Park History
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Remembrance of Franz Mack
Amanda Thompson President of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, IAAPA 2020 “When I was still a producer of ice shows, Franz Mack once welcomed me with open arms in Europa-Park on a cold February day and accompanied me to a rehearsal. After that he often picked me up in his golf cart and drove me to the ice arena, it went through all the new areas of Europa-Park that were just being built and he showed me everything that was happening. He was so proud of Europa-Park. He always had time to show me everything and every detail. I still remember his radiant smile and his kind hospitality very intensely. I will always miss his wisdom. He was a really wonderful man with a very big heart, who always laughed a lot when we were together. The valuable time with Franz Mack has enriched my life.
Brigitte Klinkert Minister in the Cabinet of Emmanuel Macron and granddaughter of Joseph Rey “I remember my meetings with Franz Mack very well. I knew of his brilliant career as a determined, ambitious and visionary entrepreneur. Most of all, I discovered a man who had remained very humble and benevolent and who had lived by the saying of the four M‘s (“Man muss Menschen mögen“ - “You have to like people”) throughout his personal and professional life. As a Baden native, Franz Mack was indeed a true humanist and a demanding father who recognised the values that he wanted to pass on to his children. He remembered his year in captivity in Alsace and his escape in 1947 when he was swimming through the Rhine. And it was the Rhine that I was able to see around 30 years later from the top of the Euro-Tower of Europa- Park. From there, my grandfather, Joseph Rey, Mayor of Colmar, gave me the insight on how to understand that there is no natural border between Alsace and Baden-Württemberg, but only one that was established by an often painful contemporary history. In my eyes, Victor Hugo’s famous phrase “the Rhine unites everything” suddenly got its full meaning there.”
Günther H. Oettinger Former Prime Minister of Baden- Württemberg and EU Commissioner “Franz Mack was 70 years old when I got to know his wife Liesel and him at Europa-Park. With his warmth and happiness, he had this wonderful charisma. For me he was a great
SPRING PART 1 2021
Baden entrepreneur with a heart and vision. Technology, engineering and perfection in planning and construction were his outstanding entrepreneurial skills. His life’s work from the global and internationally-recognised production company in Waldkirch to Europa- Park in Rust is more than impressive. Franz Mack was very proud that his sons and grandchildren were continuing this life’s work so successfully.”
Fritz Keller DFB (German Football Association) President, restaurateur, winemaker “Franz Mack, born in 1921, was part of a generation whose youth had been stolen. Many of this generation had to make something out of very little - he, the trained wagon and carousel builder, managed to do just that. Even today, we can learn from Franz Mack that diligence and ambition are important values and just as important prerequisites for long-term success, as is the early recognition of important trends. Farsightedness, creativity, openness and the willingness to allow important impulses from the next generation were the hallmarks of Franz Mack and enabled him to create the foundation for the creative entrepreneurship that characterises the family company Mack.”
Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble President of the German Bundestag “In 1973, Franz Mack invited me to visit
the site on which he wanted to build his amusement park - a daring and innovative project at the time. I was a young member of the Bundestag and represented the constituency to which Rust belongs. What I saw there was impressive! Of course, I wondered how many visitors Mack was expecting. “Half a million a year,” was the answer, which seemed quite ambitious to me at the time. But Franz Mack - entrepreneur, tinkerer and cool-headed calculator - was exactly right with his optimistic forecast. Today the Mack family’s Europa-Park has more than ten times as many visitors. This shows that a firm belief in one’s own vision is an important prerequisite for success. That is what Franz Mack stood for, that is his legacy to his family - and to society as a whole.”
Henry Maske Boxing Olympic Champion “Older people that are still curious and very affirmative about life are always highly motivating for me. And that’s exactly what I saw when I met Franz Mack. He was always present. Either on his E-car, or alternatively when you met him on foot during his tour, or in the respectful, appreciative stories from his eldest son Roland. Those who were lucky enough to get to know Franz Mack were relieved of their fear of getting older. I love to think back to those moments I had with Franz Mack, and I get goosebumps while writing and thinking about it.”
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