Automobiles+1920's

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The word automobil is actually greek. auto means self and mobile is latin and means movable.

In November 1881, French inventor Gustave Trouve demonstrated a working three-wheeled automobile powered by electricity at the international exposition of electricity in paris.

Although several other German engineers (including Gottlieb Daimler,Wilhelm Maybach and Siegfried Marcus) were working on the problem at about the same time, ** [|Karl Benz] ** generally is acknowledged as the inventor of the modern automobile. The first cars were driven with steam power. Today we have engines in our cars.  They all have a common ancestor : the Patent Motor Car, invented by the German engineer Carl Benz in 1886. With his new car, Carl Benz laid the foundation for the great successstory of the automobile.

In 1913 Ford started massproduction of cars. Five years later the first truck was built. One of the famous car models was from Tin Lizzy, the T-Modell was built between 1908 and 1927 and over 15 million examples were sold. The car that was sold the most is the vw-kaefer. There was also a big change on the roads. Roads that had been designed for horse transport began to deteriorate under the steadily increasing load of traffic. In 1927 the State governments supplied about 37 per cent., the Federal Government 10 per cent, and the local governments 53 per cent. While horse-drawn traffic prevailed, roads were used for local administration. Roads had to be redesigned and rebuilt to accommodate the automobile, new road rules had to be introduced, standardized road signs erected, and methods of controlling traffic (for example traffic lights) implemented in densely populated areas.



A= Transmission Neutral / Parking Brake Lever B= High Gear / Neutral / Low Gear Pedal C= Reverse Gear Pedal D= Brake Pedal E= Two Speed Rear Axle Shift Lever (if Ruckstell 2-speed rear axle is installed) F= Battery / Magneto Ignition Switch G= Throttle Lever and Quadrant

The German automobile industry tumbled as the worlds economy folded during the late 1920s and early 1930s when the Great Depression raged on. This was a sad day indeed for the history of German automobiles. After the Great Depression had subsided, only twelve automakers in Germany survived. That small group included Opel, Fords Cologne factory and Daimler-Benz of out of an astonishing total of 86 automobile companies operating before the Depression. Also, four of Germanys top auto manufacturers-Dampf Kraft Wagen, Horch, Audi and Wanderer-came together in a joint venture to form the Auto Union. This Union would play a significant part to lead Germany back from their troubles with the depression



by Jenny krause