner? The STIHL Contra from ’59!”
Annika Stawski“And it is still working?”
Norbert Stawski“Of course, we’re professionals after all!”
Torn between two Paths
For Annika Stawski, born in 2002, it takes a little longer for the (grand)fatherly STIHL enthusiasm to catch on. Should she really choose the company where her grandpa, her dad, and even her mom Ilona all work — or should she pursue a completely different path of her own? There are childhood photos of Annika wearing a STIHL cap, too. Handling a chainsaw and helping with the firewood on the family’s little plot were also part of her upbringing. In short: STIHL belonged to Annika’s life since the day she was born. But does Annika also belong to STIHL?
“Although I knew from early on that I wanted to start an apprenticeship after finishing secondary school, I was torn: Should I really go there?” What troubled Annika most was what others might think: “I didn’t want people to say: You’re only here because of your parents.” In the end, Annika trusts her gut, turns down other apprenticeship offers, and chooses STIHL. “Everyone knows you get excellent training here – STIHL is known for that.” In 2018, she begins her first year of training and qualifies as an office management assistant. Among the other trainees, she finds a close-knit community that spends a lot of time together – and it is here that the foundation is laid for a broad internal company network. This network gives Annika the chance to gain insights into a wide variety of departments across the organization.
There’s nothing like starting young: As early as 2007, Annika Stawski makes it onto the cover of an issue of the STIHL magazine “Blick ins Werk”. She is just under five years old at the time.
Understanding the Company
This depth of knowledge is exactly what matters to her. She wants to get to know her employer in all its facets. She absorbs factory and assembly tours with genuine enthusiasm. “I think it’s cool to have a certain understanding of the company you work for or at least to know: What is produced in Waiblingen? We have such a large site here in Germany, and you should know what’s being done.” That expectation doesn’t come from nowhere. “Of course, Grandpa and Dad modelled that for me in a special way, and I’m grateful I grew up with it.”
Years that’s how long Norbert Stawski was employed at STIHL in total.
Three generations of one family, from the left: Annika (*2002), Norbert (*1940) and Christian Stawski (*1972) all have found their professional home at STIHL. In 2023, they celebrate this connection at Christian Stawski’s 25-year company anniversary.
Happy-end in Waiblingen
For Norbert Stawski, 2004 was not the end. “I added another eight years at STIHL,” he says. He and his wife move back from Gundelsheim to the Waiblingen area to be closer to their son, daughter-in-law, and grandchild — and, of course, closer to STIHL. For eight years, he guides employees, fans, and visitors through “his” plant. During that time, he also works together with his son Christian. “For once, I finally got to be his boss,” Christian jokes. It is not until 2012 that Norbert Stawski truly retires — after nearly 54 years with and for STIHL. In his heart, he still feels actively connected and is grateful that the generations following him have also found a professional home at “his STIHL.” “I’m very proud. Although the word ‘proud’ doesn’t really do it justice. It’s so much more.”
