Compressor pioneer Carl Kaeser passes away

Although founded in 1919 by Mr Kaeser's father, it was under Carl Kaesar's leadership from the early 1970s that the Coburg, German-based company grew from being a regional and national compressor manufacturer into a major worldwide name in compressed air technology employing 4000 people worldwide.

"The company, his colleagues and the town of Coburg have lost a great personality in Carl Kaeser, who, over a period of seven decades, greatly influenced both their fortunes and those of the regional economy", said Kaeser in a press statement.

Mr Kaeser took over the running of the family-owned company in 1973 and steered the company both technically and commercially - together with his son Thomas, who joined him at the start of the 1980s - and was still actively managing the company right up until just a few weeks before his death.

Up until the beginning of the 1970s, the main focus of Kaeser Kompressoren's product range was reciprocating compressors. Carl Kaeser expanded the programme to include the more efficient rotary screw compressor technology, and he and his colleagues subsequently developed the ‘Sigma Profile' screw rotor profile.

"This development", said Kaeser, "laid the foundation for the company's consequent rapid ascent which Carl Kaeser led and supported from the front. His drive and pioneering spirit were clearly demonstrated again by the innovative decision to integrate compressor technology - then still primarily mechanical - with modern digital technology in order to achieve enhanced efficiency and reliability."

Kaeser is best known in the rental industry for its ‘Mobilair' range of portable compressors, developed following the acquisition in 1982 of French compressor manufacturer Compresseurs Bernard.

Carl Kaeser received numerous honours during his life. He was a recipient of the Bavarian Order of Merit, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the State Medal for Special Services to the Bavarian Economy. He was made a Freeman of the town of Coburg and Honorary Senator at the University of Coburg.