Heinz Dürr (16 July 1933 – 27 November 2023) was a German businessman. He was a major shareholder in the Dürr AG, founded in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

in 1895. Dürr was chairman of the board of

AEG The initials AEG are used for or may refer to: Common meanings * AEG (German company) ; AEG) was a German producer of electrical equipment. It was established in 1883 by Emil Rathenau as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte El ...

from 1980 to 1990, and from 1991 to 1994 he served as executive board chairman of

Deutsche Bundesbahn Deutsche Bundesbahn (, ) or DB () was formed as the state railway of the newly established West Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained the state railway of West Germany u ...

and

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' (), also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the Weimar Republic, German national Rail transport, railway system created after th ...

. When the

privatized Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

was formed then, Dürr was its first chairman of the board until 1997.

Life and career

Dürr was born in

on 16 July 1933 and, aged 12, attended the National-Political Institute of Learning in

Rottweil Rottweil (; Alemannic: ''Rautweil'') is a town in southwest Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Rottweil was a free imperial city for nearly 600 years. Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has over 25,000 ...

in 1944–1945. He completed his secondary school education in post-war

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in 1953. He was a major shareholder in the

-based engineering firm Dürr AG, founded by his grandfather in 1895. Dürr was chairman of the board of

from 1980 to 1990, and from 1991 he served as executive board chairman of

and

, Germany's state-owned railways. When these enterprises were combined and

in 1994, Dürr became the first chairman of the board of the new

, a position he held until 1997.Executive profile of Heinz Dürr Ing. E.h.
at

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

He is credited with the invention of the weekend discount ticket (Schönes- Wochenende-Ticket), which led to a notable increase in local railway traffic in Germany. Dürr died on 27 November 2023, at the age of 90.

References

External links

interview with Heinz Dürr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durr, Heinz 1933 births 2023 deaths Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg Businesspeople from Stuttgart