Hans Maurer (entrepreneur)

Hans Maurer (* 1918 in Suhr , Canton Aargau ; † September 19, 2013 in Zollikerberg , Canton Zurich ) was a Swiss entrepreneur and inventor. He was the inventor of the Closomat , the first shower toilet .

Life and career

The farmer's son Hans Maurer learned to be a machine draftsman until, in 1956, at the age of 38 and a father with 4 children, he came up with the decisive inventor idea of ​​a toilet, which with an integrated shower instead of paper would give people a lukewarm water jet after their "session" cleans to then dry it with a built-in hairdryer. Hans Maurer built his prototype in the basement of his single-family home on Rietholzstrasse 6 in the Zurich suburb of Zollikerberg. In 1957, a year later, the patent application and market launch took place, the new company is now called Hans Maurer Sanitäre Apparate , whose product is called "Closomat", from Closet for the toilet and automat . The first customers are primarily hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, with the very first installation in a private household in eastern Switzerland.

New building in Zollikerberg

1961, the model 61 became a breakthrough, 10,000 times were sold in the next few years until 1976. The new construction of the already successful Closomat AG took place in Zollikerberg, right next to the own house.

New building in Embrach

In 1983 the 65-year-old Hans Maurer handed over the management of his company to his son Peter. After the expiration of the patent period, the company started in Switzerland Gerberit with the production of highly successful washlets. In Japan, the imitators have already completely conquered the growing Asian market, today 80% of newly installed toilets in Japan are shower toilets, in South Korea around 30% (in Europe still less than 5%). Closomat not only became a Swiss brand, but also a generic term for modern comfort in the toilet area.

In 2000 the company had a turnover of 21 million and already had 60 employees. Closomat tried to cope with the growing competition on the now open market with a completely newly developed model and the first copies were sold too early, there were still too many teething problems in the total of 2400 copies sold and the buyers' guarantee requirements brought the company into the Bankruptcy. Although Hans Maurer was able to experience how his son was able to get his father's company successful again from the situation, the competition has meanwhile become dominant in the market. Hans Maurer died on September 19, 2013 at the age of 95 in Zollikerberg, he was buried in the community cemetery on September 26.

Web links

• Lorenzo Petrò: The man who made the world a cleaner place. Tagesanzeiger.ch, September 25, 2013