Framo was a minivan, motor tricycle and car manufacturer in

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, Germany. It was established by

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

engineer

Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen (30 July 1878 – 12 August 1964) was a Danish engineer and industrialist. Life The son of a shipmaster who died when Rasmussen was still a young child, he attended middle school in Nakskov and in 1894 began an app ...

, the founder of

DKW DKW (''Dampf-Kraft-Wagen'', en, "steam-powered car", also ''Deutsche Kinder-Wagen'' en, "German children's car". ''Das-Kleine-Wunder'', en, "the little wonder" or ''Des-Knaben-Wunsch'', en, "the boy's wish"- from when the company built to ...

, in 1923. Framo became the core of the Barkas minivan manufacturer in 1957.

Formation

Framo was founded by the

engineer

and two colleagues (Paul Figura, and Richard Blau) as a components supplier in 1923. At this time, the company was called ''Metall-Werke Frankenberg GmbH'' and located in

Frankenberg, Saxony Frankenberg (also: Frankenberg/Sa.) is a town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Zschopau, northeast of Chemnitz, and some north of the border to the Czech Republic. It was the site of the Nazi con ...

. Rasmussen had earlier founded

, and the Framo factory was created to produce components for DKW motorcycles. Rasmussen played an important role in the establishment of the

Auto Union Auto Union AG, was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony. It is the immediate predecessor of Audi as it is known today. As well as acting as an umbrella firm f ...

group, and DKW is represented by one ring of the four rings of the

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

brand today. The production of a motorized freight trike (''TV 300'') started in Frankenberg in 1927. The idea was to combine a motorcycle with a cargo area. The tricycles were equipped with a one-cylinder-two-stroke engine made by

. Framo's lightweight and affordable motorized freight trikes were popular with craftsmen and tradesmen. Based on this success, the models ''ZW 200'', ''LT 200'', ''LTH 200'' and ''LTH 300'' were developed.

Relocation to Hainichen

In 1934, the company moved to Hainichen and was subsequently rebranded as FRAMO-Werke GmbH, Hainichen. Framo is a made-up word based on FRAnkenberg and MOtorenwerk (engine plant). At this point, the company was already employing 700 workers. 1934 also saw the development of compact cars. First, the tricycle ''Stromer FP 200'' was released. Its successors ''Piccolo VH 200'' and ''Piccolo VH 300'' had four wheels. Overall, the cars were not a huge success. Following up on the earlier success of the motorized freight trikes, a new line of

minivan Minivan (sometimes called simply as van) is a North American car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent classification in Europe i ...

s with four wheels was introduced in 1938. The first model was called ''V 500''.

World War II

The production of military products and weapons began in 1943. From September 1944 until April 1945, 500 female prisoners of Hainichen concentration camp, a subcamp of

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of F ...

, were forced to work for the Framo enterprise.

East Germany

In 1945, on the orders of the occupying Soviet military administration, the factories were dismantled as part of

war reparations War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war. History Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common practice with a long history. R ...

and shipped to the Soviet Union. The factory restarted the assembly of the pre-war-model (V 501/2) in 1949. The newly developed postwar models ''V 901'' and ''V 902'' entered the market in 1951. The development of varying superstructures began in 1953.

Framo museum

A museum dedicated to the brands ''Framo'' and ''Barkas'' was opened in

in 1993. As of 2007, eighteen cars, motorized tricycles and minivans are on display.

Gallery

Image:FR_Museum_D500P+V501+V901.jpg, Framo ''D500P'',''V501'' and ''V901'' Image:FR_Museum_LTP200+FP200_1.jpg, Framo ''LTP200 and ''FP200'' Image:Framo.jpg, Framo Image:Framo V 901-2, Bj. 1955.jpg, Framo V 901/2

References

External links

Framo timeline (in German)
* Framo museum (German Wikipedia) {{DEFAULTSORT:Framo (Car) Saxony Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Germany