Georg-Christof Bertsch is the third son to Robert Bertsch, principal of a special education grammar school, and Anny Bertsch, née Herling. Beginning in the early 70s, Robert and Anny were initiating leaders in the reconciliation between their hometown and France, the UK and Israel, helping to establish a sister city or community relations in these three countries. In 1988, Robert Bertsch published "Juden in Seeheim und Jugenheim", the first historical account of Jewish life in Seeheim-Jugenheim, Germany. The book was launched to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Kristallnacht. Bertsch is a Rotary International member at RC Frankfurt Friedensbrücke. He is an elected member of . He is an atheist.
Professional career
Bertsch studied history and art history at the Berlin Institute of Technology and went on to set up Germany's first Design management office with Matthias Dietz in 1988. In 1995 he and his wife Annette founded Bertsch & Bertsch Corporate design Corporate Communications GmbH. The foundation of BERTSCH.BRAND CONSULTANTS followed in 2005. This firm puts its focus on providing consultancy services for complex branding, positioning and change processes for major companies. Between 2007-2009 Bertsch was a guest lecturer at the Hesse State University of Art and Design where he was granted the title of Lifetime Honorary Professor in 2009. Together with Prof. Dr. Kai Vöckler and Prof. Peter Eckart he launched the Designinstitut Mobilität und Logistik at HfG Offenbach in 2014. In 2017 he became an associate partner at witten.group. He is working based on the principles of Systemische Organisationsberatung according to SW&F
Social activity
Between 1990 and 95 Bertsch was president of Design Horizonte Frankfurt. In 1996, together with Dr. Hans Höger he curated “Attitudes for the Next Millennium” at the Aspen Institute's International Aspen Design Conference. Between 2004 and 2013 sat on the board of Friends of Städelschule Portikus in Frankfurt, officiating as vice-president from 2004-2010. On 27 May 2008, he became the first German to be elected to the Board of Governors of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. From 2010 to 2012 he headed the Cumulus global water working group. He has been a board member of WELTKULTUREN Museum Frankfurt since 2011. Co-founder of fokus.energie in 2014 Member of the advisory board of DDC since 2018. Co-founder of technika e.V., Karlsruhe, 2019. Member of BitKom working group digital design since 2020.
Works (a selection)
What is our reference framework for sustainable digital design? Speech given at the Bikom Digital Design working group, online / Frankfurt on 2.6.2020
Warum ist Design nicht systemrelevant, GC Bertsch interviewed by Martina Metzner für DDC June, 2020
NICHTWORT Conférence on Design and language education, chair and editor in chief, 2017 *
DML Blog mobile futures editor in chief and author
THE WORD Chennai Water Forum - embrace our rivers at Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai Schippert, Helmut; Bertsch, Georg-Christof; Balsavar, Nandan, published by Asian College of Journalism, Goethe Institut Max Muller Bhavan, 2016
Bücher und Buchstaben und Schreibschrift in: Klimmt, Reinhard ed. Reihenweise. Die Taschenbücher der 50er Jahre, 2 volumes. Achill Press, 2016
The effect of risk management on brand and reputation management in: Risk Management in Law Firms, Strategies for Safeguarding the Future, ed. by Knott, Hermann J.; International Bar Association, Global Business Publishing, London, 2014": Bertsch, Georg-Christof, BERTSCH.BRAND CONSULTANTS / Chester, Simon, Heenan Blaikie LLP / Hunter, Jane, Aon Risk Solutions
Material Grove - from traditional material to material innovation Holzbach, Markus / Bertsch, Georg-Christof , HfG University of Art & Design Offenbach Press, 2014
"Urban Water - A Challenge for Product Designers" Conference Paper Cumulus Conference Helsinki, Finland, May 24-27th, Aalto University, Helsinki, 2012
Two goddesses of Indian design, Stylepark Nov 2011
Product Design & Water – towards a vision for education Conference Paper Cumulus Paris, France, May 19–22. Université de Sèvres, Paris, 2011
klimaroute.de – learning to understand climate change and rivers as editor in chief. Frankfurt am Main, launch Jan 13th 2011
Undisciplined? Design in an age of massive change in: Höger, Hans ed: Design Research. Mailand 2008, pp. 96–117.
Avrupali, kendi kültür baskentini tanimiyor in: Cumhuriyet Hafta vom 31. August 2007, pp. pp 1 and 13
The Benefits of Organizing International Design Workshops to Gain a Deeper Understanding of the Local Context in: Juried Education Papers. Global Issues together with Özlem Er.
Der Raum der Erinnerung in: Holt, Jan ed: V+W Designmatrix. Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 2006, pp. pp 113–144.
Build or Die. Constructing survival. In: Fezer, Jesko ed: Designcity. Die Gestalten Verlag, Berlin 2006, pp 149 f.
Common Sense in: Wurster, Christian ed: V+W Privatbuch. Selbstverlag Vogt + Weizenegger, Berlin 2005, pp. pp 104 ff.
