The Berlin Motor Show originally started in 1897 in the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
capital
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
as the home of the
International Motor Show (''Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung'', IAA) and ran until 1939. From 1951 the IAA eventually became established in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
.
A new bi-annual Motor Show, called ''Autos, Avus, Attraktionen'' (AAA), was established by the
Messe Berlin
Messe Berlin (') are exhibition grounds in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf precinct of Berlin, Germany, at Masurenallee opposite the Haus des Rundfunks. Since 2011, they have officially been known as "Berlin ExpoCenter City" and operated by the M ...
company in 1978. The last show was held in 2000, with the 2002 show cancelled four months prior to the expected 2002 exhibition.
History
On 30 September 1897, the first IAA was held by the '' Mitteleuropäischer Motorwagenverein'' ("Central European Motor Vehicle Association") at the
Hotel Bristol
The Hotel Bristol is the name of more than 200 hotels around the world. They range from grand European hotels, such as Hôtel Le Bristol Paris and the Hotel Bristol in Warsaw or Vienna to budget hotels, such as the SRO (single room occupancy) ...
on the
Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden (, "under the linden trees") is a boulevard in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. Running from the City Palace to Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the linden (lime in England and Ireland, not rela ...
boulevard in Berlin. A total of eight
Benz Velo, Lutzmann,
Kühlstein, and
Daimler motor vehicles were on display.
A second motor show was held in 1898 at the exhibition grounds near
Lehrter Bahnhof
Berlin Hauptbahnhof () (English: Berlin Central Station) is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It came into full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, ...
; in 1899 more than 100 exhibitors participated in the third motor show .
As the automobile became more known and accepted, the IAA became a fixed event in Germany, with at least one held every year, usually in Berlin. In 1902 the show was held for the first time by the
Association of German Automotive Industrialists (''Verein Deutscher Motorfahrzeug-Industrieller'') at
Berlin Friedrichstraße station
Berlin Friedrichstraße () is a railway station in the German capital Berlin. It is located on the Friedrichstraße, a major north-south street in the Mitte district of Berlin, adjacent to the point where the street crosses the river Spree. Under ...
. The 7th exhibition in 1905 was inaugurated by Emperor
Wilhelm II
, house = Hohenzollern
, father = Frederick III, German Emperor
, mother = Victoria, Princess Royal
, religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United)
, signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...
and until 1907, there were even two shows per year, as production had increased to an industrial level. In the next years, however, the show was suspended, due to the outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00894, Berlin, Eröffnung der Automobil-Ausstellung](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-00894%2C_Berlin%2C_Er%C3%B6ffnung_der_Automobil-Ausstellung.jpg)
With a pause after the war, the IAA was then reinstated and returned to a newly built exhibition hall in Berlin
Westend in 1921, with 67 German automobile manufacturers displaying 90 vehicles under the motto "comfort", including the
Rumpler Tropfenwagen
The Rumpler Tropfenwagen ("Rumpler drop car", named after its raindrop shape) was a car developed by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler.
The Tropfenwagen Aerodynamics
Rumpler, born in Vienna, was known as a designer of aircraft when at the 1921 Be ...
and a
Bosch electric
car horn
A horn is a sound-making device that can be equipped to motor vehicles, buses, bicycles, trains, trams (otherwise known as streetcars in North America), and other types of vehicles. The sound made usually resembles a "honk" (older vehicles) or ...
. More than 600 exhibitors participated in the 15th IAA in 1923 and the next year's show saw the premiere of economy cars like the
Hanomag 2/10 PS
The Hanomag 2/10 PS is an economy car manufactured by Hanomag from 1924 until 1928. It was one of the first cars with envelope styling. It was affectionately referred to as the ''Kommissbrot'' ("Army Bread") due to its identical shape with the usu ...
or the
Opel 4 PS (''Laubfrosch''). The 1927 IAA was held at
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
(under pressure from Mayor
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Dem ...
), followed by the 20th IAA in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
in March 1928, nevertheless, the 21st exhibition was again held in Berlin in November. It featured the first German vehicle with a
rack steering and
independent suspension (Röhr 8) as well as the eight-cylinder
Opel Regent luxury car and a
crank operated window by
Brose
Brose is a Scots word for an uncooked form of porridge: oatmeal (and/or other meals) is mixed with boiling water (or stock) and allowed to stand for a short time. It is eaten with salt and butter, milk or buttermilk. A version of brose made ...
. The 1929, 1930, and 1932 IAA were cancelled due to the
Great Depression. Despite the still perceptible after-effects of the global recession, the 22nd IAA was held in Berlin in 1931 with a total of 295,000 visitors. For the first time the exhibition included
front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitu ...
vehicles like the
DKW F1.
![HitleryGoeringEnElSalónDElAutomóvilDeBerlín1933](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/HitleryGoeringEnElSal%C3%B3nDElAutom%C3%B3vilDeBerl%C3%ADn1933.jpeg/1200px-HitleryGoeringEnElSal%C3%B3nDElAutom%C3%B3vilDeBerl%C3%ADn1933.jpeg)
The 23rd IAA was held from 11 to 23 February 1933, a few days after the
Nazi seizure of power. It was inaugurated by Chancellor
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
, who announced tax benefits for car owners, a major road construction programme and state-funded
motorsport events. New models introduced included the
Ford Köln
The Ford Köln is an automobile that was produced by Ford Germany from 1933 until 1936 at its Cologne plant.
Origins
The English Ford company had developed the car and introduced it in 1932 as the Ford Model Y. The German-built version, ren ...
, the
Standard Superior
The Standard Superior was an automobile, produced from 1933 to 1935 by '' Standard Fahrzeugfabrik'' of Ludwigsburg, Germany, founded by motorcycle maker Wilhelm Gutbrod and unrelated to the Standard Motor Company of England. These small cars we ...
, as well as the twelve-cylinder
Maybach
Maybach (, ) is a German luxury car brand that exists today as a part of Mercedes-Benz. The original company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach, originally as a subsidiary of ''Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH'', and ...
Zeppelin DS 8, then the most expensive German car ever built. In the following years, the annual exhibition developed to a national
hall of fame of German engineering skill, essentially influenced by
Nazi propaganda
The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation of Nazi polici ...
. Pushed by extensive billboard and screen advertising, the IAA finally became a mass event, with more than 600,000 visitors in 1934. In his inaugural speech, Hitler promised the construction of a cheap, simple car for the masses. He also proclaimed the idea of economic
autarky
Autarky is the characteristic of self-sufficiency, usually applied to societies, communities, states, and their economic systems.
Autarky as an ideal or method has been embraced by a wide range of political ideologies and movements, especiall ...
, illustrated by the display of
wood gas generator
A wood gas generator is a gasification unit which converts timber or charcoal into wood gas, a producer gas consisting of atmospheric nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, traces of methane, and other gases, which – after cooling and filtering ...
s based on the patent of
Georges Imbert
Georges Christian Peter Imbert (26 March 1884 – 6 February 1950) was a French chemical engineer and inventor. He became famous for the invention of the wood gas generator.''The Biofuels Handbook.'' Author: James G Speight. Royal Society of ...
or a
steam car
A steam car is a car (automobile) propelled by a steam engine. A steam engine is an external combustion engine (ECE) in which the fuel is combusted outside of the engine, unlike an internal combustion engine (ICE) in which fuel is combusted ins ...
designed by
Henschel
Henschel & Son (german: Henschel und Sohn) was a German company, located in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting v ...
. Nevertheless, the launch of the stream-lined
Tatra 77
The Czechoslovakian Tatra 77 (T77) is by many considered to be the first serial-produced, truly aerodynamically-designed automobile. It was developed by Hans Ledwinka and Paul Jaray, the Zeppelin aerodynamic engineer. Launched in 1934, the Tatra 7 ...
attracted greater attention.
The manufacturing of the people's car (''
Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...
'') remained the central issue of the following exhibitions. Finally in 1939, the ''
KdF''-car was presented for the first time, which later came to be known as the
Beetle
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...
. The 29th installation of the event gathered a total of 825,000 visitors - an all-time record at that time. This was the last IAA before it was again suspended during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
2000
The 2000 show was the last Berlin Motor Show, with over 200,000 visitors.
*
Audi A4
The Audi A4 is a line of compact executive cars produced since 1994 by the German car manufacturer Audi, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group.
The A4 has been built in five generations and is based on the Volkswagen Group B platform. The first ...
Sedan
*
Opel Zafira
The Opel Zafira is a car manufactured and marketed across three generations between 1999 and 2019 by Opel. Based on the Opel Astra platform, it is developed to occupy the multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) segment.
The Zafira was also marketed unde ...
1.6 CNG
1998
In 1998, the AAA was held at the Berlin exposition area between October 17 and 25.
1996
*
Audi A4
The Audi A4 is a line of compact executive cars produced since 1994 by the German car manufacturer Audi, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group.
The A4 has been built in five generations and is based on the Volkswagen Group B platform. The first ...
Avant Duo
*
Ford Ka
The Ford Ka is a small car manufactured by Ford Motor Company from 1996 to 2016 as a city car and from 2016 to 2021 as a subcompact car. It entered its second generation in 2008, produced by Fiat in Tychy, Poland. A third generation was introduce ...
"Step 1" Concept
References
{{Auto shows
Auto shows in Germany
Events in Berlin