Artur Fischer (31 December 1919 – 27 January 2016) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

inventor. He is best known for inventing the plastic expanding wall plug. Born in Tumlingen, Artur Fischer was the son of the village tailor Georg Fischer. His mother Pauline, who ironed collars to make ends meet, recognized her son’s mechanical aptitude and encouraged him at every turn, helping him set up a workbench at home and buying him the German equivalent of an Erector Set. In the second world war, Fischer worked as an aircraft mechanic and survived the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later r ...

, leaving on the last plane. Later in the war he was captured in Italy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in England. After returning to his hometown in 1946, he found work as an assistant at an engineering company and began making lighters and loom switches out of military scrap. In 1948, he founded his own company, the

Fischer Group In the area of modern algebra known as group theory, the Fischer groups are the three sporadic simple groups Fi22, Fi23 and Fi24 introduced by . 3-transposition groups The Fischer groups are named after Bernd Fischer who discovered them ...

Synchronized photo flash

In 1949, he invented synchronized flash light photography, which was later purchased by the camera company Agfa. Inspired by his inability to photograph his young daughter indoors, his insight was to synchronize an electronic flash with the camera shutter.

Wall plug

His most famous invention is the grey "S Plug" (Split-)

Wallplug A wall plug (UK English),In US English, a wall plug would likely be understood as an electric socket on a wall, although that is a misnomer as a socket is a device that accepts a plug. also known as an anchor (US) or " Rawlplug" (UK), is a fibr ...

made from plastic materials (

Polyamide A polyamide is a polymer with repeating units linked by amide bonds. Polyamides occur both naturally and artificially. Examples of naturally occurring polyamides are proteins, such as wool and silk. Artificially made polyamides can be made th ...

) and is available in various shapes and sizes since 1958 (see Wall plug). Fischer held over 1100 patents and overtook

Thomas Alva Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

, who held 1093 patents. Fischer also held 5867 trade rights and invented fischertechnik. Further inventions are (bone-)plugs for fixing

bone fractures A bone fracture (abbreviated FRX or Fx, Fx, or #) is a medical condition in which there is a partial or complete break in the continuity of any bone in the body. In more severe cases, the bone may be broken into several fragments, known as a '' ...

and one of Fischer’s most recent inventions was a gadget that makes it possible to hold and cut the top off an egg of any size. He got started on the problem when a hotel owner complained to him that his guests, on opening their boiled eggs for breakfast, always made a mess.

References

* Helmut Engisch / Michael Zerhusen: ''Die Fischers: Eine schwäbische Dübel-Dynastie''. Theiss, * Kathrin Wilkens:
Der Herr der Dübel
'. in: Technology Review (German edition) May 2004, page 92.

External links

Biography of Arthur Fischer
at dpma.de, The Inventors Gallery of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office
Artur Fischer - Wall plug, synchronised flash and many more
The European Patent Office film at YouTube
Homepage of Margot Fischer-Weber fischer-Weber with documentations of the family lawsuit from her view
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Artur 1919 births 2016 deaths People from Freudenstadt (district) 20th-century German inventors German manufacturing businesspeople German toy industry businesspeople Werner von Siemens Ring laureates Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg