Werner Stengel
He is making millions of people scream and screech. Many call him a guru. He is known as the first reference throughout the world for theme park owners when they are planning to have a new rollercoaster ride in their parks. Engineer WERNER STENGEL, who was born in Bochum, is planning and constructing dreams made of steel and wood in his unimposing office in Munich- Forstenried. Up to now Stengel’s engineering company has created more than 500 roller coasters. This implies that almost two-thirds of the big roller coasters on earth had their origin in Werner Stengel’s brains.
Daniel Speer interviews Werner Stengel
It all started in the year 1959. Werner Stengel studied construction engineering at Kassel University until 1962 and immediately added another study as graduated engineer at Technische Universität in Munich. In 1964 he was engaged by the Swabia amusement-company Schwarzkopf. He was performing static calculations for the first German rollercoaster made of steel. The cornerstone for his brilliant career was laid.
Until that day roller coasters were built with circular loops. The physical forces which impacted on the passenger could sometimes even be health threatening. The question for Werner Stengel was to solve the problem of circular loops in order to enable spectacular feelings without any health risks. In 1976 this idea became reality. Stengel invented the Klotoid-Loop (it looks like an egg standing on its head), that allowed gentler changeovers at the beginning and the end of a looping. It was only this innovation which made vertical loops in roller coasters completely free of any risks. Werner Stengel also was the first engineer who calculated rollercoaster rides with the principle of “Raumkurve” and “heartline”. This means an up-shift from the rail’s centre pivot point towards the passenger’s approximate cardiac region. Thereby more thrilling and eccentric figures became possible.
Desert Race, Colossos (Holiday Park), Winja’s Fear & Winja’ Force (Phantasialand), Expedition Ge-Force (Holiday Park), Stealth und Nemesis Inferno (Thorpe Park), Rita: Queen of Speed (Alton Towers), Typhoon (Bobbejaanland), Goliath (Walibi World) – This is only a small selection of attractions which Werner Stengel and his team developed. Another ride designed by him is Top Thrill Dragster in Cedar Point. It was the highest and fastest rollercoaster of the world from 2003 to 2005, as well as its successor Kingda Ka and the three biggest wooden roller coasters of the world Son of Beast, El Toro, and the aforementioned Colossos.
But believing that one necessarily has to visit a theme park in order to ride with a rollercoaster designed by Werner Stengel is wrong. The famous portable roller coasters Euro-Star or Olympia Looping are penned by Stengel as well as bumper cars, big wheels, ghost trains, chairoplanes and many other rides. There is hardly any chance of coming past either a theme park or a fair without seeing a ride by Stengel. More than 1200 constructions are for Werner Stengel’s credit postings.
Maverick (Cedar Point, Sanduksy/Ohio) was the 500th installation for "Ingenieurbüro Stengel"
His revolutionary innovations together with his never-ending ideas and breathtaking physiques in his rides were responsible for enormous successes of theme parks. And they were also responsible for his acceptance and the many awards Werner Stengel received. He is a member of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) “Hall of Fame” and received status as honorary doctor at Gothenburg University in June 2005. Werner Stengel got official approval for his work by an exibithion in the year 2001/2002 in munich. But maybe the title he was awarded with by his fans is even more valuable than any official decoration:
Werner Stengel - The Guru of roller coasters!
Read more about what inventions made the career of Werner Stengel very special and how it all began!
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