Bitzer Group is mourning the loss of ceo and company owner Peter Schaufler, who has died unexpectedly at the age of 74, in Salzburg.

Senator h c Peter Schaufler managed the company for 36 years from 1979 and turned it into the world’s largest independent manufacturer of refrigeration compressors. He gave the firm an international focus, transforming it into a global player. Bitzer now employs 3,400 people in more than 90 countries and has a turnover of €657 million, making it 50 times the size it was when Senator Schaufler took the helm.

His decisions demonstrated entrepreneurial courage at all times. For example, in 1994 he founded a joint venture with a Chinese company in Beijing. His era was characterised by values such as hard work, ingenuity and quality, which are now firmly rooted in the Bitzer corporate culture. His forward-looking business policy and willingness to rise to challenges allowed him to conquer new markets and to successfully introduce technologies to the market, such as screw compressors in 1983 and scroll compressors in 2002.

Senator Schaufler was also committed to the common good. In 2005 he established the Schaufler Foundation to bring together entrepreneurship, science, research and art. The foundation is the main sponsor of the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences’ Valerius Füner Prize, which recognises the outstanding achievements of mechanical engineering students in the areas of refrigeration, air conditioning and environmental technology. It also supports students at the Universities of Dresden, Stuttgart and the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences via the German government’s Deutschlandstipendium (Germany Scholarship). Senator Schaufler was also keen to see the advancement of scientific research in refrigeration and air conditioning technology. In 2007, he created the Bitzer Chair of Refrigeration, Cryogenics and Compressor Technology at the TU Dresden in 2007.

Senator Schaufler and his wife Christiane Schaufler-Münch also made generous donations to welfare institutions and gave the public access to their extensive art collection comprising more than 3,000 pieces at the Schauwerk Sindelfingen from 2010. In the same year he was awarded the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his contributions to the fields of culture and science.

In addition, he received many awards for his business successes and services to society, including the 2014 Gründerpreis Baden-Württemberg for company founders, in recognition of his life’s work.

The family held a quiet funeral.