As one of Germany’s youngest trade fair promoters, Paul Eberhard Schall organised the 1st MOGRAMA in 1964, a specialised trade fair for modern graphics machinery in Stuttgart. Born on the 24th of February, 1939, Schall had nevertheless already laid the cornerstone for his rapidly ascending career in 1962. At the age of only 23 he founded his first company, “Paul Schall Junior Graphics Machinery”, which was involved with the sale of graphics equipment. Schall, who has never baulked at a challenge, began thinking about how he might be able to sell his machines in a more targeted and better organised fashion. These considerations led to the first technical trade fair promoted by P.E. Schall, namely the MOGRAMA.

“Paul Schall Junior Graphics Machinery” developed into a mid-sized company with 20 employees. The company continued to market graphics machinery, and promoted technical exhibitions under the name “P.E. Schall KG Ausstellung+Werbung”. The MOGRAMA took place in Stuttgart for the second time in 1968 and the success of this event provided the necessary self-assurance. Schall caused a real stir in the trade fair scene with his provocative concept of promoting regional trade fairs. He daringly advanced his trade fair career with the FAMETA, technical trade fair for metals processing machinery. The FAMETA took place for the first time in 1972. It enjoyed tremendous success because it provided the metals processing industry with new opportunities for selling its products directly at the trade fair. And Schall also refrained from making use of so-called lock-out clauses: All companies, both manufacturers and dealers, as well as domestic companies and companies from outside of Germany, were welcome to exhibit at the FAMETA. A free market economy and equal opportunity were the basis for success. In 1975, Paul E. Schall took a decisive step and decided to concentrate solely on the promotion of technical trade fairs. From then on the company came to be known as P.E. Schall GmbH Messeunternehmen, with headquarters in Frickenhausen, Germany. As of 1 January 2007, P.E. Schall GmbH Messeunternehmen has changed its name to P.E. Schall GmbH & Co. KG.

Today, after 45 years of entrepreneurial experience, Paul E. Schall has every reason to be proud. With great energy, endurance and perseverance, he has led his company to national and international prominence and continues to maintain clear-cut strategies and well defined objectives. By selecting the right trade fair topics at the right point in time, Schall has been highly successful with innumerable trade fairs. The FAKUMA international trade fair for plastics processing took place for the first time in 1981 at the Friedrichshafen Exhibition Centre. MOTEK was launched one year later. CONTROL was organised for the first time in 1987. The year 1989 represents another milestone, during which Paul E. Schall founded the Sinsheim Exhibition Centre.

The Sinsheim Exhibition Centre organises trade fairs and exhibitions on its own, and provides P.E. Schall with its own trade fair venue at which most of its technical trade fairs take place. Today, P.E. Schall GmbH & Co.KG is Germany’s largest private promoter of technical trade fairs. But this is no reason for Paul Eberhard Schall to rest on his laurels, on the contrary: it’s an incentive for further action.

International trade fair activity, expansion of the Sinsheim Exhibition Centre and further development of time-tested, existing trade fairs will characterise the years to come.

Schall continues to bank on his recipe for success, which he has never kept secret: create specialised trade fairs for trend-setting topics and introduce them to the market as top quality events. Schall’s niche market policy is fully in vogue: a movement away from large international events and towards specialised regional European trade fairs which present visitors with the entire spectrum of a given technology in a compact format has become apparent within the trade fair sector.

Schall is a highly sought after partner for national and international industry insiders. Contacts of this sort play a decisive role where success is concerned, because Schall has his thumb on the pulse of the times and specialised competence unfetters new synergies – in accordance with the maxim: Schall - Trade Fairs for Markets.