Fritz Sennheiser (9 May 1912 – 17 May 2010) was a German inventor and entrepreneur who founded and served as chairman of Sennheiser Electronic, a manufacturer of audio equipment.

Biography

Early life and education

Born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

on 9 May 1912, Sennheiser grew up with an interest in radios and electronics. Sennheiser built a crystal radio when he was 11 years old after seeing an early radio."Biography of Prof. Dr. Fritz Sennheiser"

Sennheiser Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG (, ) is a German audio equipment manufacturer headquartered in Wedemark. Sennheiser specializes in equipment for both the consumer and professional audio markets, including microphones, headphones, and loudsp ...

. Accessed 29 May 2010. He had originally hoped to become a landscape gardener, but chose instead to pursue electrical engineering at the Technische Hochschule Charlottenburg (now

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...

) and earned a Ph.D. from the

Heinrich Hertz Institute The Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute, HHI, also known as Fraunhofer HHI or Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, is an organization of the Fraunhofer Society based in Berlin. The institute engages in applied res ...

in 1940. Sennheiser developed a reverberation unit that was used at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

in Berlin. He was responsible for sending coded messages for the German Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.Fox, Margalit
"Fritz Sennheiser, 98, Executive, Dies"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 25 May 2010. Accessed 29 May 2010.

Business

Sennheiser went into business for himself, and achieved early success with a tube

voltmeter A voltmeter is an instrument used for measuring electric potential difference between two points in an electric circuit. It is connected in parallel. It usually has a high resistance so that it takes negligible current from the circuit. A ...

and microphone, both of which were purchased by

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

. Later products in the 1950s included his invention of the

shotgun microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and pu ...

, early wireless microphones as well as its distinctive headphones that fit over the ear with flat, disc-shaped headpieces. Sennheiser stepped down as chairman in 1982, turning control of the business over to his son Jörg. By the time of his death, the family-owned business employed 2,100 people with manufacturing facilities in Germany, Ireland and the United States and had sales of $500 million in 2008.

Later life

Sennheiser died at age 98 on 17 May 2010 (eight days after his 98th birthday), and is survived by his son, daughter, three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Recognition

The

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

recognized Sennheiser in 1987 with its Scientific and Engineering Award for the development of the MKH 816 shotgun microphone. The

Audio Engineering Society The Audio Engineering Society (AES) is a professional body for engineers, scientists, other individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. The membership largely comprises engineers developing devices or product ...

(AES) awarded Sennheiser a fellowship in 1976, an honorary membership in 1980, and with its highest accolade, the AES Gold Medal, in 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sennheiser, Fritz 1912 births 2010 deaths German company founders 20th-century German businesspeople 21st-century German businesspeople Businesspeople from Berlin People from Berlin Technische Universität Berlin alumni German acoustical engineers Engineers from Berlin