1924:: Josef Fischer Senior
founded his company, which produced rack wagons, sleds and wooden skis.
1934 :: Lauch of first ski series production.
1938 :: 2000 pairs of skis exported to the United States.
1949 :: Josef Fischer Junior joined the company.
Building of first ski press.
1955 :: Expansion, renovation, acquisitions.
86 employees produced 40,200 pairs of skis in a plant 2136 m2 in size. Exports:
12.3 % of total.
Opening of general representative offices in the USA and Canada.
1957 :: Highlight: The Fischer "S 100"
opened the door to the top-end price class.
Setback: Ski factory fire. Factory rebuilt, expanded.
8000 m2 production area. Output: 52,638 pairs of skis.
1959 :: Josef Fischer Senior died of heart attack; Josef Fischer
Junior and his sister Selma Sturmberger took over at the helm.
Output topped 100,000 pairs, with 54 % of total being exported.
1961:: Construction begun on
new plant on today's premises.
Trademark developed by Prof. Rufolf Ferch.
1964 :: Opening of the first
expansion stage of new factory.
Capacity for 250,000 pairs of skis. .
First gold medal - Egon Zimmermann's gold
in the downhill at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.
On a pair of Fischer ALU STEELs.
1965 :: Sandwich construction perfected by
combining traditional materials with high quality glass fiber.
1967 :: Founding of the Fischer Ski Club.
Marketing companies in Germany, France and Canada.
1971 :: Opening of second expansion stage of factory.
Presentation of first Nordic ski collection at ISPO.
1973
:: Founding of Europa Sportartikel
AG, acquisition of Löffler company in Ried. Franz Klammer won downhill
on C4s setting a new speed record of 111.251 km/h.
1974 :. Presentation of first Fischer tennis rackets at SPOGA
in Cologne. Series of triumphs in top-flight sports in all areas.
1976 :: Fischer awarded the Austrian National
Coat of Arms in recognition of his contributions as a businessman.
Sales already totaled ATS 630 million.
1978 :: New organizational structure with establishment of
three divisions: Alpine, Cross Country and Tennis. Medals galore. Tennis moved
to Hollabrunn, where 120
employees produced 140,000 rackets.
1979 :: Fischer CROWN FINISH took the world by storm.
1980 :: The lightweight AIR COMPOSITE CORE allowed the weight
of skis to be reduced to a sensational 1000 grams per pair.
The Swede Thomas Wassberg won gold in his first race on a pair
of these skis in Lake Placid. The international press described them as gas
skis.
AIR COMPOSITE CORE patented worldwide.
1982 :: First transfer of know-how from ski construction to
aviation engineering: Ultra light, ultra strong composite components used in
making carbon struts for the Airbus 300.
1984 :: Patenting of Fischer VACUUM TECHNIC.
Lightweight ski construction with AIR COMPOSITE CORE awarded a state prize for
innovation.
1985 :: Launch of skating
era at Nordic World Championships in Seefeld. Also: development of supply doors
for the MD 80 aircraft.
1986:: RC 4 Vacuum Tech RS Super
presented at the ISPO.
AIR CORE used for the first time in models for non-pros.
Premiere of Superform Open Pro model at Tennis ISPO.
Founding of new division: FACC (Fischer Advanced Composite Components).
1988 :: Construction of first factory for Aircraft Construction
Division.
Contracts from Boeing and delivery of large-scale components to Douglas Aircraft
for MD-11 jumbo jet.
Opening of second Fischer factory in Mukacevo, Ukraine.
1990:: Fischer emerged as season's most successful ski brand,
with 73 individual World Cup victories. Presentation of a worldwide innovation
at the ISPO: the C.A.D Ski.
FACC converted to a GmbH (limited liability company), making it an independent
enterprise.
1992:: Presentation of "REVOLUTION" short-ski design
by Nordic Division at ISPO.
KRONENSCHLIFF climbing system, already in use by millions worldwide, was further
developed to create the Fischer DOUBLE CROWN.
1994 :: Presentation of first Fischer Nordic boot collection.
Design prize for ski and boot collection.
1995 Fischer presented PLASMA EDGE, the world's hardest steel
edge. First Nordic cap ski, specially developed for racing. Establishment of
Fischer Moscow. 1997
PLASMA EDGE launched and used in many models. Construction of new FACC headquarters
and two further production halls.
1998:: Olympics in Nagano:
Absolute record for Fischer with 53 medals. Fischer presented the asymmetric
RADARC models at Ski ISPO and the GDS Titanium at the Tennis ISPO.
Establishment of Fischer Ski USA. Acquisition of a 26% stake in SKI Kraft. INC.
Japan. New Fischer headquarters in Ried.
Yefgeny Kafelnikov (RUS) advanced to No. 1 in the Tennis ATP world rankings.
The Fischer GDS 1000 AirCarbon Ti, the world's lightest weight racket, presented
at the ISPO.
1999:: Nordic World Championships in Ramsau (AUT). Fischer
emerged as the most successful ski brand, capturing 36 medals.SKATE CUT was
the winning ski at these World Championships. Fischer Alpine pushed its new
innovation, the ACCELERATOR.
2000 :: Presentation of newly integrated ACCELERATOR. Carbon
materials developed jointly with FACC used for the first time in ski construction
in the new Alpine models DRS AirCarbonTi and DRS 104 AirCarbon. Launch of SHORT
CUT models by Fischer Cross Country. The silent evolution: shorter, lighter,
ultra reliable. Double victory in overall Nordic World Cup rankings by Bente
Martinsen (NOR) and Johann Mühlegg (ESP).
Sven Hannawald (GER) captured world champion title in ski jumping; Andreas Goldberger
(AUT) set new ski jumping record of 225 m. Both wore Fischer's new revolutionary
Jump Ski.
Yefgeny Kafelnikov (RUS) captured Olympic gold in Sydney with the Fischer PRO
NO. ONE racket.
2001 A total of 73 medals for Fischer at Alpine World Championships in St. Anton,
Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland and Biathlon World Championships
in Slovenian Pokljuka
Fischer's new star on Alpine Team, Michael von Grünigen (CH), staged brilliant
comeback by capturing world champion title in giant slalom on a pair of totally
re-engineered Fischer RC4 RACE AIRCARBONs.
Julia Tschepalova (RUS) and Per Elofsson (SWE) emerged as Overall Champions
at World Cup 2000/2001. Founding of international Fischer Freeride Team. Completely
new target group addressed in new Alpine Collection with SCENEO Group - the
New Generation ski. Speed Concept underscored Fischer's frontrunner status in
cross country skiing.
2002 :: Fischer presents a new technology in the alpine ski
sector at the ISPO trade fair in Munich. Thanks to FREQUENCY TUNING it is now
possible to harmonize vibrations in the skis and thus improve turn behavior
so you can really feel it. This new technology is used in highquality musical
instruments and is now employed in ski manufacturing. Frequency Tuning took
Michael von Grünigen to the gold medal at the World Championships in St.
Anton. Frequency Tuning is successfully integrated in the tennis line and presented
to the trade for the first time at the 2002 Tennis ISPO.
NORDIC CRUISING is the trade fair innovation
for Cross Country, a sporty training ski for all winter endurance enthusiasts.
The 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games turn out to be the sporting highlight
of the year and it's one medal ceremony after another for Fischer.
58 medals for Fischer, a milestone in the company's racing history. 15 x gold,
23 x silver, 20 x bronze. For the first time ever Fischer wins four overall
World Cups in the Nordic disciplines in the 02/02 season - in particular men's
and women's Cross Country, Biathlon and Sprint.
A highly successful year in business terms too - Fischer buys back the shares
from its Japanese partner and the company is under family majority ownership
2003 :: This is the year of
product expansion. Fischer Alpine develops a revolutionary ski boot line and
optimizes the range of bindings.
This now makes Fischer a single source supplier for skis, boots and bindings,
presented at ISPO with a completely new trade fair stand.
2004
The SOMA TEC boot innovation not only receives the ISPO Award 2003, but also
numerous other accolades.
The cross country RACING line is improved with new, lighter ski tips and tails,
and NORDIC CRUISING enters its second year with new designs and models.
For the first time ever, Fischer cross country boots are used at the World Championships
- with success.
Successes continue at major sporting events.
A total of 77 medals are won at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di
Fiemme, the World Biathlon Championships in Chanty-Mansijsk and the Alpine World
Championships in St. Moritz.
All four overall World Cup victories in cross country, two overall World Cup
victories in the biathlon and the Alpine Giant Slalom World Cup all go to Fischer
athletes.
A highly successful 2002/03 racing season.
Two of our best athletes retire - Bente Skari, NOR, and Michael von Grünigen,
CH.
Fischer becomes complete supplier in the cross-country area.
Fischer cross-country bindings that combine skis and boots both technically
and visually are presented for the first time at the ISPO. The successful cross-country
boots are supplemented by a new innovation called CENTRIX. Supports the natural
foot position using components that are oriented to the anFISCHERal shape of
the foot.
A new product is introduced at the summer ISPO: Fischer Nordic Walking Poles
- the summer alternative to Nordic Cruising in winter.
Successful World Cup season 03/04:
World Cup victory Slalom - Rainer Schönfelder, AUT
World Cup victory Cross Country Sprint- Marit Björgen, NOR and
Thobias Fredriksson, SWE (Fischer ski und Centrix boots)
World Cup victory Cross Country Dist. - Valentina Shevchenko, UKR
World Cup victory Biathlon Pursuit - Olga Pyleva, RUS
2005 Fischer starts investment
programme for proactive competitiveness, mainly due to cognitions coming from
the reengineering process the company went through the past two years.
Investment of € 5 million high-tech grinding
line in Ried, the grinding line is in a class of its own in terms of safety
engineering.
Results show a turnover of € 147 million,
a major increase of over 11 % in all in all stagnating markets.
2006 After a hundred year winter results are more than satisfactory
again. Major increase especially in the field of Nordic.
Ispo February 2006:
Fischer presents Carbonlite - the lightest nordic racing ski in the world, with
a weight of only 1.000 grams! Fischer Alpine presents FLOWFLEX - the world´s
first Skifahrwerk!
Rainer Schönfelder wins two bronze medals at the Olympic Winter Games in
Turino 2006. 70 medals were gained by Fischer Nordic.
At the jumping competitions Fischer won eleven out of 16 possible medals! All
in all these were the most uccessful Winter Games in the company´s history,
and with 72 medals Fischer is the most successful brand after these games!
Important decision in the field of Nordic: From 2007/2008 on Fischer cross country
bindings on NNN (Rottefella). Cooperation with long term partner Salomon ends
after season 2006/2007.
2007 The fiscal year 2006/07
was affected adversely by a very bad winter. Three major events: the alpine
world championships in Aare (Sweden), the cross country world championships
in Sapporo (Japan) and the biathlon world championships in Antholz (Italy).
Fischer athletes collected the following medals
- a very impressive result indeed: Fischer biathletes won: 7 Gold, 2 Silver
and 8 Bronze medals.
Fischer was the most successful ski brand at
the Nordic world championships in Sapporo: 9 Gold, 10 Silver and 21 Bronze medals!
Just one major result from Fischer´s ski
jumping stars: Adam Malysz won the overall ski jump world cup, for the fourth
time in his career!
Alpine Fischer athletes won 2 Gold, 1 Silver
and 1 Bronze medal at the world championships in Aare. Mario Matt was one of
the most outstanding alpine athletes throughout the season: out of 8 slalom
world cup competitions he had podium results in every single competition. The
slalom world champion title is his second world champion title after St. Anton!
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