Prophete GmbH u. Co. KG is a German manufacturer for bicycles, e-bikes, scooters, and supply parts that traditionally trade under the Prophete brand name. The company (including the subsidiary company Cycle Union) employ a staff of about 400 people at 4 production sites.''Cycle-Union GmbH; Oldenburg; Jahresabschluss zum 30. September 2018''
digitaler Bundesanzeiger, retrieved 23 June 2020.

History

The company started out in 1908 as a bicycle workshop based in

Halle an der Saale Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anh ...

, but at the end of

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 opposin ...

the Prophete family moved the company to

Rheda-Wiedenbrück Rheda-Wiedenbrück (; Westphalian: ''Raie-Wienbrügge'') is a city in the district of Gütersloh, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography The twin community lies within the valley of the river Ems in the Westphalian Lowland south of the ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

and expanded the operation to include wholesaling and importation of bicycles.http://www.prophete.de
Prophete History
By the 1970s the company had become the main supplier of bicycles to German supermarkets and mail order houses which eventually led to the company starting to manufacture bicycle frames and other parts in its own factories in order to ensure stabler supplies. In 1995 the company formed a subsidiary called SI-Zweirad-Vertriebs-GmbH in order to enter the market for small

motorcycles A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising, ...

and

mopeds A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. The term used to mean a similar vehicle except with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. Mopeds typi ...

. Later that same year the company bought the rights to the

Kreidler Kreidler was a German manufacturer of bicycles, mopeds and motorcycles. Kreidler was originally based in Kornwestheim, between Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart. It was founded in 1903 as "Kreidlers Metall- und Drahtwerke" (Kreidlers metal and wire f ...

brand name and started importing and selling mopeds, motorcycles and

quadbikes An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is stra ...

under the Kreidler and Rex names, however unlike their bicycles the mopeds and motorcycles were actually sourced from Asia.http://www.kreidlerreg.dk
Kreidler efter 1982
The company hit some snags in 2003 when a number of their smaller

two-stroke engine A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...

d mopeds fell afoul of tighter EU emission regulations and the Kreidler brand name actually disappeared from some markets for a while. A new daughter company called Cycle Union was formed to handle all of the brands that Prophete had been distributing through specialised motorcycle and bicycle stores and Kreidler mopeds started appearing in shops again in 2007/2008. That company is based in

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places *Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony *Olde ...

, in addition to Kreidler it owns and operates brands such as Epple (bicycle manufacturer based in

Memmingen Memmingen (; Swabian: ''Memmenge'') is a town in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is the economic, educational and administrative centre of the Danube-Iller region. To the west the town is flanked by the Iller, the river that marks the Baden-Wü ...

, which Prophete bought in 2004), VSF Fahrradmanufaktur and Rabeneick in addition to distributing other brands. Cycle Union appears not to manufacture any bikes but rather sources them from Asian manufactures such as Jinan Qingqi.http://www.homepagemodules.de
Letter from Kreidler to a customer
Medien verlag
Kreidler Supermoto 125 DD Review
Note that Prophete itself still makes and sells bicycles, but these are exclusively distributed through

supermarkets A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limit ...

department stores A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appea ...

and mail order houses rather than specialised retailers.Comdirect
Deutsche Rad-Hersteller haben Nischen gefunden

Brands

References

External links

Prophete homepage

Kreidler homepage

Cycle Union
{{German bicycle manufacturers Cycle manufacturers of Germany Manufacturing companies of Germany Motorcycle manufacturers of Germany Moped manufacturers Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1908 1908 establishments in Germany