The Werner & Marlene Schöder Foundation was established by the Proprietor and Managing Director of BAUSTAHL SCHÖDER GmbH, Werner Schöder and his wife Marlene. The company, founded in 1951, with a turnover of 300 million DM, 3000 employees, 50 trucks, a storage space of 105,000 sq.m. covered 40,000 sq.m., was active in wholesales in rolled steel, pipes, flat-rolled steel, Construction modification, reinforced steel, roll bending and installation, hardware, mounting technology, tools, machinery, construction equipment, industrials supplies, wire goods, construction elements, welding technology, and industrial gases. In Germany there were 13 branches in Koblenz, Neuss I+II, Dortmund, Lahnstein, Duisburg, Andernach, Cologne, Frankfurt I+II, Flörsheim, Speyer, and Mutterstadt.

Werner & Marlene Schöder are not only known as music and arts admirers with their impressive art collection, which has grown steadily through their countless worldwide travels, but have always supported young musicians in cooperation with Prof. Otto Sauter, as well as nature and development aid projects. The entrepreneurial couple thus makes a decisive contribution to sustainable cultural and social development.

With the financing of the Werner & Marlene Schöder Foundation International Trumpet Academy in cooperation with the internationally renowned piccolo trumpeter Prof. Otto Sauter and Prof. Sabine Kierdorf, a worldwide unique training model for highly talented young trumpeters is created. With this, Werner & Marlene Schöder create a fundamental contribution to the promotion and preservation of the world cultural heritage of brass music.