Obituary for Gerhard Thumm

Gerhard Thumm died at the end of February 2024 at the age of 72. He held various responsible positions at TK Elevator from 1976 to 2018.

Gerhard Thumm initially began at the then Thyssen Aufzüge GmbH in 1976 in electrical development, first as a work student and a year later as development engineer. Within a short period, he became a team leader and in 1990 the head of electrical development. He joined the management of Thyssen Aufzugswerke GmbH in 1999 and was responsible there for development as a whole.

Further steps in his career were setting up and heading the research centre in Stuttgart and coordinating the overall company development strategies in Europe and internationally. He later took on the role of Global Chief Engineer in the group, which he held until his retirement in 2018. He continued to support TK Elevator after his retirement as a consultant.

He was involved in the development of the first programmable electronic controller in the early 1980s and the redesign of a higher group control technology and its implementation in hard- and software. Another focus as one of the first in the sector was on developing and implementing a bus system to simplify installation within control units in lifts.

Especially esteemed personality

He made a decisive contribution to helping to design the first lift without a machine room, according to an obituary of the managing directors and board members of the companies TK Elevator, TK Aufzugswerke and TK Elevator Innovations & Operations. Gerhard Thumm also very heavily influenced and expedited the development of the TWIN lift system with two cars in one shaft. He also played a central role in the test tower in Rottweil, opened in 2017.

In addition, Gerhard Thumm was very active outside TK Elevator as well. For example, he was on the governing body of the Heilbronn Lift Days and also took part repeatedly with talks. He was active in addition as a speaker at the international congresses of Elevcon. In standardisation, he launched EN 81-28 (two-way communication) as convenor of the European working group.

"The group as well as the worldwide lift world has lost an extraordinary and especially esteemed personality in Gerhard Thumm," the obituary continued. "He shaped and expedited the group like few others. We will cherish the memory of Mr Thumm."