Commitment from Tradition

Lower cost electricity and homes, company pensions and healthcare and recreational services – Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG was already supporting its employees and their families back at the beginning of the 20^th century.

After World War II, the company began to transfer its involvement to its social environment. Away from its core field of business, the energy provider committed itself to the people in the Ruhr district, a region in which it has strong roots. This was to the benefit of, among others, the Workers’ Welfare Association, the Mothers’ Rehabilitation Association, playschools and old people’s homes.

Alongside social projects, the company’s involvement focused on education and culture from an early stage. In the 1950s and 1960s, RWE funded the Ruhr Festival in Recklinghausen as well as some municipal theatres. Back then, RWE was still helping schools in a really practical way. To give one example, the company provided teaching kitchens with electrical appliances, free of charge. Two decades later, content had become a stronger issue, with RWE providing teaching materials relating to energy topics.