Napoleon insurer builds new HQ
Although German Mutual Insurance Company is one of Ohio’s oldest insurers, having been established in 1867 - just two years after the conclusion of the American Civil War, the company has never had intentions of become one of the state’s largest. In fact, the Napoleon-based auto, fire, casualty and theft insurer really didn’t start to grow until it was almost 125 years old. Since then, German Mutual has been enjoying steady expansion and, as a result, now has outgrown its offices.
The company - owned by some 19,500 policy holders concentrated in 58 Ohio counties - recently began construction of its new 18,000 square-foot headquarters building at 1000 Westmoreland Drive, near State Route 24 and Napoleon High School. The brick single-story structure, to be distinguished by the steep pitch of a gabled roof with its four large dormers, will be completed early next year.
Designed by The Collaborative Inc. of Toledo and built by Rupp-Rosebrock Inc. of Liberty Center, the new building should meet German Mutual’s space needs well into the third century of its operation.
According to German Mutual President Rupert Knape, the company had operated as an “assessment mutual” company - restricted to providing insurance against fire and windstorm damage to farmers in Northwestern Ohio - for most of its 131 years in operation. As such, state regulations prohibited it from writing auto, theft and liability insurance. In 1985, German Mutual, which began as the German Mutual Insurance Association of Defiance and Henry Counties, converted its status to an ‘advanced premium mutual’ company which permitted it to move into automobile insurance, expand its homeowners and commercial insurance products, and offer a variety of other casualty lines.
In 1987, the company issued its first auto policy and now has almost 8,000 auto policies in force. The company also offers a range of commercial products including fire, theft, liability as well as policies specifically structured for churches.
In the late 1980’s, German Mutual’s office of six employees move from a small “A” frame building into large quarters on Chelsea Avenue but soon was overtaken by crowding at which point even the board room was co-opted for office space. The company, with more than $12 million of polices currently in force, now has a 23-person staff; and the new offices will provide three times the space of the present building. The new building will also house a larger and more sophisticated computer system to support its network of 180 agents.
The building, which will occupy only a portion of a six-acre site, has been designed to accommodate expansion. There are also approximately 14-acres adjoining German Mutual’s new headquarters which may be developed in the future.