Oskar Lapp
{{AFC comment|1=Thank you for the work on this but there are some very small things that need to be corrected, one in particular, which I was unable to do myself. I have corrected some other references and details.
There is a reference to the subject studied mechanical engineering at Schmalkalden, with a reference to the Stuttgarter Zeitung source. However, that newspaper does not say this. It does confirm the prisoner of war status, and the link to Benshausen, plus quite a lot of details used elsewhere in the article; it's a good source overall.
Now I am going to guess that the biography from his wife does confirm the degree, which is less than ideal (it's not independent) but I can only see the index / Inhalt of that book, it's not in my library. So I am unable to fix this myself.
So this is relatively easy to fix, either a) delete the degree clause altogether for now b) add the biography as a source if in fact it does say he went to Schmalkalden c) find another source altogether.
And maybe there was a newspaper obituary at the time of his death? If that is not online, then it can still be used, so long as full details (date, etc.) are given.
Because the submitter is a paid editor (and I am a volunteer), then it is important to get the details correct, even though I would be the first to say it's not a major problem. By all means, contact me via my Talk page if you want me to do a) or b), but I would need confirmation that you have checked the source. Or you can do it yourself.
Because the subject won the Federal award, then notability looks to be assured under WP:ANYBIO, which is helpful for getting the article accepted. The source for this is the council document - though that source is secondary for the Federal award, it’s overall a primary document since mostly it is the council’s own actions and directly reported. If you have another source for the award, it would be good to put that in. This is a minor point in my view.
The hall named after him, do you have a source for that? Again, a minor issue. ChrysGalley (talk) 14:28, 12 December 2025 (UTC)}
Oskar Lapp (born March 20, 1921, in Benshausen, Thuringia; died April 25, 1987) was a German entrepreneur and inventor. Together with his wife Ursula Ida Lapp, he founded U.I. Lapp KG (today U.I. Lapp GmbH, also known as Lapp Holding) in Stuttgart in 1959. Today, Lapp Holding is a globally active company in the field of cable technology with about 5,700 employees and approximately 1.9 billion euros in revenue (2024/2025).[1]
Early life
Oskar Lapp initially trained as a machinist and mechanic and joined his parents' company, which produced valves. After World War II and five years of Soviet prisoner of war captivity, he studied mechanical engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Schmalkalden from 1949 to 1952.[2]
In 1951, he married Ursula Ida Emmelmann. In 1955, the family left Thuringia, at that time part of the German Democratic Republic - East Germany - and relocated to Baden-Württemberg in West Germany. In 1958, they moved into a house in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, which shortly thereafter became the family home and the first company headquarters of U.I. Lapp KG.[2][3]
Career
After moving to West Germany, Lapp initially worked as an engineer at the Harting company. In 1958, he invented the world's first industrially produced control cable. The product later became known under the brand name Ölflex. Before this invention, individual cores were inserted into tubes. Since all components were black, assigning the corresponding cable ends was very labor-intensive. By inventing color coding for individual cores, this effort was significantly reduced. His company was the first to offer preassembled cable harnesses in the customer’s desired length. In 1959, he founded U.I. Lapp KG together with his wife. The company's name is taken from his wife's initials, and she was listed as the company's founder, since at the time Oskar Lapp was still employed by another company. In the following years, the company grew continuously into the current international enterprise.[2]
Honors
For his extensive activities in the public interest, for example in the German-South African Society or the Stuttgart Monument Foundation, Oskar Lapp was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon in 1981.[4] He died in 1987 of a heart condition. In 1992, the family founded the Oskar Lapp Foundation in his memory, which supports research on heart diseases.[5] In 2004, the city of Stuttgart honored the entrepreneur by naming a street after him.[4] Since 2007, a hall at Messe Stuttgart bears his name.[citation needed]
Publications
- Oskar Lapp: Die Verteilung elektrischer Energie, Anwendung der Lichtwellentechnik. Idee und Federführung Oskar Lapp. Red.: Heinz Weidner, Werner Greue. O. Lapp, Stuttgart 1985, (608 S.).OCLC 721386812
Oskar Lapp is credited as an editor of a history of his family's links to Benshausen, published after his death.[6]
References
- ↑ "Nach Dämpfer: Kabelhersteller Lapp wieder mit Wachstum" [After setback: Cable manufacturer Lapp returns to growth]. Süddeutsche Zeitung (in Deutsch). 21 October 2025. Retrieved 12 December 2025 – via dpa press agency.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Flaig, Imelda (19 March 2021). "100 Jahre Oskar Lapp: Revolutionär der Kabelbranche" [100 years of Oskar Lapp, revolutionary in the cable industry]. Stuttgarter Zeitung (in Deutsch). Stuttgart. Retrieved 12 December 2025 – via stuttgarter-zeitung.de.
- ↑ Lapp, Ursula Ida (2014). Biografie einer Unternehmerin [Biography of an entrepreneur] (in Deutsch). Stuttgart: Lapp Holding AG. ISBN 978-3-00-046189-7. OCLC 889988977. Search this book on
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 City of Stuttgart: Beschlussvorlage Straßenbenennungen, GRDrs 176/2004
- ↑ Information page of the German Cardiac Society. Accessed October 18, 2021.
- ↑ Lapp, Fritz; Lapp, Oskar (2000). Familie Lapp und Benshausen : gewidmet Oskar Lapp, dem Firmengründer der Firma Lapp-Kabel, Stuttgart [The Lapp family and Benshausen: dedicated to Oskar Lapp, the founder of the Lapp cable company, Stuttgart] (in Deutsch). Stuttgart: Lapp. OCLC 767924494. Search this book on
External links
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