Fischer

The company was founded in 1924 by Josef Fischer Sr., a cartwright, in Ried im Innkreis, northeast of Salzburg, Austria. In addition to making wagons, he made an occasional pair of skis. By 1938, the company had significantly expanded its ski manufacturing, with 30 employees, and sales of handmade skis in the United States reached 2,000 pairs. Following the conclusion of World War II, Josef Fischer Jr. became involved in the reconstruction of the company.

In 1949, Fischer developed the first ski press to speed up production, which was still by hand. By 1958, the company employed 137 craftsmen, and was manufacturing 53,000 pairs of skis annually. In that year, Fischer adopted its three-triangle logo. In 1964, the company completed a new factory on the outskirts of town, featuring a state-of-the-art computerized sawmill. Fischer also introduced metal skis for the first time, on which Egon Zimmermann won the downhill at the 1964 Winter Olympics. By 1967, the company had 775 employees, and produced 330,000 pairs of skis.

The company's research efforts over the years include skis for racing, including alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, and skis for attempting the world speed record.

In the early 70s, Fischer became the biggest ski manufacturer in the world. The Europa 77, with its fibre-glass technology, was revolutionary. This was the foundation to capture the Scandinavian market. Franz Klammer won the Olympics in 1976 on Fischer C4 skis. In 1988, Fischer opened the factory in Mukachevo, Ukraine.

2002 was the year of Fischer's stock buy-back. Since then, Fischer has been 100% family-owned.

Fischer Tennis division was sold to tennis accessories manufacturer Pacific Entermark GmbH in 2009.