11.17.14
Metz always valued a personal touch and knew almost all of his roughly 500 employees by name. He was also one of the first engineers in the GDR to work on jet engines for planes.
He initially completed an apprenticeship as a fitter in his birthplace of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Then starting in 1953, he obtained three engineering qualifications. When the GDR scrapped its own aeroplane construction program in early 1961, a move to the West was more than just a career issue for Metz and his wife. Their escape to West Berlin shortly before the wall went up finally led the young family to Nürtingen, where Metz once again found work as an engine test bench engineer.
In 1966, he was appointed to Hildebrand, a company based in Oberboihingen. He initially worked as an assistant to the board and then as design manager and deputy managing director. It was here that Metz developed the first systems for drying surface coatings using ultraviolet light. These systems were so successful that an independent company was founded with STG, initially under the management of Hildebrand and its partner Werner & Pfleiderer. Metz finally took over completely when Hildebrand went into liquidation in 1982.
The UV drying systems business continued to grow steadily, with turnover and number of staff also rising in tandem. Metz maintained a key involvement in establishing this technology, and the group now comprises 16 companies with subsidiaries all over the world.
In 2000, Metz received the "Wirtschaftsmedaille," a medal in recognition of his services to commerce in the Baden-Württemberg region. In 2001, he received further acknowledgement of his life's work when he was appointed honorary president of the surface treatment technology section of the Verband Deutscher Maschinen-und Anlagenbau e.V. (German Engineering Association, VDMA).
After retiring from business operations, the Metzes moved to Lake Tegernsee in Upper Bavaria but later returned to their home in Waren an der Müritz. Metz continued to maintain links with Nürtingen, regularly visiting IST Metz to keep up with events in the company and to meet with friends.