Most beautiful European car of 1958

Eisenach, 9/8/2020 -  Eisenach has a long tradition in automotive. In 1896 the Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach (FFE) was founded. This became Dixi and in the twenties BMW took over the company. Being in the Soviet zone, the East-Germans kept the name BMW after WW2 and no one in Munich dared to claim the rights. In 1953 the GDR decided to change the name to EMW, Eisenacher Motorenwerke  and eventually in VEB (Volkseigener Betrieb) Automobilwerk Eisenach. Want to know something?  Between 1945 and 1951 all BMWs were built in Eisenach. Today Opel manufactures here in a new plant opened in 1992 by Helmut Kohl. The museum Automobile Welt Eisenach is on the old premises. During our visit we see only Germans. With some eavesdropping we find out they are former workers of the plant. They talk with pride about the models they worked on. The car most of us know from the post-war communist era is the Wartburg, sold in the West with moderate success until the centrally planned economy led to a standstill in development. When we walk out of the museum, we see the Wartburg castle in the distance. Luther is staring down at us. Back in our hotel Thüringer Hof we read that Leo Tolstoi slept there in April 1861. That night I dream in Russian.


Wartburg Sports Car, when the brand was still fashionable. Voted 'Most beautiful European car of 1958' in New York (FDC)


Reacties

Een reactie posten

Populaire posts van deze blog

Bauhaus and Wolfgang Nordwig

Afbeelding
13/8/2020 – Weimar – We cross the park opposite Haus Hohe Pappeln and follow the Ilm to go and see Haus am Horn. All of a sudden the path is blocked by barriers. We try to find our way through and stumble into a group of young people who cool down by wading through the Ilm. I ask how to get to the other side and a helpful migrant tries to explain but his German is too basic. Next to him, a tall, rebellious looking girl with a half shaved head says: ‘Ach, einfach die Schranke ignorieren und weiterlaufen!’. She is topless and rubs herself dry. We follow her advice and soon see Goethe’s Gartenhaus in front of us. Not far from there we see the white model house built for the Bauhaus Exhibition of 1923. After almost 100 years it still hasn’t lost its modern flair. It is cubic and has a flat roof. A wave of new ideas swept through the area, catalysed by Van de Velde and later by Walter Gropius. A cooperation between architects, engineers, craftsmen and artists led to a creative bubble. It bu...
Meer lezen

Alles tote Hose hier wegen des Virus!

Afbeelding
15/8/2020 – Quedlinburg – We take a winding road through the Harz Mountains. Trees, trees and trees and a hint of communist passé. We pass through Schmalkalden, where local protestant princes made a fist against Emperor Charles the V. The village is old and worn and still has some smoking Trabants. If it were not in the history books, one would never look for it. We move on to Quedlinburg, a UNESCO dream town with 1400 half-timbered six century old houses. We check in at the Schlosshotel zum Markgrafen. The owner leaves us speechless and tells us about his childhood dream of becoming a castle lord. The castle is in great shape, the rooms are modern and the atmosphere knightly. A harness with sword and spear watches over our room. I compliment the owner on his work and he replies: ‘Yes, but it did not make me a rich man!’. Our room is under the roof and has a small window through which we see all the towers of Q. Having dinner is not easy. Because of COVID-19 all outside terraces are fu...
Meer lezen

Mein Mann hat einen Cowboy gekauft!

Afbeelding
Gotha, 10/8/2020 – Cycling in Thüringen is an adventure. The Thüringer Radweg is well indicated, but finding the first sign with the green cyclist can be a pain. So it is when I leave Gotha, where I parked the car for our next night. The receptionist admires my bike and says: ‘Mein Mann hat einen Cowboy gekauft!’. I reply that I know the brand and proudly say it is made by a Belgian start-up. ‘Mit seiner Batterie fährt er bald schneller als ich!’  The Russian heritage is everywhere here and I cycle on the Juri Gagarin Straße and the Pushkinallee towards my wife and friends, who left Eisenach for Gotha. In town, I see an old movie theater: die Weisse Wand. I miss the cycle path with the green cyclist and get on the A4, a busy provincial road. It is pouring with rain and my cycling jacket is not waterproof at all, whatever the label inside says. Trucks, busses, cars, they all spray some extra rain on me. The chain of my bike glistens in the headlights of the cars, a sign that all the...
Meer lezen