[Superbimmer]

The story of BMW started from Bavaria’s capital -Munich!

One day, more than 100 years ago, the Oktoberfest was in full swing in Munich, when everyone ate and drank their fill heartily. But the young King Ludwig II of Bavaria felt no happiness although it was created to celebrate his grandparents’ wedding at first.

Many people perceived that the young king loved his “aunt” (senior in the family hierarchy but similar in age) - the famous Elisabeth of Bavaria. When his dream lover married into Austrian Royal Family, King Ludwig II left Munich broken-hearted, and retired into the famous Neuschwanstein Castle in a small town called Fussen 300 miles outside.

In the meantime, famous inventor Nicolaus Otto, father of Gustav Otto (father of BMW), had no time to depress himself. Instead, he was striving to develop the four-stroke engine and succeeded. Intake, compression, combustion and exhaust……, every BMW enthusiast can reel off their names easily.

(Inventor of four-stroke engine- Nicolaus Otto)

Four-stroke engine is still used in auto creation around the world nowadays. The “four- course treatment” ensured full extraction of every drop of oil. It’s rumored that Nicolaus Otto got the inspiration from a mysterious martial arts of eastern Asia.

So we can say that the innovation history of BMW started from “the father of father of BMW”- Nicolaus Otto. His contribution to auto industry equals that of Intel to computer industry since processor and engine are the key determinants of the future.

Next, let’s talk about the father of BMW: Gustav Otto, the little son of Nicolaus Otto.

With the talent inherited from his father, Gustav Otto was keen on the study of engine since young. When his peers bragging about their rich dads, this “rich 2G” was devoted into aircraft engine.

At that time, the food and dine in Munich attracted a surge of German technicians. Gustav Otto established an aircraft engine plant, while another founder of BMW Carl Rapp owned a similar one.

On Mar. 7th, 1916, the day before International Working Women's Day, BFW (Bayerische FlugZeug-Worke) was officially founded. After one year, the company changed its name into BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke), and the famous symbol of “blue and white pattern” registered as its trademark.

In its early days, BMW welcomed another talent-Marx Fritz. Under his leadership, BMW managed to create various remarkable aircraft engines, like the BMW IIIa straight-six engine that performs well. In June 1919, pilot Franz-Zeno Diemer flied a small aircraft with BMW IIIa engine up to 9760 meters high in the sky, breaking the record of world flight altitude. However, it seemed far from enough for this young man. Three months later, he flied a small airliner with the same type engine break the record of airliner flight altitude once again-Oh, yes, with 8 German hunks in it as well!

With the end of WWI, the aircraft manufacturing industry got severely restricted. The air force had no right to buy aircrafts. Facing the sharp decline in aircraft market, BMW had no other choice but to explore new market field. Luckily, aircraft engine creation calls for vast amount of professional knowledge, and the engineers of BMW had accumulated rich experiences, preparing well for a “soft landing” onto the earth.

Due to Libra's inherent pursuit of balance, techno-geek Marx Fritz led his BMW engineering team successfully developed boxer series flat motorcycle engine and created its first motorrad-R32 Series.

With good performance and cool exterior, the pretty motorrad won a great increase in sales, and accumulated vast fortune in preparation for its march toward the auto market.

First series motorrad-R 32

In 1937, Ernst Henne broke world motorcycle speed record riding R32 motorrad, reaching the astonishing speed of 279.5km/h. May I tell you the record has been kept for 14 years?

What’s also worth noticing is that, Mr. Ernst Henne not only competed in the speed of riding, but also in length of time. The oldest motor rider in the world died in 2006, at the age of 101.

In 1928, Germany participated in the first Olympic Games after WWI. As the sporting pride, German athletes fulfilled with excellence on the field, winning the 2nd place in the gold medal list; while in Germany, as the technical pride, BMW acquired Eisenach auto plan, declaring its official debut in automobile industry. In 1929, the first car with BMW roundel- 3/15 PS DA 2 was launched.

In 1936, BMW 328 was officially debuted. As the pioneer of lightweight automobile, the frame was creatively built with aluminium alloy materials, weighting only 32 kg. Even a slender girl can lift it up.

With a lightsome body, BMW designed an engine with the same name-M328. With classic straight-six engine, Aluminum alloy cylinder head, excellent fuel efficiency and excellent dynamic performance, BMW 328 became a key BMW model with both strength and beauty!

BMW 328 won numerous awards in the international arena. With the flying start achieved by Ernst Henne (the 100-year-old rider), 328 took the crown of 2.0 team in 1936 Nurburgring Circuit. In the 1940 Italian Mille Miglia, the legendary BMW 328 swept the champions of all levels of games.

Next Forecast

After WWII, BMW rose from ashes and started all over again.

With a series of highly personalized products,

BMW created a large number of classics.

[Maynard]

Wonderful, thanks for sharing this.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Nice!

[uberspeed]

Thanks for the history lesson!

[SteveAustin]

Though I appreciate the cartoon, let's not sugarcoat history -- please watch The Silence of the Quandts. It details the dark history of Germany's richest family and the current owners of BMW.

[Superbimmer]

Thanks for sharing!

[Maynard]

Originally Posted by SteveAustin

Though I appreciate the cartoon, let's not sugarcoat history -- please watch The Silence of the Quandts. It details the dark history of Germany's richest family and the current owners of BMW.

Yes, one of the many ugly episodes in history - I doubt you will find any industrial billionaire family that does not have blood or slavery on their hands.

And am I a terrible person for cracking up over the unintended pun in how they pronounce this name (i.e. 'the silence of the cunts')? Does seem to be a fitting name.