Magirus


Magirus GmbH was a truck and bus manufacturer based in Ulm, Germany, founded by Conrad Dietrich Magirus. It was formerly part of the Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG, maker of the Deutz engines, so the brand commonly used was Magirus-Deutz, and for a short time before Klöckner. Most trucks and buses from Magirus were known as Magirus-Deutz. The logo of Magirus-Deutz was a stylised M with a sharp, long centre point to represent the spire of Ulm Minster.
Magirus is one of the largest manufacturers of fire fighting equipment. Its fire trucks are now primarily based upon chassis and engines from Iveco, but occasionally also uses platforms from other truck manufacturers.
IVECO, owner of Magirus since 1980, sold the business in 2024, and Magirus is now an independent business, owned by investment company Mutares SE.

History

The company Magirus began manufacturing fire-fighting vehicles in 1866. In the late 1910s, it started the production of trucks and buses. These vehicles developed a reputation for high engineering standards, able to operate under the most arduous conditions. The company also invented the turntable ladder, as Magirus Leiter, which quickly became an essential item of fire brigade equipment worldwide.
Magirus was deeply involved in World War II supplying vehicles for the Wehrmacht, and gas vans for Chelmno death camp where they were used to murder 180,000 Jews. Jews were also murdered in Magirus gas vans by Einsatzgruppe C in Kharkiv, Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk, by Einsatzgruppe D in Simferopol, Kerch, Crimea and the Don region, by Einsatzgruppe B in Minsk, and Einsatzgruppe A in Latvia. Magirus supplied ladders for mobile V-2 rocket launch sites. The factory used forced labourers, mostly from the Netherlands and Soviet Union, since 1942, and in 1945, also built and controlled a forced labour subcamp of the Dachau concentration camp, which held Italians, Poles, Czechs, Ukrainians and one German. Forced labourers, particularly Jews were worked to death.
In 1975, Magirus became part of Iveco, which continued producing some Magirus trucks for a short while under the name "IVECO Magirus" before abandoning it completely in most countries. KHD's collaboration with FIAT ended abruptly and less than harmoniously in 1979, leaving FIAT as owner of the Magirus brand. However, IVECO trucks with aircooled engines were sold under the Magirus brand in Germany and other European and Middle Eastern markets until the end of the 1980s.
Today, the Magirus brand is only used for the company's firefighting equipment section, not for the whole fleet of manufactured trucks.

Airship ladders

The Magirus company produced many of the early, movable ladders used in the construction of large, rigid airships in Germany and the United States. The multi-extension, wooden ladders were mounted on massively constructed, wooden carriage frames with a fifth wheel-style, forward axle assembly. Although it appeared to be designed for horses, the ladders could be easily moved by two men. The carriage was equipped with four, hand screw-type "outriggers" that would resist the ladder from tipping. The ladder did not swivel on the carriage. It was elevated and extended only towards the front of the carriage. In the "working" position, the ladder had to be elevated to about an 80° angle to allow full extension to.

Trucks for the Soviet Union

In 1974, the firm was awarded a contract for delivery in 1975/1976 of about 9,500 dumper and flatbed trucks to the Soviet Union to work on the construction of the Baikal–Amur Mainline. This order was the largest in the company's history. These models were export-only options KHD products that were not offered on the domestic market in Germany. By January 1, 1975, for the first batch of Magirus-Deutz trucks for BAM construction was ready to be sent to the Soviet Union. Largely because of this single order, in 1975, export products accounted for 70% of total production by Magirus-Deutz, and the firm took the second place among the German truck manufacturers.
In 1982, Magirus-Deutz erstwhile owners KHD sold the licensing rights for Soviet production of up to 25,000 Series 413 diesel engines. These were meant to be installed in heavy USSR trucks and other vehicles.

Acquisition by Mutares

Iveco decided to sell the loss-making Magirus business in 2024 to Mutares SE, a transaction which was finalised in January 2025. The entire Magirus business was sold along with the Magirus brand.

Products

Current products