Kern AG

History

The company started as KERN Internationale Handels- und Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH (KERN international trade and distribution company) (Logo) which was founded in 1969 by Manfred and Ruthild Birte Kern in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Initially, the company focused on data processing and printed products.

Linguistic and translation services came into play for the first time in the context of a printing commission. The Barbados Tourism Board intended to print a brochure in Germany and had the idea of designing an English edition to promote the beauty of the Caribbean island in Europe. As a result of their good experiences with this big pilot project, KERN took on a new path and decided to put an increased emphasis on translation projects.

KERN soon gained clients across Germany and Europe to such an extent that the demand could no longer be met from one location. The opening of the first branch took place in Düsseldorf in 1979. When even more branches were opened, the company was renamed KERN GmbH, Language Services. The first overseas branch was opened in 1983 in Paris. The foundation of KERN Corporation in New York City followed in 1985. In the 1990s, the company expanded and extended its network of branches in Germany, United States; Switzerland, England, China and Netherlands.

In 1997, the company was renamed once more as KERN AG, Global Language Services. The headquarters moved into a listed building in Frankfurt in May 2005. In the headquarters, KERN now combines the whole field of language services under one roof. Today KERN Global Language Services operates in 7 Countries and has 40 company owned subsidiaries and branches. KERN will open three more branches in 2007.

The original printing and data processing field of the company continues to be an important part of the KERN group and now operates under the name of KERN & Partner Finanzwerbeagentur GmbH. (KERN & Partners Financial Advertising Agency). The range of language services offered “under one roof” in its Headquarters enables the KERN group not only to simply translate texts, but also to work on documents in their entirety – from translation, designing an advertising campaign, desktop publishing to printing and delivering the final product.

In the beginning of 2000, the KERN group absorbed the Institut für Kreatives Lernen (IKL) (Institute for Creative Learning) which offers language training for specialists and executive staff. The resulting company, KERN AG IKL Business Language Training & Co. KG, offers modern language training across Germany and Europe. KERN AG IKL is also a recognised test centre of the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and offers the opportunity to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) online, which is demanded as a prerequisite for admission by many universities in the English speaking area, especially in the United States. Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), Test de français international (TFI), London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) are additional internationally recognised tests that can be taken at KERN AG IKL.

Areas of business

KERN Global Language Services core services comprise translation into all world languages, as well as terminology management, layout editing, DTP (Desktop Publishing), the localization of software and websites as well as language training.

Company locations

There are branches of the company in the following locations in Germany.

Headquarters: Frankfurt. Branches (in 2012): Aachen, Augsburg, Augsburg, Berlin, Bielefeld, Bochum, Bonn, Braunschweig, Bremen, Darmstadt, Dresden, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen, Freiburg, Hamburg, Hannover, Heilbronn, Ingolstadt, Karlsruhe, Kassel, Kiel, Köln, Leipzig, Mainz, Mannheim, Mönchengladbach, München, Münster, Nürnberg, Offenbach, Saarbrücken, Schweinfurt, Stuttgart, Ulm, Wiesbaden, Wuppertal, Würzburg.

The company has overseas branches in

New York City, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Hong Kong, London, Paris and Lyon.

Daughter companies