The Seed of Goodness

A lifelong commitment to a good deed turns an ordinary person into a saint.

During his college days in the 1970s, Franz Chen was a hippie who had long hair, carried his guitar around to practice, and was a big fan of rock and roll. In his first class in the Department of German Language and Culture at Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan, he disagreed with Father Arnold Sprenger, then dean of the department, who patiently tolerated his rebellion while offering guidance, rather than getting upset. Afterwards, Father Sprenger gave him a first name "Franz", meaning creativity and unbridled imagination in German.

This is how the company got its name, the first lesson that Franz Chen, the brand’s CEO, learned from Sprenger’s lecture.

Father Sprenger passed away in Taiwan in 2015. At the funeral Mass, Franz Chen paid tribute to the priest’s lifelong, unselfish dedication to students in Taiwan and China, two regions far from his homeland. As he remembered Sprenger, Mr. Chen experienced a revelation: The university upholds a motto of Truth, Goodness, Beauty, and Sanctity - though Sanctity seems to be too difficult to achieve, Father Sprenger lived up to this ideal throughout his plain and ordinary life.

It turns out that a lifelong commitment to a good deed turns an ordinary person into a saint; this was the final lesson Franz Chen learned from Father Arnold Sprenger.

In 2017, Franz Chen dedicated the Tree of Life to the newly opened Fu Jen Catholic University Hospital. This porcelain wall is a gigantic work of art that the FRANZ team spent 18 months creating and it is worth 3.3 million US dollars. It is a reflection of the holistic medical vision of "Physical Treatment by the Hospital, Spiritual Therapy through Art" as well as a tribute to Father Sprenger’s priesthood.

Franz Chen and Father Arnold Sprenger at the 2011 press conference for Chen’s new book, I am Franz.

Franz Chen playing rock & roll music in his youth.