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Schlecker family has to pay 800,000 euros due to insolvency - end of a tragedy!
The Schlecker family has to pay 800,000 euros in damages, 13 years after the drugstore empire went bankrupt.
Schlecker family has to pay 800,000 euros due to insolvency - end of a tragedy!
The story of what was once the largest drugstore empire in Europe, Schlecker, finds another chapter: 13 years after bankruptcy, the business family around Anton Schlecker has to pay a high fine. The Zwickau regional court ordered the payment of 800,000 euros in damages to the temporary employment agency “Meniar”, which once worked for Schlecker. This sum is the result of an agreement that the Dresden Higher Regional Court proposed as a settlement after an originally requested amount of 1.35 million euros was on the table. The fine marks the end of the legal disputes that have accompanied the Schlecker family in recent years after bankruptcy was declared in 2012, as Merkur reports.
The Schlecker story began in 1975 when Anton Schlecker launched his drugstore chain. In its best phase, the company was a true industry giant with over 50,000 employees and an impressive turnover of 6.55 billion euros in 2010. But the dark side of the company's history is enormous. Schlecker was reportedly insolvent as early as 2009, but only filed for bankruptcy in 2012, closing over 2,000 stores and losing about 25,000 jobs, mostly women. These circumstances concern not only historians, but also the judiciary.
Legal consequences for the Schlecker family
The insolvency administrator of “Meniar” had taken strict measures against the Schlecker family in the past after it became known that they had received several million euros in money from the temporary worker company before it went bankrupt. As part of the investigation, serious allegations were made against Anton Schlecker, which ultimately led to proceedings for breach of trust, delay in insolvency and bankruptcy. In 2017, his children Christina as well as Lars and Meike were sentenced to prison for these crimes, while Anton himself escaped with a suspended sentence. He was recently 80 years old, but his past as an entrepreneur will remain with him for a long time, as [Tagesschau](https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/regional/badenwuerttemberg/swr-drogerie-familie-schlecker-muss-800-000-euro- Schadensatz-zahlen-100.html) makes clear.
The legal turbulence surrounding the Schlecker family is an impressive example of the challenges that can result from corporate insolvencies. A look at the statistics shows that 21,812 companies filed for bankruptcy in Germany in 2024, an increase of around 22 percent compared to the previous year. Companies that have been on the market for a long time are particularly affected. In total, over 23,000 formerly self-employed people filed for insolvency due to debts, which illustrates the dramatic economic consequences of the last few years, as IFM Bonn reports.
The Schlecker case will certainly remain with us for a long time, not only because of the sums that were at stake, but also because of the far-reaching impact on society, particularly the jobs that were lost as a result of the numerous branch closures. The aftereffects of the bankruptcy phase will remain in people's memories for a long time.