Jochen Schweizer | |
---|---|
Born |
Joachim Steffen Udo Schweizer June 23, 1957 Ettlingen |
Nationality | German |
Occupation | stuntman, entrepreneur |
Known for | bungee jumping |
Website | jochen-schweizer |
Jochen Schweizer (born June 23, 1957 in Ettlingen) is a German entrepreneur. He founded the eponymous group of companies that offers, among other things, experience vouchers. Schweizer is a pioneer of extreme sports and bungee jumping in Germany. He has worked as a stuntman in films and advertising, set several world records and appears several times in the Guinness Book of World Records. Schweizer also works as a motivational speaker.
Schweizer was born in Ettlingen near Karlsruhe, he grew up in Heidelberg. After the Abitur, he traveled through Africa. Working for an international freight forwarding company, he first led shipments for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit in West Africa and was subsequently appointed Managing Director of the new branch office in Munich. In the 1980s, Schweizer had various engagements as a stuntman. He performed a bungee jump in Willy Bogner’s action film "Fire, Ice and Dynamite". In the following years, Schweizer set several world records, including in 1997 for the jump from a helicopter with the longest bungee rope and the highest fall distance of 1,050 meters. The same year, Schweizer ended his career as a stuntman.
In 1985, Schweizer founded the event and advertising agency Kajak Sports Productions, headquartered in Munich. This company later became the foundation for the Jochen Schweizer Group. Kajak Sports Productions produced several fun sports and action sports movies, such as "Mad Family", "Over the Edge", "Topolinaden" and "Verdon – Die Schlucht gestern und heute". In 1989 the company opened the first stationary facility in Germany, located in Oberschleißheim. It is the oldest still active jumping facility in Europe. In subsequent years the company expanded its activities to include other activities and adventures, such as the vertical catwalk show.