page_title: Ernst Wilfer
section_title: Seilbahnbau at Weigmann
hierarchical_section_title: Ernst Wilfer / Life / Seilbahnbau at Weigmann
caption_attribution_description: English: Hochgratbahn Oberstaufen, Germany Deutsch: Hochgratbahn Oberstaufen
context_page_description: Ernst Wilfer was a German engineer and inventor specializing in construction who made a name in site management and the operation of cable cars and chairlifts.
context_section_description: After moving to the Weigmann company in Oberstdorf, in Allgäu, he was involved as designer and construction manager in the realization of two still operating chairlifts at Burg an der Wupper (Burg chairlift) and Rheingau (cableway Assmannshausen). Weigmann built several fixed chairlifts during the economic boom after World War Two in the 1950s. The two mentioned railways in Assmannshausen and in Wupper (Remscheid-Solingen) have been in operation for almost 50 years and have not needed much repair, save for the exchange of some worn parts. In the 1950s, the small company built ski lifts and one-seater and two-seater chairlifts. The heavy steel constructions were almost indestructible and expensive. As Weigmann references, the Koblatlift in the Nebelhorn and various ski lifts in the Black Forest were in addition to the two aforementioned double chair lifts. After the early death of the owner Herbert Weigmann in 1956, the company broke up and was eventually transferred to the Hermann Heuss GmbH in Geretsried.
  
  In 1952, under the direction of Wilfer, the first double chairlift in Germany was constructed at the Burg Castle in Solingen in just over three months of construction, which was already at that time an attraction and today is representative of a nostalgic tourist attraction.
  Under his leadership, the Koblatlift, the first chairlift in the Nebelhorn at Oberstdorf in the Allgäu Alps, was constructed. It was replaced in 1996 by a four-CLF (Leitner) four-chair lift.
caption: Hochgratbahn by Steibis
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