The eponym and company founder Dr.-Ing. habil. Paul Christiani recognized the potential of personal training for professional promotion at an early stage. Although he worked as a private lecturer at the Technical University of Aachen and as a structural engineer, he ventured into self-employment in 1931. With his company Christiani, he established the first distance learning school in Germany.
Dr.-Ing. Paul Christiani started his distance learning school with a first course on structural engineering. Its success confirmed his assessment that the demand for technical further training in Germany was enormous, despite the poor economic situation. After just ten years, the company employed 100 people and counted over 100,000 course participants.
After World War II, Dr.-Ing. Paul Christiani also had to largely rebuild his company. In 1949, Christiani had twenty employees; a good ten years later, the workforce was so large that Dr. Christiani had a new building constructed. In 1960, the company moved to its current headquarters in Constance, within walking distance of Lake Constance.
At the beginning of the seventies, Christiani offered not only further training but also its first products for vocational training. A database with over 20,000 tasks for training in electrical and metal technology made the start. This set the foundation for the company’s further development into a full-service provider for technical vocational training and further training.
From distance learning school to full-service provider for technical education
Distance learning courses, task collections and reference books are still available in the Christiani product portfolio. They are supplemented with digital services, including augmented and virtual reality applications. In addition to its publishing portfolio, Christiani now also offers a comprehensive portfolio of teachware – from project works and training equipment to training stands and teaching systems. For companies and educational institutions worldwide, Christiani also equips complete technical training labs and educational facilities.
Dr.-Ing. Paul Christiani certainly could not have foreseen this development 90 years ago. But we are quite sure that it would have been in his interest. After all, the foundation of his company was based on the principle of always meeting the requirements of professional practice. With this principle, we have remained true to him and to ourselves to this day.
If you are interested in our company history, you can find more milestones here.
