Curt Fischer

Fischer, originally a machine shop owner, became a lighting designer almost accidentally after the First World War. Industrialisation had led to people working long hours into the late, darkening evening. At that time, overhead lighting was used, but it was unsuitable in an industrial environment because the worker's shadows covered the pieces they were working on. Fischer began to develop a solution to this problem. In November 1919 he created his first famous scissor lamp, the Scherenleuchte. This was followed by a new type of adjustable lamp with an infinitely adjustable beam.

Walter Gropius, the architect who founded Bauhaus, appreciated Fischer's luminaires and supported his work. The duo had active correspondence and Fischer's lamps were used to illuminate the Bauhaus buildings.