Gerhard Sauter, born in 1934, experienced the war and post-war with all its problems in his home town Nuremberg. After leaving school at the senior secondary school (Oberrealschule) at the Wölckernstraße in Nuremberg, he was trained as an industrial and foreign trade merchant. In 1956 he came to the "Hertie" Warehouse Ltd. and worked his way up – from trainee to the positions of department manager and senior manager and at last to director of sales at top management level. Gerhard Sauter experienced 40 years of history in the department store business with all its ups and downs. After his retirement in 1996 he worked several years (1999-2003) as volunteer for the Senior Expert Service in Bonn and undertook four missions – all in all of 12 months duration – in China. Mr. Sauter held many honorary positions, he was for example a board member of several trade organizations and held honorary positions at the IHK, the Chamber of Commerce.

Nowadays he lives with his wife partly in Leonberg and partly at the Costa Blanca in Spain. However, his first love is the province of South Tyrol, a land he feels closely connected to.