Fürsorgekasse von 1908

Fürsorgekasse von 1908

Founded in 1908 as the Sterbekasse der Neuapostolischen Kirche des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, the entity now operates as Fürsorgekasse von 1908, a small mutual insurance association (VVaG) headquartered on Uerdinger Straße in Krefeld. Günter Wohlgemuth sits on the board, succeeded or joined by Martin Wohlgemuth, keeping leadership within a tight circle shaped by the firm’s ecclesiastical origins. Asset management follows a conservative, long-dated liability profile. The balance sheet holds direct commercial property — including the firm’s own head-office building — alongside European institutional real-estate exposures such as a stake in Praemia REIM’s CareVision III vehicle and a sustainability-tilted allocation to the Grönemeyer Gesundheitsfonds Nachhaltig. Industry ties extend into Germany’s grain-milling and animal-feed economy through board links to Deutsche Tiernahrung Cremer, and the firm co-administers the Müllerei-Pensionskasse VVaG, suggesting pooled back-office operations and shared investment oversight. March 2026: Fürsorgekasse exhibited at the BEFA funeral-industry trade fair in Düsseldorf, signaling continued direct origination of policyholders through church and trade networks. The firm operates leanly, leaning on associations such as the VFPK (company pension funds) and the VGMS (grain, milling and starch industry association) for regulatory guidance and peer benchmarking. No external debt capital or outside shareholders dilute the mutual structure. Structurally, Fürsorgekasse is an anachronism worth noting: a single-product, single-community death-benefit mutual that has survived 117 years without demutualization. Its governance sits entirely with member-elected boards rather than hired professional managers, and its surplus-distribution mechanism makes every policyholder a residual claimant — a model that institutional allocators rarely see outside the Nordic life-mutual complex.