As Interlift, Germany’s leading elevator trade fair, gears up for its 2027 edition, Karl Pfarr, elevator curator and Secretary of the Chamber of Elevator and Related Industries (CECAF), shares his impressions of his first experience at the fair, which debuted in its new Nuremberg location in 2025.
As a descendant of Germans and having studied and worked in that country for several years, Pfarr is fluent in German, as well as English and a few other languages. One of his goals for this trip was to connect with people from European elevator associations and chambers of commerce. While he doesn’t yet want to make public the results of his conversations, which he considers very promising, he did share some industry insights he gained while visiting exhibitors’ booths.
Revista del Ascensor:- Did you already know about Interlift?
Karl Pfarr: – This was my first time there. I’d been wanting to go for a long time. Now that my children are grown and my financial situation is more comfortable, I was able to go; with this government, I was able to save up. I went with two of my sons; one is a mechatronics engineer, and the other is an industrial electronics technician who is currently in Germany for advanced training. We covered the entire trade fair in one day; it was very intense.
I came with a blank canvas. My first impression was the size, how big it is. What surprised me most is that China isn’t as present as it used to be.
R del A.: – However, in China, trade fairs are enormous.
K.P.: – Of course, the Chinese government organizes them, but you go there and everything is Chinese; they’re not interested in competition. Interlift is an oasis where all the countries and continents are represented.
R del A.: – What else surprised you?
K.P.: – I was very surprised by the Turkish presence, a third of the exhibitors were Turkish. They had all their brochures prepared and handed them out as if it were on Florida Street, Buenos Aires. I left everything in Europe because they gave me more than 20 kilos of paper. I brought back what I liked best. I was surprised by the quantity and quality of the Turkish products.
R del A.: – What else caught your attention?
K.P.: – The large number of permanent magnet machines, all the belts and travelling cables; the prices of the things I was looking for were very competitive, and that has to do with the fact they are part of the European Union. The metalworking industry is very good; they make pulleys, cabins, doors, and speed limiters. I think Türkiye could be the next leader.
R del A.: – And what about the German stuff?
K.P.: – A stand with German speed governors caught my eye; it was all high-tech. Another one with German governors limiters, also high-tech, and there was one with high-speed car positioning. I started speaking German with those people, and they have everything related to high speed, complete safety gear systems with wedges, cutting-edge technology. I didn’t see much from Germany; there were very specific things. That’s what they should be doing; they can’t compete on price. Besides, you have to analyze the people coming to Interlift: I don’t know if the common market goes to Interlift. Europeans already have their regional contacts and don’t even need to travel; they arrange their purchases on a Zoom call. People from other are who go to Interlift. I heard a lot of Australians and Americans; there were also Spanish stands. Of course, if you’re going for new things, you have to see them in person. You can’t buy without seeing, without trying. Turkish machines are of excellent quality, built to last for decades, and that’s because Türkiye sells to the whole world, and the world world isn’t just Europe or the United States, which are focused on rapid obsolescence. They also sell to India, Africa, and Latin America, where things don’t change every 10 years.
Then there were many Turkish companies—and this happened to me in three cases—that offered to me to pay for the flight; they told me to connect a group of Argentine companies, and they’d provide us with a jet. They’re very eager to sell; they’re impulsive. I’ve seen videos of enormous manufacturing plants. Maybe in 15 or 20 years, they’ll be the leaders in elevators.
R del A.: – And do Europeans modernize every 10 years?
K.P.: – It’s not quite like that. In the German subways, I saw gearboxes from 1997. I saw them myself in those glass elevators, zooming in with my camera; not everything changes that quickly.
R del A.: – What have you noticed in terms of technology? What’s being used?
K.P.: – Today, everyone buys permanent magnet machines because they’re easier to install. These machines don’t have the brake visible; they have a micro-coil with no external access. There’s no way to calibrate it; they come like that from the factory to prevent tampering.
R del A.: – Doesn’t the fact that you maintain old elevators make you prefer gearbox machines?
K.P.: – The trend is toward gearless machines and anything that’s inaccessible to untrained personnel. But speaking of geared machines, I service a Universal that’s 80 years old, and the crown gear shows no wear. I’ve never replaced the bushings; the main bearing bushings are perfect. They were manufactured to last 100 years. Times change, and we must adapt to them.
R del A.: – What other things caught your attention?
K.P.: – Classic elevators are becoming trendy. People are tired of the stainless steel cabin. They all have the same doors, buttons, and the same type of lights. I took pictures of some Chinese elevator cabins made of stainless steel, but they look like wood when you look at them—it’s incredible. I also saw European companies making cabins for modern, high-speed elevators, but when you step inside, they look like elevators from the ‘30s. They’re aiming for exclusivity through those materials. I love vintage elevators; I have a collection of buttons, control panels, and badges.
R del A.: – And in terms of hydraulics?
K.P.: – I saw high-tech hydraulics.
To summarize the prevailing concept, we should mention the word simplification: gearless elevators are just that, simplification in machine installation; the machine-roomless elevator is also that. Interlift is a valuable, and I would almost say mandatory, experience if we want to know how we work and how many things we can improve.
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Photos courtesy of Karl Pfarr.
