At the turn of the millennium, the idea of a restorer portal was born by Mathias Möller "anuvito" and was implemented as a portal solution in April 2001 with the help of SITEFORUM. After that the collection of content began and the first domains romoe.de, romoe.com as well as restauratoren-portal.de were secured. Through further ideas from anuvito, version 1.0 was developed in 2002. Since July 2003, restorers and interested parties can register and create their profile in the Romoe restorers network.
For many, at first glance, the Romoe restorer network is a kind of commercial yellow pages. But does the network really only pursue commercial goals?My name is Mathias Möller and as Managing Director of Anuvito GmbH, founder and operator of the platform, I would now like to give you a little insight into the background:
Family tradition
My grandfather Walter Möller was already a restorer by profession and worked in many churches throughout Thuringia. More than 20 years ago, I also wanted to study restoration and had completed a study-preparatory internship with my father graduate designer / restorer Rolf Möller and learned during this time the profession of painter and varnisher. After that I had applied to the University of Applied Sciences in Erfurt. However, due to a very drastic experience and a lot of knowledge in the field of computer and graphic applications, my goals had changed completely.
It was my destiny - Since the year 2000 I have been working at SITEFORUM GmbH in Erfurt and I am very happy, proud and grateful with my work as the current "Head of Product".
The restorer network is thus a product of the family tradition of restoration and the SITEFORUM portal software. It arose from the goal of providing restorers with a platform to present themselves and their work to the outside world. To date, restorers can create a personal profile with references of their work and register in the extensive restorer search.
Name
Already the first version of the restorer portal should be association-independent and international. The name was then quickly decided for me. To the appreciation of my father and his symbol developed at that time, the initial letters of his name ROlf MÖller were selected. From available signs for Internet addresses, thus "romoe" resulted. Unfortunately, it is sometimes confused with "romeo", also the island of Rømø in Denmark has nothing in common with us.
The additional terms "Restauratoren-Netzwerk" in German and "Conservators Network" in English still show the best placement in the Google result list. We have also been in the top 10 results list for the individual terms "restorers" and "restoration" for many years, which requires continued search engine optimization.
Restorers
Until today there are always differences of opinion between academic restorers and handicraft trained restorers. However, my goal has always been to provide an open networking platform and knowledge database for all interested parties in the field of restoration. Cooperation and mutual respect should be a matter of course at this point.
At a specialist group meeting of the German restorer federation VDR, I had presented the Romoe project at that time in the year 2004 as co-operation, spoke unfortunately against walls and received little Zuspruch. Even the association did not have an online membership directory at that time. In addition, I was immediately downgraded as a company with a commercial interest.
A first real recognition of all my work, was the invitation of the Polish Monument Preservation in 2012, to a meeting of several international media representatives in the field of restoration and monument preservation in Warsaw.
The Restorers Network has been in existence since 2001. In these many years I am very sure that several contacts have been established between, by and for restorers, as well as work orders, jobs and internships have been arranged. Free of charge for all members!
Cooperations
The network is open for cooperation in all areas of restoration, art and preservation. We network universities of applied sciences, studies, training and further education institutions, museums, trade fairs and exhibitions, organizations, clubs, associations and foundations.
We offer companies, manufacturers or suppliers product presentations in the area of "restoration supplies" with a company directory and detailed profiles.
Funding
The main sponsor for the technology and the platform has been SITEFORUM GmbH in Erfurt from the beginning. It is mainly financed by my own private investments, parallel website projects, endless and unpaid working hours and a lot of night work. Since 2019, there are additional new business packages with well-placed product launches, search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing.
However, I continue to not charge membership fees to conservators and educational institutions, such as colleges and universities. In comparison, membership fees are charged at several associations that then officially have no "commercial goals" but have an online store and sell products there. Or there are non-profit projects that annually ask for financial support and donations to support the operation of an online portal. However, neither of these is my goal.
A non-profit status is also primarily relevant from a tax point of view, i.e. a non-profit organization has to pay less tax, for example no corporate income tax or trade tax. However, we as anuvito GmbH pay these taxes.
Since I had borne the costs at the time as a sole proprietorship, I was even required to declare an intention to make a profit to the tax office several times, since the network was assumed to be a hobby. Now, as anuvito GmbH together with my father, we no longer have to make this declaration.
Help and shape the future of Romoe!
If you have any questions, comments or criticism, you can always write us a message.
This helps us so that in the future we can adapt the restorer network even better to the needs of the interested parties.
My personal goal is to always be a good father to my little family.
Mathias Möller, Managing Director
anuvito GmbH
