The story
1780s–1950s
Mack Rides traces its roots back to 1780 when Paul Mack, a young entrepreneur, started building carriages and stagecoaches. The Mack Company began building organ wagons and caravans for travelling showmen in 1880, commencing the company's involvement in the amusement industry.
Transition to amusement ride construction
Its first wooden roller coaster was built in 1921, the first car ride in 1936, and the first wooden bobsled ride in 1951. By 1952 Mack Rides started increasing its exports of rides to the U.S. market.
1950s–present
Franz Mack (1921–2010) took over the family firm in 1958 together with his brothers. In 1972, he and his son Roland (b. 1949), visited the United States, where they were inspired to open a theme park in Germany to serve as an exhibition site for the company's products.
The park, Europa-Park, opened in 1975. It was named after the nearby Europaweiher, a small artificial lake commemorating a 1950 pilot poll in Breisach, in which 95.6% of voters supported European unification.
Mack Rides received consecutive Golden Ticket Awards for Best New Roller Coaster with two of its installations: Voltron Nevera, a multi-launch roller coaster at Europa-Park in Rust, Germany, in 2024, and Stardust Racers, a steel dual-launched roller coaster at Universal Epic Universe in Orlando, Florida, in 2025.
From Wikipedia’s article on Mack Rides, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4