Georg-Christof Bertsch

Georg-Christof Bertsch
Frankfurt, 2010 Photo: Anja Conrad
Born	(1959-05-30) May 30, 1959 Seeheim-Jugenheim, Germany
Nationality	German
Website
bertsch-bertsch.com

Georg-Christof Bertsch (* 30 May 1959 in Seeheim-Jugenheim) is a German brand consultant and university lecturer.

Background

Georg-Christof Bertsch is the third son to Robert Bertsch (1922-1997), principal of a special education grammar school, and Anny Bertsch, née Herling (1916-2009). Beginning in the early 70s, Robert and Anny were initiating leaders in the reconciliation between their hometown and France, the UK and Israel, helping to establish partner towns in all three countries. In 1988, Robert Bertsch published "Juden in Seeheim und Jugenheim", the first historical account of Jewish life in Seeheim-Jugenheim, Germany. The book was launched to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Crystal Night (November 9th and 10th, 1938).

Professional career

Bertsch studied art history at the Berlin Institute of Technology and went on to set up Germany’s first Design management office with Matthias Dietz in 1988. In 1990, in collaboration with Barbara Friedrich, he published the “Ambiente Euro Design Guide”, the first German lexicon on contemporary design. In 1997, together with Dr. Hans Höger, Christian Möller and Markus Weisbeck, he launched www.euro-design-guide.de Germany's first design open platform on the Internet. Between 1990 and 95 Bertsch was president of Design Horizonte Frankfurt. In 1995 he and his wife Annette founded Bertsch & Bertsch Corporate design Corporate Communications GmbH (limited liability company). The foundation of Bertsch.Brand Consultants , which puts its focus on providing consultancy services for complex branding and design processes, followed in 2005. In 1996, together with Dr. Hans Höger he curated “Attitudes for the Next Millennium” at the Aspen Institute's International Aspen Design Conference. Between 2004 and 2013 sat on the board of Friends of Städelschule Portikus (registered association) in Frankfurt, officiating as vice-president from 2004-2010. On 27 May 2008, he became the first German to be elected to the Board of Governors of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. Between 2007-2009 Bertsch was a guest lecturer at the Hesse State University of Art and Design (Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach) where he was granted the title of Lifetime Honorary Professor in 2009. From 2010 to 2012 he headed the Cumulus' global water working group. He has been a board member of WELTKULTUREN Museum Frankfurt since 2011. Together with Prof. Dr. Kai Vöckler and Prof. Peter Eckart he launched the Designinstitut Mobilität und Logistik (Designinstitute of Mobility and Logistics) at HfG Offenbach in 2014. Bertsch is a Rotary International member at RC Frankfurt Friedensbrücke.

Works (a selection)

The effect of risk management on brand and reputation management in: Risk Management in Law Firms, Strategies for Safeguarding the Future, ed. by Hermann J. Knott, International Bar Association, Global Business Publishing, London, 2014": Georg-Christof Bertsch, BERTSCH.BRAND CONSULTANTS / Simon Chester, Heenan Blaikie LLP / Jane Hunter, Aon Risk Solutions
Material Grove - from traditional material to material innovation" Markus Holzbach / Georg-Christof Bertsch (editors), HfG University of Art & Design Offenbach Press, 2014
"Urban Water - A Challenge for Product Designers" Conference Paper Cumulus Conference Helsinki, Finland, May 24-27th, Aalto University, Helsinki, 2012
Two goddesses of Indian design Stylepark Nov 2011
Product Design & Water – towards a vision for education Conference Paper Cumulus Paris, France, May 19–22. Université de Sèvres, Paris, 2011
klimaroute.de – learning to understand climate change and rivers (German) as editor in chief. Frankfurt am Main, launch Jan 13th 2011
Undisciplined? Design in an age of massive change. In: Hans Höger (Hrsg.): Design Research. Mailand 2008, pp. 96–117.
Avrupali, kendi kültür baskentini tanimiyor. In: Cumhuriyet Hafta vom 31. August 2007, pp. pp 1 and 13
The Benefits of Organizing International Design Workshops to Gain a Deeper Understanding of the Local Context. In: Juried Education Papers. Global Issues (The ICSID IDSA World Congress, Oct. 17-20 2007, San Francisco, USA) together with Özlem Er.
Der Raum der Erinnerung (Room of Memory). In: Jan Hoet (Hrsg.): V+W Designmatrix. Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 2006, pp. pp 113–144.
Build or Die. Constructing survival. In: Jesko Fezer (Hrsg.): Designcity. Die Gestalten Verlag, Berlin 2006, pp. pp 149 f.
Common Sense. In: Christian Wurster (Hrsg.): V+W Privatbuch. Selbstverlag Vogt + Weizenegger, Berlin 2005, pp. pp 104 ff.

References

Article on Stylepark

External links

Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 76987018 LCCN: n94110506 GND: 171975472 SUDOC: 165424001