ESPELKAMP, GERMANY – Paul Gauselmann, founder and longtime Chairman of the Board of Merkur Group, died Aug. 21 at the age of 91, shortly before his 92nd birthday.
Over a 67-year career, Gauselmann built a one-man business into an international gaming company with more than 15,000 employees and turnover of approximately €2.1 billion. He also spent decades representing the interests of Germany’s gaming machine industry. Even after stepping down from the Group’s top management in 2024, he continued coming to the office twice a week for many months to oversee day-to-day operations.
Born in 1934 in Borghorst near Münster, Gauselmann lost his mother at age two and was raised by relatives in Münster, separated from his father and four brothers. He was five when World War II began and later recalled using games as a childhood escape during nights marked by air-raid sirens.
In 1950, Gauselmann graduated at the top of his class and began an apprenticeship as a telecommunications inspector. He later joined a vending machine manufacturer that imported Wurlitzer jukeboxes and developed a remote selection unit for German jukeboxes. That work led him to Harting in Espelkamp, where he was hired as a technician and, by age 26, had become head of the machine development department.
His entrepreneurial career began on the side. In 1957, while still employed, Gauselmann started working part time as a self-employed jukebox operator. By 1964, he had become fully self-employed as a gaming machine operator, and in 1974 he opened his first gaming arcade in Delmenhorst.
A major turning point came in 1977 with the Merkur B, the company’s first internally developed gaming machine, which provided the initial impetus for the Group’s growth. It was followed by additional in-house developments, hundreds of patents and expansion into international markets. The smiling Merkur sun Gauselmann devised became the company’s trademark.
Gauselmann also became a prominent advocate for Germany’s amusement and gaming machine industry. He was active in industry associations for more than 38 years, including 28 years as Chairman of the Board of the Association of the German Vending Machine Industry.
In 2016, shares in the Gauselmann family companies were transferred to the Gauselmann Family Foundation, which became sole owner of Merkur Group. Gauselmann remained Chairman of the Foundation’s Board until 2024, when his son Michael Gauselmann succeeded him. Today, more than 2,000 of Merkur Group’s employees are based in Espelkamp and Lübbecke.
Beyond the gaming industry, Gauselmann supported projects in social welfare, culture, sports and healthcare. He established a charitable foundation that later became the Paul and Karin Gauselmann Foundation and supported projects ranging from healthcare and emergency services to sports organizations.
Among his later contributions, Gauselmann provided approximately €6 million to fund two childcare centers in Espelkamp and donated €8.7 million to the city during a period of financial difficulty, along with an additional €5 million to neighboring Lübbecke. He also acquired the 500-year-old Schloss Benkhausen in 2010 and oversaw its restoration into a training center with hotel facilities, with an estate barn housing the German Coin-Op Museum – Gauselmann Collection.
Gauselmann received Germany’s Federal Cross of Merit, First Class, in 2003 and was named an honorary citizen of Espelkamp and Lübbecke in 2004.
He is survived by his wife, Karin, four sons, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
