Horst Rahe, Founder 

Senator E.h. Horst Rahe is known well beyond the tourism industry not only as the inventor of the “AIDA ships” and the resort brands “A-ROSA” and “a-ja” — not to mention HENRI Boutique Hotels — but also as an outstanding representative of a progressive entrepreneurial spirit committed to further development and future-proofing of traditional industries. Furthermore, Horst Rahe has been championing the German shipping, tourism and health industries at various levels and in varying capacities for more than 50 years. During this time, he has actively endeavored to achieve social balance by initiating a wide range of aid projects and foundations. His passionate commitment and dedication are reflected in the numerous public accolades and awards he has received.

Horst Rahe is managing partner of Deutsche Seereederei and a driving force behind the future-oriented development of the holding’s subsidiaries.

Thomas Pietzka is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Deutsche Seereederei and representative of the Managing Partner. The experienced finance and tourism specialist is responsible for further developing the financial structure and instruments of the DSR companies and the implementation of future-oriented ESG standards. The business graduate with qualifications as an auditor and tax advisor has a long and successful career in finance and operational management positions for well-known tourism companies, some of which are listed on the stock exchange.

Carsten Wilmsen is Managing Director of Deutsche Seereederei as well as Managing Director of Rubus Development GmbH. The civil engineer and experienced asset and property manager is responsible for the real estate and project development of the DSR Group as well as the strategic change towards a GREEN TECH HOSPITALITY-LEISURE company.

Claudia Franke has been a senior Group manager since 2004. As commercial manager and then managing director of the DSR Hotel Holding Group and its subsidiaries, she was primarily responsible for the areas of finance and human resources. A business administration graduate, she has been in charge of investment controlling for the subsidiaries of the DSR Group since April 2018. Before joing the DSR team, Ms. Franke worked for a leading international auditing company, which allowed her to gather experience in diverse industries.

Michael Westenberger, legal advisor to the Deutsche Seereederei Group. An experienced lawyer, Mr. Westenberger has been active in various functions within the company since its privatization in 1993 and has successfully handled transactions involving several hundreds of millions of euros for the DSR Group. He previously worked as a lawyer for the oil industry in Hamburg and Sydney. 

Manfred Schröder is responsible for the area of investment and structured finance. A Business Administration graduate, Mr. Schröder has been with the Group since 1995, during which time he has accumulated extensive experience in treasury finance, accounting, controlling, business administration, investor relations and project management. Previously, he held senior positions in the shipping, real estate, financial services, tourism, hotel and industrial sectors. 

Prof. Dr. Oliver Errichiello is Director of Group Strategy as well as Brand and Product Development / Market Research. He heads the Group’ s innovation laboratory. A highly experienced socioeconomist, Prof. Dr. Errichiello also lectures at universities and other higher education institutions and has previously worked for various international management consultancies.

Jörg Westphal is the in-house tax advisor of the Deutsche Seereederei Group. Since 2004, Mr. Westphal has focused on the Group’s tax affairs and in this capacity has accompanied and successfully implemented all significant transactions in the M&A business as well as optimized the Group’s legal/tax position. Prior to 2004, Mr. Westphal worked both as a shareholder in his own companies and as a manager/partner in two of the Big Four auditing and consulting firms. He has also held other management positions, primarily in holistic auditing and consulting for medium-sized companies.

Karl J. Pojer is CEO of DSR Hotel Holding/DR Hospitality GmbH & Co. KG. The multi-award-winning tourism expert has an extraordinary international career in the travel industry with management positions in the sectors of business hotels, leisure hotels, club hotels, and cruise. Pojer directed the success of leading hotel brands, was CEO at Robinson Club, and was a divisional board member for TUI Hotels & Resorts. As CEO of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, he was responsible for the realignment of the fleet and achieved the remarkable growth of the brand and it’s profitability.

Daniel Bär is Managing Director of Operations and Purchasing at DSR Hotel Holding. As a qualified hotel specialist, he has been closely associated with the company for many years and knows the hotel business from the ground up.

Marco Koch is CFO of the DSR Hotel Holding and responsible for Finance, Controlling and IT. Mr. Koch holds a degree in business administration as well as a Master of Laws (LL.M.), and has years of experience in the areas of mergers & acquisitions and finance, among others at REWE Group, Deloitte and Vapiano.

Björn Franz is Managing Director of Marketing and Sales at DSR Hotel Holding. As an experienced tourism expert, he is responsible for the strategic positioning, management and planning of DSR Hotel Holding’s individual hotel brands.

Eckart Buss is CEO as well as Brand – and Product Developer of the Henri-Hotels. Eckart Buss is in a DSR-Groupe leading position since 2002, after he graduated in Hotel-Management. As Creative Director of the business group, he transfers project ideas into precisely defined organization and layout of the products.

Torsten Vey is a manager in the Deutsche Seereederei since 2009. Responsible for Conceptual Design and Brand Development of the aja-Resorts since their inception. Starting form 2018 he is responsible for the Project Acquisition, Development, and Construction for the DSR Holding GmbH and their subsidiaries. Previously he did years of work at Accor and Steigenberger.

Klaus-Peter Böttger is responsible as Managing Director of DSR Immobilien GmbH and DSR Asset Management GmbH for facility management, technical project management and technical services. Mr. Böttger boasts many years of professional experience in construction, real estate and facility management with a focus on the hotel industry, system catering and shipping. 

Andreas Klee‘s roots have their origins in the DSR shipping business. He has worked for DSR Immobilien GmbH since 2003 and was appointed Managing Director of DSR Immobilien GmbH and DSR Asset Management GmbH in 2017. Mr. Klee holds a degree in management and is responsible for finance, controlling, process optimization, organization, IT and corporate development within the DSR Immobilien Group. 

Lutz Weller, Managing Director of DSR Immobilien GmbH, is responsible for commercial development, project management, project control and corporate communications, both for the DSR Group’s hotel brands and for external clients (investors/developers/operators). Mr. Weller’s background is in the hotel industry and he has more than 25 years of experience in commercial real estate project development and hotel development with renowned developer investors.