Knut Jaeger, creator of the asia outdoor and the asia bike trade shows and co-founder of the OutDoor show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, has died at the age of 72. He campaigned hard for OutDoor Friedrichshafen. The outdoors was his life and his passion.
Jaeger enthusiastically and tirelessly worked to promote the outdoor industry and outdoor themes, putting all of his professional effort into making sure that outdoor activities really took off. More than 20 years ago, he founded OutDoor in Friedrichshafen, followed by the asia outdoor in 2005 and the asia bike shortly after that, thereby putting the outdoor trade on the international map.
Last weekend Knut Jaeger died of a heart attack at age 72. The Messe Friedrichshafen team is ‘profoundly saddened by this tragic news from China and will fondly remember a colleague who worked so hard for what he believed in.’
“Knut Jaeger was a remarkable person, always thinking positive and always on the go. He knew how to motivate others and to bring his team along with him”, said Klaus Wellmann, CEO of Messe Friedrichshafen.
Knut Jaeger was a fixture in the international outdoor business. In the early 1990s, he was at the forefront of efforts to create a trade show specifically around outdoor themes. He was the chairman of the outdoor working group in the association of the German Sporting Goods Industry (BSI) and, in close cooperation with the Messe Friedrichshafen Team, developed a new trade fair concept that was centred specifically – and only – on the outdoor theme.
“It has to be pure outdoor”, Jaeger declared at the time. Thanks to his efforts all different outdoor activities had found a new, common trade show roof over their heads, in Friedrichshafen. It was a concept that the outdoor man was dedicated to and that he fought for, together with other like-minded colleagues.
The choice of the name for the trade fair, with the capital D in the middle, was a quick and logical one. The OutDoor at Lake Constance was also Knut Jaeger’s baby.
Knut Jaeger dedicated himself just as strongly to the establishment of the asia outdoor show in Nanjing, China, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in July 2015, and to asia bike, which every October presents the theme of bicycles in China. As part of a joint venture with Messe Friedrichshafen, Jaeger successfully built up Asian variants of the trade shows at the Nanjing expo center.
These developed rapidly and in the process, Jaeger convinced many European and American outdoor and bicycle manufacturers – in addition to local Chinese brands – to become engaged in Asia. As an experienced outdoor man and because of his many years of experience, Jaeger knew the customs and special characteristics of the Chinese market and paved the way for the international outdoor industry.
Messe Friedrichshafen’s Klaus Wellmann added, “We will deeply miss his creative force and his dedication, but will continue to move the effort forward, in his memory.”
The fifth edition of asia bike will take place from 9-12 October 2015. Demo Day will be held on 8 October 2015.
