Erwin Hymer

Erwin Hymer (born July 27, 1930 in Bad Waldsee ; † April 11, 2013 there ) was a German entrepreneur and founder of the caravan and motorhome manufacturer Hymer .

biography

After studying mechanical engineering, the trained toolmaker Hymer initially worked for three years in the team of aircraft manufacturer Claudius Dornier and worked on the design of the Dornier Delta , a small car. He joined his father's company in Bad Waldsee, which manufactured rubber-tyred trailers for tractors.

In 1957 he founded the sales company Eriba together with the designer and aircraft pioneer Erich Bachem and developed the prototype of a caravan (“Ur-Troll”). In 1961 he developed (Bachem had died in March 1960) together with Borgward a first mobile home. The first motorhome followed in 1971.

In addition, he founded Hymer-Leichtmetallbau GmbH & Co. KG in Wangen im Allgäu in 1962 and began building aluminum ladders, for which he took over rights from Dornier.

Erwin Hymer expanded the product range over the years to include acquisitions of the caravan and motor home manufacturers Niesmann + Bischoff, Bürstner, Laika and Carado as well as the Movera accessories brand. The companies Dethleffs, Sunlight, LMC and TEC were integrated into the holding. Most recently, 2780 employees generated annual sales of EUR 859 million.

In 2007 he left the Supervisory Board. Hymer dedicated himself to his Erwin-Hymer-Stiftung, with which he built the Erwin-Hymer-Museum at the company headquarters. His daughter Carolin replaced him at the head of the foundation.

He was honored with the citizen medal of the city of Bad Waldsee and in 2000 with the Federal Cross of Merit with ribbon .

literature

• Erwin Hymer , Internationales Biographisches Archiv 07/2012 from February 14, 2012, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of the article freely available)