FHV creates new sponsorship award

Christl and Horst Zimmermann were both socially committed throughout their lives. With their legacy, the Zimmermanns are ensuring that their work will continue after their deaths. It was their wish that the FHV should receive a generous sum from their legacy to support students in the technical field in particular and also to establish a corresponding sponsorship award.

New Christl and Horst Zimmermann Sponsorship Award in the Department of Engineering and Technology

In February, a meeting was held at the FHV with the Seeberger family, who have been entrusted with the administration of the estate. Together with Stefan Fitz-Rankl, university management of the FHV, the basis for the establishment of the new sponsorship award and other support measures for the Department of Engineering and Technology and its students was agreed, as provided for in the Zimmermann couple's will. "Christl and Horst Zimmermann have always been keen to make a positive impact in their community. In cooperation with the FHV, their commitment can continue even after their deaths," says Bettina Seeberger. Starting this year, the Christl and Horst Zimmermann Prize will be awarded annually with an endowment of 3,300.00 euros and is intended to recognize students with special achievements in the Department of Engineering and Technology. "We are very grateful for the FHV's recognition of our legacy. It will create sustainable funding that will support students in the Department of Engineering and Technology and open up new opportunities. In our view, this generous gesture is definitely worth emulating," explains Stefan Fitz-Rankl.

About the donors Christl and Horst Zimmermann

Horst Zimmermann, who died in 2019, was considered a visionary with a fascination for Engineering and Technology and an entrepreneurial spirit. He was one of the co-founders of ECCON and previously shaped the Liebherr company in Nenzing for many years. His wife Christl was a driving force behind the "Women's self-help after cancer" association founded in Vorarlberg in 1982. For her commitment, she received the Medal of Merit and the Grand Medal of Merit of the State of Vorarlberg, as well as the Leopold Bischof Ring. Christl Zimmermann died last year. 

Born in Transylvania in Romania, Vorarlberg had been her home for many years. After difficult years of political oppression and five years in a labor camp in Transylvania, Horst Zimmermann managed to escape in 1969. After eight years of separation, he was finally able to marry his fiancée Christl, who had already been able to emigrate to Germany with her mother. In 1970, he found work at the Liebherr company in Ehingen. As business figures developed positively, it was Zimmermann who initiated the construction of a plant in Vorarlberg in 1976. For ten years, he played a key role in designing the Liebherr company in Nenzing, including as university management.