Jochen Schweizer

Jochen Schweizer
Born Joachim Steffen Udo Schweizer
(1957-06-23) June 23, 1957
Germany Ettlingen
Nationality German
Occupation stuntman, entrepreneur
Known for bungee jumping
Website jochen-schweizer.de

Jochen Schweizer (born June 23, 1957 in Ettlingen) is a German entrepreneur.[1] He founded the eponymous group of companies that offers, among other things, experience vouchers.[2][3] Schweizer is a pioneer of extreme sports and bungee jumping in Germany.[4][5][6] He has worked as a stuntman in films and advertising, set several world records and appears several times in the Guinness Book of World Records.[7][8] Schweizer also works as a motivational speaker.[9]

Life

Jochen Schweizer (2014)

Education and world records

Schweizer was born in Ettlingen near Karlsruhe, he grew up in Heidelberg.[10] After the Abitur,[11] he traveled through Africa.[12][13] Working for an international freight forwarding company, he first led shipments for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit in West Africa and was subsequently appointed Managing Director of the new branch office in Munich.[14] In the 1980s, Schweizer had various engagements as a stuntman. He performed a bungee jump in Willy Bogner’s action film "Fire, Ice and Dynamite".[15] In the following years, Schweizer set several world records,[16] including in 1997 for the jump from a helicopter with the longest bungee rope and the highest fall distance of 1,050 meters.[17][18] The same year, Schweizer ended his career as a stuntman.

Entrepreneurial activities

In 1985, Schweizer founded the event and advertising agency Kajak Sports Productions, headquartered in Munich.[19] This company later became the foundation for the Jochen Schweizer Group.[20] Kajak Sports Productions produced several fun sports and action sports movies, such as "Mad Family", "Over the Edge", "Topolinaden" and "Verdon – Die Schlucht gestern und heute".[21] In 1989 the company opened the first stationary facility in Germany, located in Oberschleißheim.[22] It is the oldest still active jumping facility in Europe.[23] In subsequent years the company expanded its activities to include other activities and adventures,[24][25][26] such as the vertical catwalk show.[27][28][29]

Schweizer's companies faced a major crisis in 2003 due to a fatal accident at the Florianturm in Dortmund.[30][31] The company changed its business and focused on selling experiences from then on.[32] In 2004 the company started to sell experience vouchers over the Internet.[33] Later, they opened their own stores in Germany,[34] with experience vouchers also sold through trading partners.[35] Today, the Jochen Schweizer Group offers a total of 1,900 different experiences, employs 500 people and achieves an annual turnover of 70 million euros.[36] The company is the market leader for experience vouchers in Germany.[37][38][39]

In addition to his position as general manager of the Jochen Schweizer Group, Schweizer is an investor.[40] Jochen Schweizer Ventures is involved in numerous startups.[41][42] In 2014 and 2015 Schweizer was part of "Die Höhle der Löwen" on VOX.[43][44]

Literary works

In 2010, Schweizer published his biography entitled "Warum Menschen fliegen können müssen" ("Why People Have to Fly").[45] The book was reviewed positively and appeared in 2014 as an audio book.[46][47] In 2015 Schweizer published his second book "Der perfekte Moment" ("The Perfect Moment").[48] It became a bestseller.[49]

References

  1. ↑ "Schenken ist völlig krisenunabhängig". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 2013-02-25. p. 25.
  2. ↑ Philipp Elsbrock (2010-10-29). "Fürchte dich nicht!". Financial Times Deutschland (in German). p. 27.
  3. ↑ Jo Wüllner (2013). German für Deutsche: Die 666 wichtigsten Wörter zum Überleben (in German). Munich: Knaus. ISBN 978-3-8135-0514-6.
  4. ↑ "Bis zum nächsten Festival müssen wir Jahre warten". Frankfurter Neue Presse (in German). 2001-05-14.
  5. ↑ Kathrin Melliwa (2011-01-21). "Kein Prozess um tödlichen Bungee-Sprung in Dortmund gegen Jochen Schweizer". derwesten.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-09-08.
  6. ↑ "Die zehn extremsten Extremsportler der Welt". welt.de (in German). 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2015-09-08.
  7. ↑ Lars Kreye (2007-10-10). "Immer an der Wand lang – aber senkrecht". welt.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  8. ↑ "Menschen der Wirtschaft". WirtschaftsWoche (in German). 2008-11-17. p. 22.
  9. ↑ "Erlebnisportal". Format (in German) (48). 2014. p. 91.
  10. ↑ Jochen Schweizer (2010). Warum Menschen fliegen können müssen (in German). Munich: Riva. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-3-86883-082-8.
  11. ↑ Jochen Schweizer (2010). Warum Menschen fliegen können müssen (in German). Munich: Riva. p. 24. ISBN 978-3-86883-082-8.
  12. ↑ Jochen Schweizer (2010). Warum Menschen fliegen können müssen (in German). Munich: Riva. pp. 24–86. ISBN 978-3-86883-082-8.
  13. ↑ Clemens Schömann-Finck (2012-12-25). "Ich musste mich erstmal komplett ausleben". focus.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  14. ↑ Jochen Schweizer (2010). Warum Menschen fliegen können müssen (in German). München: Riva. pp. 74, 109–112. ISBN 978-3-86883-082-8.
  15. ↑ Karin Janker (2015-01-14). "Vom Dressman zum Personaler". sueddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-09-08.
  16. ↑ Diana Fröhlich (2010-10-09). "Das Kind im Mann". handelsblatt.com (in German). Retrieved 2015-09-08.
  17. ↑ "3000 Meter tief ins Buch der Rekorde gesprungen". Frankfurter Neue Presse (in German). 1997-09-19. p. 1.
  18. ↑ "Kleine Punkte am Himmel und 36 Sekunden freier Fall". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). 1997-09-20. p. 18.
  19. ↑ Elisabeth Neuhaus (2014-10-15). "Ich sehe keinen Grund, mein Geld aus dem Fenster zu schmeißen". gruenderszene.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  20. ↑ Christian Scherl (2013-09-04). "Ablenkung vom stressgeplagten Alltag". wirtschaftsblatt.at (in German). Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  21. ↑ "Trento Film Festival". trentofestival.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2015-09-11.
  22. ↑ Dominik Knobloch (2014-06-02). "Wenn das Leben an einem Seil aus Gummi hängt". Heilbronner Stimme (in German). p. 5.
  23. ↑ Andreas Burkert (2015-06-07). "Seit 25 Jahren springen die da runter". drive-and-style.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-09-12.
  24. ↑ "Adrenalinschub in der Vertikale". nzz.ch (in German). 2007-09-17. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  25. ↑ "Mit der Seilrutsche gegen den Besucherschwund". welt.de (in German). 2009-08-24. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
  26. ↑ "Der Adrenalin-Händler". zeit.de (in German). 2014-01-28. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  27. ↑ "Einzigartige Wunderwelt mit Vertical Catwalk". Leipziger Volkszeitung (in German). 2004-09-08. p. 23.
  28. ↑ "Vertikaler Catwalk: Models tanzen an Fassade". Berner Zeitung (in German). 2004-09-16. p. 44.
  29. ↑ Orla Healy (2005-07-27). "Catwalk on the wild side – Scary stroll down the heights of fashion". nypost.com. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
  30. ↑ "Denken ist eine große Belastung". welt.de (in German). 2009-08-16. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  31. ↑ "Mit Biss aus tiefsten Tälern befreit". Schwarzwälder Bote (in German). 2015-06-20. p. 9.
  32. ↑ "Erlebnis-Unternehmer Schweizer: Herr des Vollkasko-Kicks". spiegel.de (in German). 2012-08-14. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  33. ↑ "Der Erlebnisgesellschafter". brandeins.de (in German). 2008. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  34. ↑ Dominic Multerer (2015). Klartext: Sagen, was Sache ist. Machen, was weiterbringt (in German). Offenbach: Gabal. p. 111. ISBN 978-3-95623-234-3.
  35. ↑ "Erlebnis-Anbieter Jochen Schweizer setzt auf den Buchhandel als Vertriebsweg". boersenblatt.net (in German). 2009-07-15. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  36. ↑ "Die Unternehmensgruppe". jochen-schweizer.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-10-13.
  37. ↑ "Jochen Schweizer: Vom Film-Stuntman zum Unternehmer". Kurier. 2011-10-16. p. 19.
  38. ↑ Rebecca Eisert (2015-02-25). "Das Geschäft mit dem Kick". wiwo.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  39. ↑ Carina Kontio (2015-09-05). "Manager reden Klartext". handelsblatt.com (in German). Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  40. ↑ Elisabeth Neuhaus (2014-10-15). "Ich sehe keinen Grund, mein Geld aus dem Fenster zu schmeißen". gruenderszene.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  41. ↑ "Portfolio". jochen-schweizer-ventures.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-09-12.
  42. ↑ Alexander Hüsing (2014-09-19). "Ich will jungen Entrepreneuren Mut machen". deutsche-startups.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-09-12.
  43. ↑ Jennifer Garic (2015-08-19). "Von großen Geschäften und kleinen Deals". handelsblatt.com (in German). Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  44. ↑ Jonas Leppin (2015-08-19). "Höhle, Höhle, Höhle". spiegel.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  45. ↑ "Stuntman griff zur Feder". Frankfurter Neue Presse (in German). 2010-08-18.
  46. ↑ "Höher, schneller, tiefer". Abendzeitung (in German). 2010-11-05. p. 18.
  47. ↑ "Ein Leben am Limit". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). 2010-12-04. p. 19.
  48. ↑ Martin Becker (2015-10-21). "Perfekter Augenblick in genau 474 Tagen". merkur.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-10-23.
  49. ↑ "Der perfekte Augenblick". buchreport.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-11-15.

Further reading

  • Jochen Schweizer (2010). Warum Menschen fliegen können müssen. Munich: Riva. ISBN 978-3-86883-082-8.
  • Jochen Schweizer (2014). Der perfekte Augenblick. Munich: Gräfe und Unzer. ISBN 978-3-8338-4539-0.
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