Industry | Manufacturing |
---|---|
Founded | 1876 |
Headquarters | Munich, Germany[1] |
Number of locations | Germany, China, Turkey[1] |
Area served | More than 50 countries[1] |
Products | Amusement rides, bridges, roller coasters, steel buildings[1] |
Employees | 700 (2009)[1] |
Divisions | Maurer Rides, Structural Protection Systems, Structural Steelwork |
Website | www.maurer-soehne.com |
Maurer Söhne is a steel construction company and roller coaster manufacturer. Founded in Munich, Germany in 1876, the company has built many styles of steel buildings, ranging from bridges, industrial buildings, and even art structures.[1] While known for building various wild mouse coasters, Maurer Söhne has been branching out into spinning, looping, and launching coasters recently. The company also produces a free-fall tower ride.
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Maurer Söhne began manufacturing roller coasters just prior to 1996. Their first ride was a custom looping roller coaster called Venus GP that opened at Space World in 1996.[2][3] Since then they have produced almost 50 roller coasters including spinning, launched, racing and wild mouse roller coasters.[4][5]
One of the first types of roller coasters that Maurer Söhne manufactured was wild mouse roller coasters. The design, known as Wilde Maus Classic, was first installed as Kopermijn at Drievliet Family Park in 1996.[6] At the end of 2010, the Wilde Maus Classic design has been replicated at 13 locations around the world.[7]
In 2000, the S-Coaster was introduced by Maurer Söhne.[3] The S-Coaster is Maurer Söhne's spinning roller coaster design.[8] It is the most popular design (in terms of installations) that Maurer Söhne has ever produced with over 21 installations worldwide.[9]
Maurer Söhne's X-Coaster comes in a variety of different designs: X-Car, X-Train and SkyLoop. Under the X-Car category Maurer Söhne manufactures rides with launches,[10] vertical lifts,[11] floorless cars[12] and cars with embedded music systems.[13] An X-Train X-Coaster is one which features 4-across seating (2 seats above the track and one on either side of the track as a floorless seat). Under the SkyLoop category Maurer Söhne has a variety of models including XT 150 (150 m (490 ft) in length),[14] XT 450 (450 m (1,480 ft) in length),[15] launched[16] and custom designs.[17] The SkyLoop boasts the world's tallest inversion at 50 metres (160 ft) above the ground.[14]
Most recently, in 2010, Maurer Söhne introduced the R-Coaster. The R-Coaster is a type of racing roller coaster which features several sets of Linear Synchronous Motors on two parallel tracks. The first, and currently only, R-Coaster is Fiorano GT Challenge at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi.[18][19]
Name | Park | Type | Model | Opened | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abismo | Parque de Atracciones de Madrid | X-Coaster | SkyLoop XT450 | 2006 | [20] |
BuzzSaw | Dreamworld | X-Coaster | SkyLoop XT150 | 2011 | [21] |
Cagliostro | Rainbow MagicLand | S-Coaster | Xtended SC 3000 | 2011 | [22] |
Crush's Coaster | Walt Disney Studios Park | S-Coaster | Custom | 2007 | [23] |
Dragon's Fury | Chessington World of Adventures | S-Coaster | Xtended SC 3000 | 2004 | [24] |
Fiorano GT Challenge | Ferrari World | R-Coaster | Custom | 2010 | [18] |
Formule X | Drievliet Family Park | X-Coaster | XL 1000 | 2007 | [25] |
G Force | Drayton Manor Theme Park | X-Coaster | HBX 2000 | 2005 | [26] |
Go Bananas! | Wild Adventures | Wild Mouse | Wilde Maus Classic | 2000 | [27] |
Gotham City Gauntlet: Escape from Arkham Asylum | Six Flags New England | Wild Mouse | Wilde Maus Classic | 2011 | [28] |
Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit | Universal Studios Florida | X-Coaster | Custom | 2009 | [29] |
Rattlesnake | Chessington World of Adventures | Wild Mouse | Wilde Maus Classic | 1998 | [30] |
Salama | Linnanmäki | S-Coaster | Xtended SC 3000 | 2008 | [31] |
Shock | Rainbow MagicLand | X-Coaster | Custom | 2011 | [32] |
Sky Wheel | Skyline Park | X-Coaster | SkyLoop XT150 | 2004 | [33] |
Sonic Spinball | Alton Towers | S-Coaster | Xtended SC 2200 | 2004 | [34] |
Spider | Lagoon Amusement Park | S-Coaster | Xtended SC 2000 | 2003 | [35] |
Venus GP | Space World | Looping Coaster | Custom | 1996 | [2] |
The Whirlwind | Seabreeze Amusement Park | S-Coaster | Xtended SC 2000 | 2004 | [36] |
Winjas | Phantasialand | S-Coaster | Xtended SC 3000 | 2002 | [37] |
X-Coaster | Magic Springs and Crystal Falls | X-Coaster | SkyLoop XT150 | 2006 | [38] |