The story
The two original groups of the group have been closely linked to the economic middle classes of crafts, trade and commerce since their creation at the beginning of the 20th century. Iduna Nova was the result of an initiative by independent craftsmen and tradesmen who founded a health and death insurance fund in Hamburg in 1906. Dortmund master craftsmen followed this example a year later and also set up a health support fund. The Hamburg Chamber of Trade (now the Hamburg Chamber of Crafts) had a special role in the founding and has had a say and a right of supervision since the founding. Two Hamburg master craftsmen deserve special mention, the builder and master stonemason Johann Reimer (1847-1917) and the master turner and later Hamburg senator Johannes Hirsch (1861–1935). The Imperial Supervisory Office in Berlin demanded 100,000 marks for the founding fund. Fourteen Hamburg banks raised half and the other half was raised by the master craftsman Johann Reimer from Hamburg's Karolinenviertel. Johannes Hirsch was chairman of the supervisory board of the "Mittelstandsversicherung" from 1914 to 1934.
The different company forms as an insurance association or public limited company have business management and tax reasons. The joint-stock companies are not listed on the stock exchange.
The Signal Iduna Group is now open to all sections of the population. However, the traditionally close ties with organisations from the trades, commerce and trade continue.
Through a sponsorship agreement with Borussia Dortmund, Signal Iduna acquired the naming rights to Dortmund's Westfalenstadion: Since 1 December 2005, the stadium has been called Signal Iduna Park. The contract runs until 30 June 2026.
Several skyscrapers and building complexes built by the Iduna insurance company or in whose construction it was involved carry or bore "Iduna" in their name.
The name Iduna is derived from the Norse deity "Idun(a)", the goddess who was responsible for the apples that the gods had to eat to preserve their youth and thus, as it were, their immortality.
The sculpture of Iduna by the sculptor Jean Sprenger stands in the old Rabenstraße 32 in front of the old administration building, which was built under the direction of Bertold Beitz. The architect was Ferdinand Streb.
From Wikipedia’s article on Signal Iduna, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5