The Man Who Didn't Want to Retire.
Peter Hiltebrand died on July 20, 2026, at the age of 81. Without him, “Rent a Rentner” would not exist—and without him, Switzerland would be one idea poorer, an idea that helped millions of people see old age in a different light.
Peter himself loved to tell the story of how it all began. One morning, having just retired, he was about to head to the store—until his wife called him back: “Stop, Peter, you’re staying here. You’re retired now.” So he stayed. He checked all the lights in the house, washed colored and white laundry together, sucked his wife’s wedding ring into the vacuum cleaner, and let the wedding vase slip out of her hand. After that, it was clear: housework wasn’t his calling.
"What Should I Do Now?" Became a World First
Peter wanted to work. Not because he had to—but because he wanted to. He had done good work for decades and felt that he still had so much more to give. During a conversation with his daughter Sarah and her partner Reto Dürrenberger—who ran an advertising agency in Zurich—the phrase that set everything in motion came up: “That’s how it is for thousands of retirees in this country.”
The idea was born in 2009— the world’s first online job-matching platform for retirees. It was an idea that came up over coffee at the breakfast table. No one at the table had any idea what would come of it.
From the Kitchen Table to Tokyo
What followed surprised even the founders. Rent a Rentner attracted attention throughout Switzerland and far beyond. Interview requests from all over the world, franchise interest from countries you first had to look up on a map, and one marketing award after another. Then came the highlight in 2019: In Tokyo, Rent a Rentner was honored with the SilverEco Award—world champion in senior marketing. Not bad for a man who really just didn’t want to get in his wife’s way around the house anymore.
His true legacy
Awards are nice. But Peter’s legacy runs deeper. He exemplified what is now the foundation of our work: People don’t stop being valuable when they retire. Experience doesn’t expire on one’s 65th birthday. The need to feel needed, to contribute, and to belong—that remains.
That single wish has grown into the vision of an entire company. To this day, it enables countless retirees to lead active lives, feel truly valued, and interact with other generations. Every placement, every assignment, every “I’m still needed” carries a piece of Peter Hiltebrand within it.
And what about the humor?
He stayed until the very end. Anyone who knew Peter knows this: He took things seriously, but rarely took himself too seriously. Even his obituary bore his handwriting—with a touch of humor that couldn’t have been more typical of him. It was precisely this blend of drive and lightheartedness that defined him and everything he touched.
We have lost a co-founder, a pioneer, a person who did not view old age as the end of the road, but rather as an invitation to start all over again.
Thank you, Peter. For the idea. For the courage. For the spoon you—in the best sense of the word—placed in our hands.
The funeral service will take place on August 19, 2026, at 2:30 p.m. at the Reformed Church in Bülach. Our thoughts are with Sarah and the entire Hiltebrand family.