Grief in Gütersloh: Long-term Miele boss Peter Christian Zinkann is dead

Peter Christian Zinkann, former head of the household appliances manufacturer Miele, has died at the age of 98. They mourn an outstanding entrepreneurial personality, said the company in Gütersloh. Previously, “Die Bell”, the “Neue Westfälische” and other media had reported on the death. The manager died on Monday. Zinkann was born in Bremen in 1928 and moved to Gütersloh with his family in 1945. After studying mechanical engineering and a doctorate, he started in 1958 at the company, which his grandfather Reinhard Zinkann had founded together with Carl Miele in 1899. He headed the company for more than four decades, retiring in 2004 shortly after the death of his business partner Rudolf Miele in 2004 as managing partner. His son Reinhard Zinkann has been a member of the Miele Management Board since 1999. With a view to the life of Peter Christian Zinkann, the company acknowledged his “crucial role” in the success of Miele. In Zinkann's time, for example, the medium-sized company launched an electronically controlled dryer (1966) on the market, dishwashers with cutlery drawers (from 1986) and the Miele-Schontrommel (2001). Miele reported a turnover of 5.16 billion euros last year, 2.3 percent more than 2024. For profit, the company with its approximately 23,000 employees makes no information. The company manufactures washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, fully automatic coffee machines, vacuum cleaners and other household appliances.