70 years of DILETTA Maschinentechnik GmbH

23 April 2026 | Nauheim, Germany

Ladies and gentlemen, valued business partners, dear friends of the company and colleagues.

70 years. In today’s fast-paced world, where start-ups come and go, 70 years is an eternity. It is a period that speaks of consistency, but above all of tireless innovative drive.

When we look at DILETTA Maschinentechnik GmbH today, we see a global player. But every great journey begins with a first step. And our first step did not take place in a modern industrial park.

Our origins lie in the basement of a perfectly ordinary residential building. It was there that Mr Kurt Diehl founded the company. Back then, it wasn’t yet about high-security technology for government documents. Selling and repairing office machines and office furniture was our daily bread.

You could say: we learnt how to repair and maintain technology before we learnt how to reinvent it. This ‘basement spirit’ – this hands-on mentality of getting your hands dirty to find a solution – is a spirit we have retained to this day.

The decisive spark that set DILETTA on its path to becoming a global market leader was ignited in 1965. That year, we developed the first typewriter for passports. That was the moment we realised: we can do something that no one else can. We can deliver precision where trust and security play the most crucial role.

We owe our presence here today to many people. But one person stands out in particular. And here I would like to get quite personal.

A very special thank you goes to my father. He is at the heart of our history of innovation. To this day, he holds the record for the most innovations, inventions and patents in our company. But it is not just his inventive spirit that impresses me, but his attitude.

At over 80 years of age, he is still actively involved in the business every day. Whilst heated debates rage in Berlin about extending working lives and the strain on the social security system, my father sits here and simply leads by example. He is living proof that, with passion and intelligence, one can achieve great things well beyond the usual retirement age.

Dad, thank you for being such a role model and for your tireless dedication to our company!

This passion has brought us to where we are today. DILETTA is now the market leader in the field of passport personalisation machines. Whenever a border official scans a passport somewhere in the world, or a citizen holds their new document in their hands, the likelihood is extremely high that DILETTA was involved.

The figures speak for themselves:

We have managed over 45,000 installations worldwide.
We are active in more than 170 countries.

From small island nations to the world’s largest countries – DILETTA ensures security and identity. The fact that a family business from the German countryside is so deeply woven into the global infrastructure fills me with immense pride.

70 years of DILETTA are 70 years of reliability. We owe this to our loyal customers, our partners and our employees. Without your precision and your loyalty, we would have remained just a company with good ideas in the basement.

I invite you to join me today in raising a glass not only to the past, but to the decades ahead. We still have a lot to achieve. The world is becoming more digital, security requirements are rising – and, as always, we will supply the right machines for the job.

Thank you very much for your attention. Here’s to DILETTA, to Reinhard Nikolai and to our shared future! Cheers!