Privacy policy

At a glance

• This website does not set any cookies and does not use any analytics, tracking or advertising services.
• Fonts, scripts and images are loaded exclusively from our own web space.
• Only the map on the contact page (Google Maps) loads content from another provider, and only after you click (section 6).
• The enquiry buttons only open your own email program. There are no forms that transmit data to us.

1. Controller

Represented by its general partner Merkel GmbH, represented in turn by its managing director Markus A. Merkel.

Phone +49 9151 70510 · Fax +49 9151 3508 · Email info@merkel-feuerfest.de

2. Hosting and server log files

Our website is hosted by STRATO GmbH, Otto-Ostrowski-Straße 7, 10249 Berlin, Germany. STRATO processes the data exclusively on our behalf and in accordance with our instructions; we have concluded a data processing agreement with STRATO pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR.

Each time a page is accessed, your browser transmits data to the server for technical reasons; this data is stored in log files (server log files): IP address, date and time of access, page or file accessed, HTTP status code, amount of data transferred, the previously visited page (referrer), if your browser transmits it, as well as browser type and operating system.

The purpose is to deliver the website, to ensure its stability and security, and to analyse errors. We do not combine this data with other data sources and do not evaluate it for marketing purposes. The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR; our legitimate interest lies in the secure and stable operation of the website.

According to STRATO, IP addresses are only stored in shortened form in the log files; the log files are deleted after six weeks. We keep individual entries for longer if they are needed to investigate a specific security incident, until that investigation is complete.

3. Encryption

This website is delivered exclusively via an encrypted connection (HTTPS with TLS). You can recognise this by “https://” in your browser’s address bar.

4. No cookies, no tracking

We do not set any cookies. There is no audience measurement, no tracking and no profiling.

Two functions store your choice in your browser’s local storage so that it is retained across all pages:

• the sort order of the product groups (entry “merkel-gruppensortierung”),
• the enquiry list with the grades, sizes and quantities you have added and your note (entry “merkel-anfrageliste-en” on the English pages, “merkel-anfrageliste” on the German pages).

These entries remain on your device and are not transmitted to us. You can delete them at any time using “Clear list” in the enquiry list or via your browser’s website data settings. They are required for the function you have expressly requested (Section 25 (2) no. 2 of the German Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act, TDDDG). We only receive the contents of the enquiry list when you send the email created from it yourself.

The “Copy” buttons place our contact details or an enquiry text on your device’s clipboard. No data is transmitted to us in the process.

5. Contacting us by email, phone or fax

If you contact us by email, phone or fax, we process the information you provide, such as your name, company, address, delivery location, phone number, email address, details of product, size, quantity and preferred date, attached sketches and the content of your message. We use this information to answer your enquiry and, where applicable, to prepare a quotation for you.

The buttons “Enquiry”, “Request a quotation”, “Send enquiry by email” and “Send a sketch by email” merely open the email program on your device and pre-fill the subject and text with a template. No data is transmitted to us or to third parties in the process. We only receive your message when you send the email yourself.

The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR insofar as your enquiry is aimed at concluding or performing a contract, and otherwise Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interest in answering enquiries). If you make an enquiry on behalf of a company, we process your data as a contact person on the basis of Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR.

We delete your enquiry as soon as it has been dealt with conclusively and no further communication is to be expected. If a contract is concluded, or in the case of commercial or business letters, the statutory retention periods apply: six years for commercial and business letters, eight years for accounting records and ten years for books and annual financial statements (Section 257 of the German Commercial Code, HGB; Section 147 of the German Fiscal Code, AO).

Emails are generally encrypted in transit (TLS) if your email provider supports this; there is no end-to-end encryption. Faxes are transmitted unencrypted. You can also send us confidential documents by post.

Where necessary to carry out an order, we pass on data to forwarding agents and carriers (name, delivery address, phone number for announcing the delivery), to our bank, to our tax advisers and to public authorities where we are legally obliged to do so. Beyond this, we do not pass your data on to third parties and we do not sell it.

6. Google Maps (only after you click)

On our contact page you can display our location on a map from Google Maps. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland (“Google”).

The map is not loaded when you open the contact page. Instead, you see a placeholder from our own server. Only when you click “Load map” does your browser connect to Google’s servers. In doing so, Google receives in particular your IP address, the date and time of the request and information about your browser and operating system, and may store or read cookies or similar technologies on your device. If you are logged in to a Google account, Google can associate the request with your account. We ourselves do not receive any data about you from Google.

The legal basis is your consent, which you give by clicking (Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR; insofar as information is stored on or read from your device, additionally Section 25 (1) TDDDG). Your consent is voluntary; without it, our address and route planning remain available to you. We do not store your decision: it applies only to the respective page view. If you reload or leave the page, the connection to Google ends and the map is only loaded again after a new click. In this way you withdraw your consent with effect for the future.

We may be jointly responsible with Google for the collection of your data when the map is loaded and for its transmission to Google (Art. 26 GDPR); Google alone is responsible for any further processing. Google also processes data on servers of Google LLC in the USA. For the USA there is an adequacy decision of the EU Commission (EU-US Data Privacy Framework, Art. 45 GDPR), under which Google LLC is certified. Further information: Google’s privacy policy.

7. Links for route planning

“Plan route” and “Open in Google Maps” are simple links to Google Maps or Apple Maps. As long as you do not click on any of them, no connection to these providers is established. After you click, the map service opens in a new window or in your device’s maps app, and our address is passed on as the destination. We do not collect your location: you decide via your device’s location settings whether the map service calculates the route from your current location. The respective provider alone is responsible for processing after the click: Google Ireland Limited (privacy policy) or Apple Distribution International Ltd., Hollyhill Industrial Estate, Hollyhill, Cork, Ireland (privacy policy).

8. Your rights

You have the right of access (Art. 15 GDPR), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18), data portability (Art. 20) and to withdraw any consent given with effect for the future (Art. 7 (3)). To exercise these rights, simply contact us using the details in section 1.

Right to object under Art. 21 GDPR: Insofar as we process your data on the basis of Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR, you may object to this processing at any time on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will then no longer process the data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or the processing serves the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Right to lodge a complaint under Art. 77 GDPR: You may lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. The authority responsible for us is the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision (Bayerisches Landesamt für Datenschutzaufsicht, BayLDA), Promenade 18, 91522 Ansbach, Germany, www.lda.bayern.de.

9. Obligation to provide data, no automated decision-making

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide us with personal data. Without contact details, however, we cannot answer your enquiry, and without delivery and billing details we cannot carry out an order. There is no automated decision-making, including profiling (Art. 22 GDPR).

10. Changes to this privacy policy

We will update this privacy policy if our website, our service providers or the legal situation change. The version published here applies.

Last updated: October 2026