Deutz Gas Engine Factory (Deutzer Gasmotoren Fabrik)
Köln / Cologne, NRW
Germany
Description of the Site
My name is Horst Nordmann. I work as a volunteer for the German Veteran Car Association (Deutscher Veteranenfahrzeug Verband): https://www.veteranen-fahrzeug-verband.de/
Unfortunately, my colleagues and I could not save the so-called “cradle of the motorization of the world”. Namely the place where August Otto, Eugen Langen, Ettore Bugatti, Wilhelm Maybach, Gottlieb, and Daimler were active, including all the factory workers, has been destroyed. When I say destroyed I refer to all the most important and oldest buildings of the factory, that was once the first to develop the 4-stroke engine – they are gone!
Cologne’s conservator achieved something two World Wars did not even manage to achieve. He is the one who gave the green light for a swath of destruction through one of the most important places of industrial culture in the whole world!
I am speechless. They are erasing the history of industry in an irreparable way. Unbelievable.
This shows, over and over again, how little the responsible parties care about the past of their city. On social media, pictures of the destruction were viewed more than 37,000 times in less than 24 hours, the public commented on the post we published, and within that same time frame, the post was shared more than 900 times!
Here is a link to readers’ letters written to, and reports by the Kölner Stadtanzeiger (a magazine from Cologne)
The invention of the 4-stroke engine at the Deutz factory changed the world. The low power motor hall was the work place of Otto, Langen, Bugatti, Daimler, Maybach and many more. It was a miracle that the factory halls, some built in the classical style, survived the bomb war. The halls, which were categorized as worthy of becoming designated historic monuments, have now been razed to the ground.
Nicolaus August Otto, Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach and Ettore Bugatti, these iconic figures began their careers here and made history! This would have made for an amazing museum, an attraction for the 6,24 million tourists who visit Cologne each year as well as for the residents.
Efforts to Save Deutzer Gasmotoren Fabrik
For decades, Cologne’s Friends of Technology Club (Verein Kölner Technik Freunde), together with parts of the Association of German Engineers (Verband Deutscher Ingineure), have tried to create a museum in one of the halls as a memorial, and to preserve it. One goal was also to provide a disoriented youth, to which fast consumerism is preached, with the possibility to value that that has been achieved, to provide jobs, and to spark an interest in the learning of new skills, and in the repairing of things. There exist more than 40 early vehicles which were manufactures in Cologne, and we have the Otto Motor Collection (Otto Motorensammlung) of course, which will soon be without a home.
I really expected that these structures would be preserved, because they have such historic importance. But I guess greed won out. Our politicians prefer to forget history and put their stamp on the future instead. A sad situation for Germany.
Who Should Be Held Accountable
The conservator of the city of Cologne, Mr. Thomas Werner and the mayor of Cologne.
Websites
| Link Connected to You or Your Group | |
| https://www.veteranen-fahrzeug-verband.de/ https://www.facebook.com/veteranenfahrzeugverband/ |
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| Source Links | |
| http://www.coelner-zweiraeder.de | |
| https://www.veteranen-fahrzeug-verband.de/ |
This is so regrettable. I myself drive a Deutz from Cologne and am very proud of it, that was a quality product. … I’ve always hoped to visit the factory one day, but I guess that won’t happen, since they’re bulldozing one building after the other.
Gallery
