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The Centennial Story

Centennial Graphics Group is a collection of companies that are co-located on 5 acre campus in New Albany, Indiana. Originally housing a tannery and a land-grant for Colonel Clark, the headquarters are comprised of an office complex, manufacturing areas and warehouse facilities. A strategic acquisition in 2009 was the John Galt Bindery in Dayton, Kentucky. Not only did the acquisition fill a strategic need of fine book binding and specialty box manufacture, but it also included the skills, expertise and creativity of an exceptional bindery team that was birthed from the old-world craftsmanship of the Grummich family. Today, the company’s products are the result of three generations of Grummich creativity and innovation.

The patriarch, Hugo Grummich, was born in 1926 near Sarajevo, Bosnia, and spent his childhood near Zagreb, Croatia. He apprenticed with his uncle’s book binding company, where he became a master bookbinder.

In WWII, Hugo fought in the German Army on the Russian front in a Panzer unit. He was a Russian POW twice, once escaping back to his unit and the second time while in Odessa (now the Ukraine). He was released after the war in a POW exchange. After the war, he was relocated to Austria where he met his wife and later mother to sons Frank and Karl. The family immigrated to the United States in 1952, arriving in New Orleans. Hugo worked on a freighter to book the passage.

Hugo had a sponsor in Cincinnati, and it was there that Hugo began working for Art Guild Bindery, where he became a partner after six years. He started Cincinnati Bindery in 1964 and sold it in 1988 to his salesman, Henry Klein. Hugo won numerous awards for the quality of his work, including pieces for the Kennedy family, the Smithsonian, the Vatican, several museums and libraries. Hugo Grummich was an avid golfer and fisherman, and he spent much time doing both before he died in 2005.

In tandem with Centennial Graphics Group, Hugo’s sons and grandson continue the old-world tradition and handcrafted standards that were created in the finest book presses and paper cutters of Italy and Austria.