The Ziehl family, the supervisory board, the executive board and all employees of Ziehl-Abegg are mourning the death of Uwe Ziehl.
The entrepreneur and long-serving chair of the company’s supervisory board died on 6 June 2026 at the age of 79.
Ziehl-Abegg has lost a key figure who played a decisive role in shaping the company over several decades.
As the grandson of founder Emil Ziehl, he remained deeply committed throughout his life to the company, its employees and the region where it was established.
After completing his engineering studies, Uwe Ziehl founded Ziehl industrie-elektronik GmbH in Schwäbisch Hall in 1967.
He went on to play a decisive role in developing Ziehl-Abegg into a globally operating technology company specialising in fans, electric motors and control systems.
One of the most important milestones during his career was bringing the family’s shareholdings together under a single holding structure.
This step laid the foundation for Ziehl-Abegg’s continued development as an independent family-owned company and enabled substantial investment in research, development and manufacturing.
From 2005 to 2020, he served as board chair. In this role, he continued to guide the company’s strategic direction with strong commitment and technical expertise.
His approach was shaped by long-term thinking, a clear focus on innovation and quality, and a strong appreciation for the people behind the company’s success.
For many years, Uwe Ziehl drove the expansion of vertical integration and the strengthening of Ziehl-Abegg’s engineering capabilities.
This included establishing in-house production of plastic components at the Gewerbepark Hohenlohe, as well as further developing the company’s aluminium foundry in Schöntal-Bieringen.
Together, these investments created a manufacturing structure that remains one of the company’s key strengths.
Ziehl-Abegg CEO, Joachim Ley, said Uwe played a decisive role in shaping the company.
“Over decades, he guided the company with clarity, technical expertise and entrepreneurial foresight. Our thoughts are with his family,” Ley said.
Uwe prepared the generational transition within the family early on and, in 2021, handed over leadership responsibilities to the next generation. His son, Dennis Ziehl, has served as board chair since January 2021.