| The VeloBase History of Dürkopp |
| Nikolaus Dürrkopp, who had previously founded a sewing machine factory, was the first German company to begin series production of bicycles in Bielefeld as early as 1885. In 1892, the company already had more than 1600 employees.
In 1908, the company expanded through the acquisition of the Styria-Werke in Graz, with which it had already been producing jointly since the 1890s. From 1910 onwards, bikes with cardan drive "Dürrkopp Kettenlos" were produced. In this era, mainly cars and commercial vehicles were produced and in the 1st World War also armaments. In the 1930s there was a Dürrkopp professional racing team, which competed within the IBUS (Industriering für Berufsstraßenradrenn-Sport) which was run by 5 of the major manufacturers- Dürrkopp,Mifa,Diamant,Opel and Brennabor.In these races there was a series of successes for the Dürrkopp-Team. At the end of the 30's and in the 2nd World War, weapons and armaments were produced with forced laborers and prisoners of war. The "Kriegsmusterbetrieb" was totally destroyed in 1944.
After the end of the war and reconstruction, the company produced industrial sewing machines and conveyor systems as well as bicycles. From 1949 to 1961, motorcycles and scooters were produced again. Racing bicycles (also track machines) were still built in the 50/60s, but there was no racing team or officially sponsored teams. Bicycles with the Dürrkopp name were built and distributed by the Saxon Biria AG until 2006. |
