Artur Fischer, inventor extraordinaire, is dead at 96

Inventor Artur Fischer is dead at 96 — (Image credit: EPOflims/YouTube)

Artur Fischer, a German inventor trained as a locksmith, held more patents than Thomas Edison, and among his more than 1,100 patents are the wall anchor you have probably used to hang pictures and mirrors and the first synchronized camera flash. Fischer died Jan. 27 at his home in Waldachtal, Germany, The New York Times reported Monday. He was 96.

"What Bill Gates was to the personal computer, Artur Fischer is to do-it-yourself home repair," German magazine Der Spiegel said a year after Fischer won the prestigious European Inventor Award, a lifetime achievement prize from the European Patent Office. His first big breakthrough was the flash, purchased by the camera company Agfa, inspired by his inability to photograph his young daughter indoors — his insight was to synchronize an electric flash with the camera shutter. In 1958, he patented the expanding wall anchor, allowing people to hang heavy objects on plaster and drywall. Today, his company, the Fischer Group, produces more than 14 million of those anchors every day at factories around the world.

Fischer's last big commercial hit was the Fischertechnik kit, an electrical model set used by German kids and hobbyists alike to create machines and robots — he started off giving the kits as Christmas gifts to clients in 1964, then brought them to market when they proved a hit. You can learn more about Fischer, who tinkered until the end, in this short film from the European Patent Office. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.