fischer group

What they do

The fischer group makes fixing systems for construction and do-it-yourself use: plastic plugs, steel anchors, chemical anchors and installation systems that hold loads in concrete, masonry and plasterboard. Alongside fixings, the group runs fischertechnik, which makes construction kits for education and training, fischer Consulting, which advises on process improvement, and fischer Electronic Solutions.

The company is headquartered in Waldachtal-Tumlingen in the northern Black Forest. Its owner is Klaus Fischer, son of the founder, who chairs the holding company and its advisory board.

Why it matters

Artur Fischer founded his first company in 1948 and became one of Germany's most prolific inventors. His camera flash with synchronised trigger came in 1949, and in 1958 he invented the fischer S-plug, the expansion plug that made it simple to fix anything to a wall. The basic idea has been copied worldwide.

Today the business is about engineered safety as much as convenience. Anchors in bridges, tunnels and buildings carry structural loads, so certification, testing and design software are now as important as the plug itself. fischertechnik, meanwhile, has long been used in schools and universities to teach mechanics and automation.

Products to know

• fischer S-plug: the original nylon expansion plug from 1958.
• Steel and chemical anchors: certified fixings for structural loads in concrete.
• fischertechnik: construction kits for play, education and industrial training models.

The German angle

fischer is a classic Black Forest story. The region's tradition of clockmaking and precision work produced many small engineering firms, and Artur Fischer built a global company from his home village of Tumlingen.

The firm remains family-owned and has received the German Sustainability Award in the large-companies category. Its fischertechnik kits embody a distinctly German belief that engineering should be taught hands-on, an idea that also underpins the country's dual apprenticeship system.