Eberhard Layher

Eberhard Layher (born September 8, 1921 in Brackenheim ; † December 30, 2012 in Eibensbach ) was a German inventor and designer of scaffolding systems , entrepreneur, collector of evidence of the history of technology and of musical automatons, as well as initiator and founder of the Auto and Technology Museum Sinsheim and the Technikmuseum Speyer . He later handed over the management of the museums to his son Hermann Layher.

Life

Shortly after his birth, he moved with his parents and two siblings to Stuttgart , where his father Wilhelm Layher ran various companies. After completing his commercial training in 1938, he signed up for the Reich Labor Service . In 1941, at the age of 20, he was drafted into the Wehrmacht to serve as a telecommunications operator in the Russian campaign.

Their parents' house in Stuttgart was bombed in 1944 and the family was forced to return to Eibensbach in Zabergäu , where his father Wilhelm Layher set up a company to manufacture agricultural equipment and ladders made of wood in 1945. In the course of the economic upturn, however, the timber merchant quickly recognized the need for scaffolding and specialized in the production of ladder scaffolding as early as 1948. The daughter Ruth Langer and the two sons Eberhard and Ulrich Layher, who successfully continued the business after the death of the company founder in 1962, also worked in the company. Under her leadership, Layher developed into the largest manufacturer of system scaffolding: With SpeedyScaf 1965 and Allround scaffolding 1974, not only the systems that are still relevant today were brought onto the market, but the first steps towards internationalization also followed in 1970 - with subsidiaries in the Netherlands, France and Switzerland.

Auto and Technology Museum Sinsheim

At the age of 66, Eberhard Layher decided to leave the company. From then on he dedicated himself to his real estate business. He was also the main initiator of the Sinsheim trade fair . In 1981 he started building the Auto and Technology Museum in Sinsheim . In 1990 he acquired the former site of the Pfalz-Flugzeugwerke in Speyer , which had previously been used as barracks for several decades, and opened the second location of his museum there - the Technikmuseum Speyer. He died on December 30, 2012 in Eibensbach.

From 1957 to 1975 Layher was a member of the Güglingen municipal council.

Honors

• Ring of honor of the city of Güglingen
• 1980: Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon
• In 2001, Sinsheim, as the initiator of the museum and trade fair , awarded him the Karl Wilhelmi honorary coin and in the same year dedicated Eberhard-Layher-Strasse to him directly at the museum.
• October 20, 2001: Medal of Merit of the City of Speyer , reason: “Eberhard Layher has enriched the cathedral city with a cultural attraction with the settlement and expansion of the technology museum in Speyer. The museum and the Imax cinema have become crowd pullers for Speyer and the region and have impressively increased the cultural profile and tourist attraction of the cathedral city. It is thanks to Eberhard Layher's entrepreneurial spirit that monuments such as Liller Halle and Wilhelmsbau, which represent a piece of identity for Speyer, have been preserved and shine in new splendor. Eberhard Layher has made a special contribution to the city of Speyer and the interests of the general public. "

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Eberhard Layher on trauerverbindungen.stimme.de from January 2, 2013
2. ↑ Eberhard Layher on trauerverbindungen.stimme.de from January 3, 2013
3. ↑ Eberhard Layher on trauerverbindungen.stimme.de from January 3, 2013
4. ^ Street directory Sinsheim. Retrieved on September 17, 2011

literature

• Rudolf Landauer: accomplished inventor and respected cosmopolitan . In: Heilbronn voice . September 8, 2011 ( from Stimme.de [accessed on September 19, 2011]).

Web links

• ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: personal page about Eberhard Layher of the city of Sinsheim )
• Article from Kraichgau-Leintalpost, September 2011 edition