"My main concern is with humanity, and not with large engineered structures"

In 1979 Marius Eriksen along with the engineers' office EPO Eriksen and Partner GmbH laid the foundation for the Eriksen Group.  His character, his values, his tireless drive and last but not least, his pragmatism have had a significant effect on the character of IFE Eriksen and the entire group.

Marius Eriksen has left his mark in life and continues to do this anew every day.
Born in 1935 into humble beginnings in North Freesia, where he grew up, he learned to be independent from very early on.  During the war and post-war it was not possible to achieve A-levels, so Marius became a carpenter like his father.  Then he went on to attend the Staatsbauschule in Eckernförde, becoming Schleswig-Holstein's youngest at age 22.

"I wanted to fix the world," says Eriksen in hindsight "I wanted to help build a better world."  In 1957, the young Eriksen went to Hanover where he studied civil engineering.  He then specialized as an independent consulting engineer on bridge construction in Hanover.

War-torn Germany was in desperate need of new bridges - those made of reinforced concrete and those for connecting people.
This drove him north to Oldenburg, where he started a new company.   From this tiny new beginning emerged the Eriksen Group.  Today IFE Eriksen is at the core of its project management and business development activities in the field of renewable energy. In addition, it established its office in the areas of structural and civil engineering.
Marius Eriksen searched for and found partners for each of his new ventures: "This is a time for partnerships, not for loners'".

Eriksen was a dedicated volunteer on the board of the Association of Architects and Engineers (Vereins der Architekten und Ingenieure), in the Federal Association of Wind Energy (Bundesverband Windenergie), Lower Saxony's Chamber of Engineers (Ingenieurkammer Niedersachsen) and the Federal Association of Consulting Engineers (Bundesverband der beratenden Ingenieure).

In addition, he was on the board of the International Cultural Exchange of Germany. This was an association which organized student exchanges between Germany and the rest of the world.
 
In the year 2000, Eriksen founded the present-day Eriksen-Grensing Foundation (Eriksen-Grensing-Stiftung) for people in distress (resulting from no fault of their own). In 2006, he acted as co-founder of the Citizens of Oldenburg Foundation (Oldenburgische Bürgerstiftung).  "When I was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in 2003, I felt as if I then had to start doing more to really earn it," says Marius Eriksen in his infinite dedication to the welfare of individuals as well as society as a whole.  Eriksen says "my main concern is with humanity and not with large engineered structures""

The life of Marius Eriksen was sketched out/documented.. by the renowned filmmaker Karl-Heinz Heilig retraced in film.  You get more information about the film "Ein Leben in Kladde (or "A life in the Blotter") here.