Singapore in Swabia
A consulate in Waiblingen? That is not something you would expect to find – especially not at the STIHL corporate head office. And yet it was right here, in the conference building, that Singapore operated an honorary consulate from 2002 to 2019. Tanja Gröninger, then Officer for Consular Affairs, still works as an assistant to Hans Peter Stihl, Dr. Nikolas Stihl and Selina Stihl. She can clearly recollect the details of her senior boss's unusual honorary position.
When Tanja Gröninger talks about people from Singapore, she refers to “our people” – even though she has never actually been to Singapore herself. Which in itself is astonishing, considering that Tanja Gröninger was the Officer for Consular Affairs. “I have been involved with Singapore more than any other country to date.” She was once invited to go there but she casually explains, “I couldn‘t make it.”
For more than 17 years the STIHL headquarters in Waiblingen was home to an honorary consulate of the southeast Asian republic, with the conference center at 98 Badstraße serving as the official consulate address.
The coat of arms of the Republic of Singapore was prominently displayed in the entrance of the STIHL conference building for 17 years.
Hans Peter Stihl (center) with Singapore‘s ambassador Prof. Walter Woon (left), and the Minister of Science of Baden-Württemberg, Prof. Dr. Peter Frankenberg, at the opening of the honorary consulate in Waiblingen in 2002.
Consular network
In 2002 the Republic of Singapore appointed Hans Peter Stihl as Honorary Consul. He was subsequently promoted to Honorary Consul General. Among his many volunteer roles, it was one that “had nothing particularly to do with STIHL,” says Tanja Gröninger. The fact that the consulate activity occurred somewhat under the radar and on the STIHL company premises means it has an element of excitement and mystery.
How did this come about? Singapore was looking for representation in southern Germany because at the time it only had an embassy in Berlin and a consulate in Hamburg, reports Tanja Gröninger. “For Singapore the priority was to find someone who could actually operate a consulate; who had the facilities and the connections. So Mr. Stihl did it.”
Tanja Gröninger (right) at the opening of the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Singapore in 2002.
A key networking opportunity
States can appoint anyone as an honorary consul, including non-nationals, though they generally approach people who have economic or business ties to the territory and are well-connected. States take a significant interest in honorary consul networks because they hope they can use appointments to attract the attention of businesses and investors. For an individual chosen, the position of honorary consul is not only a great honor but also offers the opportunity to further expand their networks and increase the visibility of their business. The consul additionally receives a few perks, such as a CC license plate, informally referred to as a diplomatic plate, which identifies members of a professional consulate.
Hans Peter Stihl was familiar with Singapore from his previous role as President of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, during which he expanded the global network of Foreign Chambers of Commerce. But he had not maintained close personal contacts there, and STIHL also had only one sales office in Singapore. Tanja Gröninger believes that the consulate enquiry did not originate from direct contacts in Singapore, but rather via the consular corps of Baden-Württemberg. "All the consuls are entrepreneurs who know each other," she explains.
Numerous voluntary positions
Hans Peter Stihl was actively involved in voluntary work from the 1970s onwards, for example in metal industry associations. The most important honorary position he held was probably the presidency of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (1988–2001). This role made him one of the most important voices in the German economy. Alongside that role, almost concurrently, he served as President of the Stuttgart Regional Chamber of Commerce from 1989 to 2001. Hans Peter Stihl considered taking these positions to be both an honor and a duty of responsibility; he used them to promote Germany‘s competitiveness. By means of this socio-political engagement he sought to strengthen the economy, safeguard jobs and to secure social systems and prosperity. When Hans Peter Stihl stepped down from his operational role at STIHL in 2002, he also resigned from his honorary positions; at the same time he took on the Singapore honorary consulate role, which was then his only honorary position which he continued until 2019.
visas a year – Tanja Gröninger estimates how many processes were handled at the honorary consulate.
Passports, visas, attestations
Apart from networking and organizing events at which Singapore could be presented to Baden-Württemberg‘s economic representatives, Hans Peter Stihl had few consular tasks that he carried out himself. Everything else fell to the Officer for Consular Affairs, Tanja Gröninger. “I initially spent a few days at the embassy in Berlin, was given an explanation of my area of responsibility and equipped with the stamps I needed.” She then became responsible for issuing visas for travelers to Singapore, renewing passports for Singaporean citizens and even making certified copies of testimonials. “But the decision about who could receive a visa came from the embassy; we were merely intermediaries and the issuers of the document,” explains Tanja Gröninger.
On average she would issue two visas per week, mostly to Chinese, Indian and Russian nationals. Not many actual Singaporeans would visit the consulate, recounts Tanja Gröninger, except once when there was a book fair in Frankfurt: “Many of our people had their passports stolen at the book fair, so we had to issue a large number of temporary passports.”
Tanja Gröninger Former Officer for Consular Affairs and current assistant to Hans Peter Stihl, Dr. Nikolas Stihl and Selina Stihl“When the book fair was held in Frankfurt, an astonishing number of passports were stolen.”
A laborious journey
Having a consulate in southern Germany was advantageous for Singapore. “But for those who had to travel to Waiblingen by public transport, it was unfortunate that the consulate was not in Stuttgart,” says Tanja Gröninger, who also notes: “If the journey hadn‘t been so inconvenient for people, we probably would have had more to do.” As it was, she was able to handle consulate business alongside her duties as assistant to Hans Peter Stihl.
The honorary general consulate in Waiblingen was closed after 17 years of operation, in 2019. From time to time Tanja Gröninger misses the diverse activities and the lively hustle and bustle of her consulate days. She has stayed in touch with many of her contacts from that time. And who knows, maybe one day she will even make it to Singapore to be with “our” people…
