With the invention of the aquarium suction filter the engineer Gunther Eheim turned the aquatics hobby into what it is today: a hobby for a wide variety of people from different backgrounds. He has died at the age of 93.  

He belonged to the pioneers of the twentieth century. He was a brilliant engineer, a typical tinkerer and inventor. From small beginnings he established the world’s leading manufacturer of external filters. The EHEIM Group is today arguably the most recognised provider of aquariums, aquarium technology, equipment and accessories. The EHEIM brand has become an international byword and is identified with high quality products. Gunther Eheim had a lifelong aspiration, to be better and more reliable. On Saturday he died at the age of 93.




The start on the veranda of his father-in-law.

After the end of the Second World War, in 1949, Gunther Eheim founded his first company in Esslingen near Stuttgart dedicated to “the repair and manufacture of technical toys”. His office was the veranda of his     father-in-law. There he repaired and rebuilt model railways.

In 1953 he exhibited, for the first time, his still legendary model trolley bus at the Nuremburg Toy Fair. This may have become a bestseller, but the real breakthrough was only made with a fountain for model railway layouts and a specially designed centrifugal pump with magnetic coupling.  

From this, Gunther Eheim eventually developed a suction filter for the cleaning of aquariums, thereby creating the basis of the total contemporary aquatics hobby. The aquarium filter went into mass production in 1963.




From the first suction filter to energy-saving high tech equipment  

In Deizisau near Stuttgart, the headquarters of EHEIM, a quarter of the workforce works in the development department. “We can only resist against competition from the Far East with new sophisticated technologies” said Gunther Eheim just recently in an interview. In keeping with this philosophy, the company is tirelessly engaged in research and development. The company is focussing particularly on energy saving products. Also quiet running, long service life, easy handling and high efficiency are on the agenda – and lastly high technology. EHEIM, for instance, recently developed the world’s first aquarium with electronic controls. It can be connected to a computer via USB and thereby monitored and controlled.

However, not only the technical equipment, but also aquariums, filter media and accessories are being constantly re-engineered and optimised.




Precursor of modern aquatics  

The story of the aquarium began with the discovery of oxygen in1774 and the realisation, that fish breathe too. But only in 1853, after scientists discovered the importance of carbon dioxide and the interrelationship between animals and plants in water, did “the Ocean in Glass” or “the Lake in Glass” become fashionable. The first living tropical fish came to Europe only just over 100 years ago. After that people experimented with different types of heating and aeration devices.     

But only about 60 years ago, after Gunther Eheim invented the aquarium suction filter, could the modern aquatics hobby develop into what it is today – a sophisticated hobby for millions of people.  

Gunther Eheim had gradually withdrawn from the day to day control of the company in the last few years. However, up until about two years ago he was regularly in his office twice a week, to discuss the most important matters with his directors.

Many times over a grandfather and a great grandfather, he leaves behind a son and two daughters, as well as his wife Marianne, with whom he had been married for several decades. On Thursday 07.02.2013, he was laid to rest.

Contact:
Ibrahim Mefire Kouotou
EHEIM GmbH & Co. KG,
Plochinger Str. 54,
73779 Deizisau, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 7153 7002-01
Fax: +49 (0) 7153 7002-10
E-Mail: info@eheim.de,
Internet: www.eheim.de