In Memoriam: Fritz Mayr

Fritz Mayr, after more than half a century as CEO of Mauerstetten, Germany-headquartered mayr^®, passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones on January 18. An engineer who earned his degree in the early 1950s after returning to Germany from Russian captivity, Mayr is remembered for never compromising on safety or quality, consistently generating new ideas, expanding the company’s global reach and having the utmost respect for all employees. Representing the third generation when he joined the family business in Kaufbeuren, Germany, in 1956, Mayr was instrumental in addressing the need for industrial components in the wake of World War II. He automated the hand-injection molding process and developed the torque limiter. The company moved from the headquarters it occupied in Kaufbeuren since its founding in 1897 to Mauerstetten in 1972, where it now occupies approximately 33,000 m² and employs more than 750. Today led by Fritz Mayr’s grandson CEO Ferdinand Mayr, mayr entered the elevator market in 1997 and has since achieved market leadership in the elevator brake field. A funeral for mayr’s “highly esteemed former boss” Fritz Mayr was held on January 24.