Family man after suicide attemptEx-Trigema boss Wolfgang Grupp in an interview! That has now changed in his life

Wolfgang Grupp back at Trigema after suicide attempt

Wolfgang Grupp himself made it public in mid-2025 that he had attempted suicide. According to the dpa, the background was also doubts as to whether he was still needed. A topic that still affects his family today. Now the senior has fought his way back to life and speaks openly about his new life.

I'm fine, just like an 84-year-old who doesn't yet have the feeling of being written off. I have the feeling that I am still welcome and that was given to me a thousand times over here on stage today. It's a nice feeling when you get recognition. That's why I was happy to come here today,” says Wolfgang Grupp, former boss of the Swabian clothing company Trigema at the event in Wiesbaden. A lot has become clear to him in the last few months. Especially how important family is to him.

That's why he tells RTL “I was a bachelor for a long time around the age of 40, but then I understood that it was important to start a family. My wife should be in her early 20s by then. So I looked around and married her at the young age of 22 after three years of relationship. Whether you have success or failure in business, the family is a solid source of support and I've had that for 38 years now.”

Video tip: Trigema boss makes a promise to Germany

Wolfgang Grupp talks about his life crisis

In the middle of last year, the former Trigema boss made a suicide attempt public. He thought about whether he was still needed. Today he says to RTL: “Of course I'm now dealing with it openly, it was made public. It was a serious mistake that I would never repeat. I had the feeling that I went from being someone who was needed 100 percent to feeling like everything was over. You have to deal with that (…).”

Luckily, he made the right decision at the time to transition from being a bachelor to becoming a husband because his wife was the one who prevented the drama. “I didn't really notice it anymore because I was in the hospital afterwards. But I didn't hit it properly and my wife was responsible for that because she stopped me and so she saved my life,” says Grupp. His biography says: “Elisabeth Grupp couldn't stop him completely. But if she hadn't come, then Wolfgang Grupp would most likely no longer be alive.”

Reading tip: Offspring at Trigema – Grupp subsidiary becomes mother for the first time

Some time ago, Grupp handed over the business to his two children. Wolfgang Grupp Junior (34) and his sister Bonita (36), who became a mother at the end of last year, run the family business together. She heads the areas of online trading, marketing and human resources. Wolfgang Grupp junior is responsible for business customers, IT projects, production and finances.

Reading tip: Wolfgang Grupp “would like to undo everything”

The entrepreneur explains: “After 55 years, I handed over responsibility to my children and gave the company away. We always had a great family relationship, we always needed each other.” That's why he once again regrets his suicide attempt: “I was also very angry with myself for doing it. My advice to young people is: In general, if you want to tackle something, you have to know that problems are not to be discussed, but to be solved, and after difficult days the sun will rise again.”

Sources used: own RTL research

Here you can find help in difficult situations

If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts yourself, please seek help immediately. Try talking to other people about it! These can be friends or relatives. But there is also the option to talk anonymously to other people about your thoughts. This can be done by phone, chat, email or in person.

If you need help quickly, you can use the free telephone hotline 0800 1110111 or 0800 1110222 to find people who can show you ways out of difficult situations.