Conrad Dietrich Magirus

Conrad Dietrich Magirus ( born September 26, 1824 in Ulm, † 26 June 1895 in Ulm ) was a German fire brigade pioneer and entrepreneur. He is considered the inventor of the mobile fire escape. The name " Magirus " derives from the ancient Greek word " Mageiros ", which means " cooking " is. This name took the theologian Johannes Koch ( then Johannes Magirus ) in the 16th century, as a Greek sounding name among the scholars of the time were fashionable.

Life and work

Magirus was born on September 26, 1824 the son of a grocer and factory owner in Ulm. During his commercial training, he spent seven years in Naples, Italy.

Still in the first half of the 19th century, took over the management of the Magirus Ulmer Turnerschaft. The Turner it were, from which in 1846 the first official Magirus Fire Spritzenzug the city of Ulm composed, which henceforth strove for fire protection in the Danube city. In 1850 he took over his father's business in Ulm and his book " All parts of the fire - extinguishing system ".

Due to the success of his efforts to fire safety in Ulm Magirus in 1853 was appointed commander of the fire brigade Ulm. In this new task Magirus then vanished: He set a second fire engine on the legs and focused on the technical improvement of fire extinguishers as well as with the better organization of the fire extinguishing system. Magirus designs included different head designs for fire purposes. Through his work in the Ulm Fire Department, he came up with the idea to build mobile fire ladders. At least that made him a pioneer of modern fire extinguishing system: 1864 Magirus limited partner of the newly founded " Gebr Eberhardt open trade and limited partnership ", which produced fire-fighting equipment and sales. After disagreements between the brothers and Magirus Magirus Eberhardt then founded his own company in 1866, which he gave the name of " fire-fighting props factory CD Magirus ". There he supported ladders, fire pumps and forth.

On June 26, 1895 Conrad Dietrich Magirus died. At this time he had already laid the management of the business in the hands of his sons, Henry, Otto and Hermann Magirus ( since 1887). As of 1909, the company he founded " fire-fighting equipment and vehicles factory CD Magirus " was then; 1911 this was then in the " C. D. Magirus AG " converted. From this, in turn, the subsequent commercial vehicle brand Magirus- Deutz and the company IVECO Magirus emerged, which still produced in Ulm fire extinguishing technology.

Early milestones of production at Magirus were:

On July 10, 1853 Magirus founded with ten fire representatives from the circle in Plochingen the "Gasthaus zum Waldhorn " the still existing German Fire Service Association.

In his home town of Ulm, a street is named after Magirus The Magirus road connects the Sedan road with the blue Beurer street, in which was a work of Magirus. In other cities, there are Magirus roads, and others in Stuttgart and Berlin.