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Bombardier Transportation Austria GmbH is an
Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a ...
company of
Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...
located in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
,
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. It was founded in the 19th century by Jacob Lohner as Lohner-Werke or simply ''Lohner'' as a luxury
coachbuilding A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...
firm. Around 1900 the firm produced electric-cars, being the first in Austria to do so; the cars were designed by Ferdinand Porsche. During the early 1900s the firm manufactured aircraft, after World War I the company manufactured trams, and after World War II the company began manufacturing scooters and mopeds using engines from
Rotax Rotax is the brand name for a range of internal combustion engines developed and manufactured by the Austrian company BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG (until 2016 BRP-Powertrain GmbH & Co. KG), in turn owned by the Canadian Bombardier Recreational Produc ...
, with which it merged in 1959, forming ''Lohner Rotax''. In 1970 Canadian firm
Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...
acquired a controlling share in the company and renamed it Bombardier-Rotax GmbH. Under Bombardier the company became Bombardier Wien Schienenfahrzeuge (BWS), later Bombardier Transportation Austria GmbH. It relocated to a specialised factory in 2007, and now produces only trams.


History

In 1821 German Heinrich Lohner (1786–1855) established a workshop in Vienna, Austria, establishing himself as a wagonmaster. In 1823 he formed a joint venture with master saddlemaker (''Sattlermeister'') Ludwig Laurenzi, ''Laurenzi & Lohner''. After the death of Ludwig Laurenzi in 1863 the company became ''Jacob Lohner & Co.'' under Heinrich Lohner's son Jacob Lohner (1821–92). Jacob Lohner transformed his father's craft business into a factory eventually manufacturing between 300 and 500 vehicles per year. The company supplied vehicles to the courts of the royal houses of Norway, Sweden, and Romania, as well as to the Austrian emperor;Sources: * * the company received the distinction ''k.u.k. Hofwagenlieferant'' ("Royal carriagemakers"). In 1887 Jacob Lohner's son Ludwig Lohner (1858–1925) took over the company. He decided that self-powered cars were the future, initially working with Béla Egger, and in 1898 hiring Ferdinand Porsche (from Béla Egger's electricity company). During his employment Porsche designed a number of vehicles. The
Lohner Porsche Lohner may refer to: People with the surname *Danny Lohner (born 1970), American rock musician *Harold Lohner (born 1958), American designer *Helmuth Lohner (1933–2015), Austrian actor *Henning Lohner (born 1961), German film score composer * ( ...
chaise was powered by batteries, with two front wheel electric motors mounted in the wheel hubs. One of his
electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes ch ...
s was a popular exhibit at the '' Exposition Universelle'' (Paris world fair, 1900). Porsche later developed petrol-engined cars with electric transmissions, some versions of which had additional batteries. Vehicles using the petrol electric transmission with hub motors were sold to the German army and to the Viennese fire brigade. Porsche left the Lohner company in 1905, and joined Daimler affiliate company '' Österreichische Daimler Motoren Commanditgesellschaft Bierenz Fischer & Co.''; vehicles were later built using the
Lohner Porsche Lohner may refer to: People with the surname *Danny Lohner (born 1970), American rock musician *Harold Lohner (born 1958), American designer *Helmuth Lohner (1933–2015), Austrian actor *Henning Lohner (born 1961), German film score composer * ( ...
system under the Mercedes brand of Daimler. In 1909, the firm undertook aircraft manufacture, producing
reconnaissance aircraft A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as ...
for the
Austro-Hungarian army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...
during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, and a series of
flying-boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusel ...
patrol aircraft for the Navy,Gunston 1993, 188 which were later copied by the Italian
Macchi Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Formerly known as Aeronautica Macchi, the company was founded in 1912 by Giulio Macchi at Varese in north-western Lombardy as Nieuport-Macchi, to build Nieuport monoplanes under licence for the I ...
aviation firm for the Italian military in World War I. Lohner also produced aircraft for the budding
Spanish Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = Spanish Air and Space Force Anthem , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 December , equipment ...
. After World War I the company abandoned aircraft production,The
Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919) The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (french: Traité de Saint-Germain-en-Laye) was signed on 10 September 1919 by the victorious Allies of World War I on the one hand and by the Republic of German-Austria on the other. Like the Treaty of Tri ...
restricted Austria from having a military airforce, and restricted the number of armament factories to one.
and shifted its production to the manufacturing of
tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...
s, and coachbodies. During the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
the factory in
Floridsdorf Floridsdorf (; Central Bavarian: ''Fluridsduaf'') is the 21st district of Vienna (german: 21. Bezirk, Floridsdorf), located in the northern part of the city and comprising seven formerly independent communities: Floridsdorf, Donaufeld, Greater Je ...
shut down. During the
Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germa ...
with Germany, Lohner produced aircraft wings. The plant was damaged in 1944, and post
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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
the company was in public administration until 1949 when it was returned to the control of the Lohner family. In 1949 Lohner began manufacturing scooters and mopeds which were designed by Otto Kauba, a production range that would include the well-known of which was the
Lohner L125 Lohner may refer to: People with the surname *Danny Lohner (born 1970), American rock musician *Harold Lohner (born 1958), American designer *Helmuth Lohner (1933–2015), Austrian actor *Henning Lohner (born 1961), German film score composer * ( ...
. The scooter range included popular models such as the ''Sissy'', L125 and L98, but sales were eventually reduced due to the popularity of the motorcar. Tram production also resumed post World War II. In 1959, the Lohner factory merged with
Rotax Rotax is the brand name for a range of internal combustion engines developed and manufactured by the Austrian company BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG (until 2016 BRP-Powertrain GmbH & Co. KG), in turn owned by the Canadian Bombardier Recreational Produc ...
which had supplied engines for its motorscooters. During the 1960s contracts included hay-loaders, gun carriages for the Austrian Army, and Bombardier Ski-Doos which were produced under license from 1966 to 1970. In 1970 the company was acquired by Bombardier purchased a majority of shares in the company and renamed it ''Bombardier-Rotax GmbH''.


Bombardier Transportation

Reorganized later as a division of Bombardier-Rotax named ''Bombardier Wien Schienenfahrzeuge'' (BWS). After Bombardier's acquisition of Adtranz in 2001, the company's production plan designated the Vienna works for carbody production, specialising in Light rail vehicles (LRV). The company moved to a new plant in the
Donaustadt Donaustadt (; literally, Danube City; Central Bavarian: ''Donaustod'') is the 22nd district of Vienna, Austria (german: 22. Bezirk, Donaustadt). Donaustadt is the eastern district of Vienna.Statistik Austria, 2007, webpage statistik.at-23450. ...
district of Vienna in 2007., Hermann Gebauer Straße 5 ,A-1220 Vienna, Austria As of 2012 the company operates as ''Bombardier Transportation Austria GmbH & Co. KG'', and manufactures trams.Sources: * * *


Aircraft

*
Lohner Type AA The Lohner Type AA (a.k.a. Lohner 10.20, 10.20A, 10.20B, 111.01, 111.02, 111.03, Lohner Dr.I and Lohner D.I) were a series of prototype fighters built during World War I. The program would eventually be cancelled due to inherent instability conc ...
*
Lohner B.I The Lohner B.I was a military reconnaissance aircraft produced in Austria-Hungary during World War I.Taylor 1989, 610 As Lohner strove to perfect the design, a variety of increasingly powerful engines were fitted, reflected in a range of milita ...
* Lohner B.II * Lohner B.VII * Lohner E * Lohner L


Notes


References


Sources

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Literature

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External links

* * *{{citation, url = http://www.austria-lexikon.at/af/AEIOU/Lohner-Werke%2C_Wagenbauunternehmen, title = Lohner-Werke, work =www.austria-lexikon.at, language = de, publisher = AEIOU Encyclopedia of Austria Companies of Austria-Hungary Horsecar manufacturers Motor vehicle manufacturers of Austria-Hungary Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Austria Tram manufacturers Purveyors to the Imperial and Royal Court Bombardier Inc. acquisitions Electric vehicle manufacturers of Austria Bombardier Transportation