12/22/2016 - Elke Dauphin Obituary (1942 – 2016)

The Dauphin Group is mourning Elke Dauphin, the company’s Managing Director and co-founder. She died aged 74 after a long illness, on 21 December 2016, surrounded by her family.

The story of the Dauphin brand will always be inextricably linked with the name of Elke Dauphin. In 1969 she and her husband Friedrich-Wilhelm Dauphin founded the office furniture factory Friedrich W. Dauphin GmbH & Co. in Offenhausen. This was followed in 1992 by the holding company, Dauphin office interiors GmbH & Co. KG. As the Managing Director, Elke Dauphin was responsible within the Dauphin Group for the areas of marketing, design, corporate culture and personnel development. Her dedication and her passion for design, art and culture were a major influence on the corporate philosophy. Her unmistakable signature lent the Dauphin brand a distinctive image both internally and externally.

Elke Dauphin loved nature and good design, and she had an unparalleled talent for creating beauty. As early as 1988 Mrs. Dauphin was recognised with the Design Award of the Designcenter Stuttgart. From 1991 she was a member of the VDU (Association of German Businesswomen). Also in 1991 she joined the Design Forum Nürnberg (now known as bayern design GmbH) where she held the position of second Chairman of the Board until 2014. Apart from her professional work, Elke Dauphin was actively involved in cultural and social development, ranging from Germany to South Africa. From 1991, for instance, she was the President of the Friends of the Dehnberger Hoftheater. Her charitable work from 1992 extended across child and youth centres, kindergartens and schools in the region and she also promoted various clubs and associations devoted to art and culture such as the Förderkreis der Musikusse e.V. Offenhausen. In May 2001 Elke Dauphin was awarded the Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany with ribbon for her services to design and her support of social and cultural initiatives.

Elke Dauphin always had a deep-held interest in building up a future-proof business for the people of the region and her door was open for employees at all times. Her great wish was that the Dauphin brand, into which she had invested a lifetime’s work, would be her lasting legacy. Both the Dauphin family and the employees of the corporate group will be doing all in their power to achieve this aim and successfully take the Dauphin brand into the future as she would have wished.