История автомобильного завода в Айзенахе: от Dixi до BMW

The Automobilwerk Eisenach (AWE) was an automobile manufacturer in Eisenach, Germany.

Heinrich Ehrhardt founded the Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach (FFE) in Eisenach on 3 December 1896 as a stock company. Initially, he produced bicycles and guns. After two years, he started to produce a motor car which he called the Wartburg, a licensed model of the French Decauville. The company was the third to manufacture cars in Germany, the first being Benz & Cie and the second being Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft. His son Gustav subsequently took over the factory, which at the end of the 19th century employed 1,300 workers and was one of the largest in Thuringia.

In 1903, the Ehrhardt family withdrew from management due to financial losses and also because the license to build Decauvilles was revoked. The factory began building under the new name, Dixi, in 1904 with Willi Seck as chief engineer. The top model, the type U35, was introduced in 1907 and was soon recognized for its reliability and performance with 65 hp (48 kW) and a top speed of 85 km/h (53 mph). During World War I the company produced trucks and guns. Afterwards the factory suffered from reparations with removal of equipment. In 1919, car production resumed with the company renamed as Dixi Werke AG in 1920; but soon economic hardship forced a merger with Gothaer Waggonfabrik AG. Another result of the economic downturn was a change in output, focusing on small cars. In 1927 Dixi produced the DA 1 3/15, a version of the British Austin 7 built under licence.

In November 1928 BMW acquired the Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach A. G. (Marke "Dixi") from the Gothaer Waggonfabrik bringing the independent existence of Dixi to an end and the Eisenach factory became the birthplace of car manufacturing by BMW. The Dixi continued briefly as the BMW Dixi but the renamed BMW Factory Eisenach soon started making an updated version of the car called the BMW 3/15PS dropping the Dixi name. By 1931, 25000 cars had been produced in a series going from DA 1 to DA 4. The DA 3, a sporting version, saw a re appearance of the Wartburg name. In 1932 a new small car, the 3/20 AM 1, was announced with independent suspension all round and an enlarged 788cc (48ci) engine. In 1933 BMW started to develop bigger cars with 6 cylinder engines. The first car of which was the BMW 303. Later successors were the BMW 315, BMW 319, BMW 327 and the elegant sports coupe BMW 328. In 1942 BMW moved its motorcycle production to Eisenach, freeing up space in Munich for air craft engines. The main product was the highly successful R75 In 1942 regular automobile production was stopped because of World War II and started to manufacture aircraft engines for the Luftwaffe. By the end of the war about 60% of the factory had been destroyed.

After the war, Thuringia was part of the Soviet sector, and the factory became a Soviet Stock company named Sowjetische AG Maschinenbau Awtowelo, Werk BMW Eisenach (Soviet Awtowelo Co., Eisenach BMW Works). Production restarted with the BMW 321, of which almost 4,000 were made between late 1945 and 1950. A number of partially completed cars had been stored in the nearby salt mines in 1941, when automobile production had been halted; these cars were completed by Awtowelo after the war. A handful of BMW 326s were made in 1946 1947, and 161 EMW 325/3s (kübelwagen) were made in 1952. In 1949 the Eisenach works launched the BMW 340 (a development of the BMW 326 with modified front and rear bodywork) and the BMW 327. Around 150 BMW 327 were built between 1949 and 1952, when it was renamed EMW. Guests at the accompanying celebrations included Helmut Kohl. The Treuhand agency closed AWE in April 1991, but a good number of the employees found work in the newly created Opel Eisenach factory, opened in a Western Eisenach suburb in 1992. The former production site was used by an automotive parts company de until 2018. While most of the factory has been demolished, one part (Building O2) has been preserved to house the Automobilbaumuseum Eisenach (Eisenach Car Museum).

Time periodModelProduction (Cars)1898–1903Wartburg Motorwagenca. 2501904–1927Dixi PKW60901907–1927Dixi LKW2,6221907–1928Dixi Kleinwagen DA 19,3081929–1942BMW DA 2, DA 3, DA 4, BMW 303, 309, 315, 319, 319/1, 329, 320, 321, 325, 326, 327, 328, 33578,7681945–1950Post World War II – BMW 3218,9961946–1947Post World War II – BMW 326161952–1955BMW / EMW 327 1, 327 2, 327 35051949–1955BMW / EMW 340, 340 1, 340 221,0831952Kübelwagen IFA EMW 325 31661953–1956IFA F938,7821955–1965Wartburg 311/312258,9281957–1960Wartburg Sport 313 14691965–1966Wartburg 312 133,7591966–1975Wartburg 353356,3301975–1990Wartburg 353 W868,8601988–1991Wartburg 1.3152,775 Total production1,837,708