Dürr was born in Stuttgart on 16 July 1933[1] and, aged 12, attended the National-Political Institute of Learning in Rottweil in 1944–1945.

He completed his secondary school education in post-war West Germany in 1953.

[2] He was a major shareholder in the Stuttgart-based engineering firm Dürr AG, founded by his grandfather in 1895.

When these enterprises were combined and privatized in 1994, Dürr became the first chairman of the board of the new Deutsche Bahn, a position he held until 1997.

[3] He is credited with the invention of the weekend discount ticket (Schönes- Wochenende-Ticket), which led to a notable increase in local railway traffic in Germany.