Without Hartmut Heine, there would be no Transrapid in China. As head of Thyssenkrupp, he brought Chinese politicians and German industry together around the turn of the millennium, negotiated the contract and managed the construction of the system on the German side. On New Year’s Eve 2002, the maglev train took off for its maiden trip to Shanghai’s Pudong Airport. Aboard: Then German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and China’s Premier Zhu Rongji. Hartmut Heine was the real Mister Transrapid. As has only just become known, he died of a heart attack in Beijing on December 4 at the age of 68.
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