KUSSMAUL fascinates at the award ceremony with technical innovations
The wow effect was great! At the first medal ceremony of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Stuttgart, athletes and spectators alike were amazed: In the darkened Hanns-Martin-Schleyer, the winning teams were happy about their respective gold, silver and bronze medals. Then, as with the operation of the light switch, not only the three medals began to glow, but also their ribbons – also in the colours gold, silver and bronze. A world premiere that has never before been seen in this form at any major international sporting event.
For the manufacturer from the Rems valley, its commitment as a “ceremony” partner is a home game, as the company headquarters are only twelve kilometres away from the Schleyer Hall. Bernd Kußmaul, managing partner: “We have been working towards this magic moment – the code name of the project – for two years. In 2017 we talked for the first time with the Swabian Gymnastics Federation about the idea of a not only uniquely beautiful, but also uniquely innovative medal for the World Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart. Our goal was to show that we are not only a premium supplier for premium manufacturers in the automotive industry, but also have innovative strength and technological competence in other areas”.
Kußmaul and his network partners have succeeded in accommodating complex technology in the smallest of spaces. Also involved were the nearby companies Maier in Emotion for electronics and Peptech GmbH for optical fibers. After intensive development work and testing, the technical package was finally installed between the medal halves. From the centre, both the outer ring of light of the medal and the ribbon can be uniformly illuminated.
Kußmaul: “We are sure that we are the first company in the world that can implement such highly complex and highly complicated lighting effects in the smallest of spaces. This opens up completely new perspectives for us in terms of lighting design, interior lighting or interior design, for example – across industries.” Another special feature of the medal ribbons: they were manufactured by Bauer Bandweberei from the plastic of recycled PET bottles and are therefore environmentally friendly and sustainable.
The medals in gold, silver and bronze were presented for the first time on 21 August 2019 in the rooms of Kußmaul GmbH in the presence of the Minister President of Baden-Württemberg Winfried Kretschmann, the President of the Swabian Gymnastics Federation Wolfgang Drexler as well as the 2016 Olympic high bar champion Fabian Hambüchen and the current national team gymnast Elisabeth Seitz. Bernd Kußmaul was honoured as the initiator and “father of medals”. Kußmaul GmbH was responsible for the concept, design, development and construction as well as the implementation of the medals, the ribbons and the lighting design. The polishing of the design lines and the assembly of the medals took place in the manufactory’s own premises in Weinstadt. The medals were minted by the Staatliche Münzen Baden-Württemberg. In addition, six other companies from the Kußmaul network were involved in the “Magic Moment” project.
