Wilhelm Maybach
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Wilhelm Maybach (; 9 February 1846 – 29 December 1929) was an early German engine designer and industrialist. During the 1890s he was hailed in France, then the world centre for car production, as the "King of Designers". From the late 19th century Wilhelm Maybach, together with
Gottlieb Daimler Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (; 17 March 1834 – 6 March 1900) was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist born in Schorndorf (Kingdom of Württemberg, a federal state of the German Confederation), in what is now Germany. He was a ...
, developed light, high-speed internal combustion engines suitable for land, water, and air use. These were fitted to the world's first motorcycle, motorboat, and after Daimler's death, a new automobile introduced in late 1902, the Mercedes model, built to the specifications of
Emil Jellinek Emil Jellinek, known after 1903 as Emil Jellinek-Mercedes (6 April 1853 – 21 January 1918) was a wealthy European automobile entrepreneur with Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG), responsible in 1900 for commissioning the first modern automobile ...
. Maybach rose to become technical director of the
Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (abbreviated as DMG, also known as ''Daimler Motors Corporation'') was a German engineering company and later automobile manufacturer, in operation from 1890 until 1926. Founded by Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900) and ...
(DMG) but did not get along with its chairmen. As a result, Maybach left DMG in 1907 to found Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH together with his son Karl in 1909; they manufactured
Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
engines. After the signing of the
Versailles Treaty The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
in 1919 the company started producing large luxury vehicles, branded as "Maybach". He died in 1929 and was succeeded by his son
Karl 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'', an ...
. From around 1936 Maybach-Motorenbau designed and made almost all the engines fitted in German tanks and half-tracks used during World War 2, including those for the
Panther Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **'' Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. *** Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in So ...
,
Tiger I The Tiger I () was a German heavy tank of World War II that operated beginning in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted ...
and
Tiger II The Tiger II is a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf''. B,'' Panzerkampfwagen'' – abbr: ''Pz.'' or ''Pz.Kfw.'' (English: "armoured fighting vehicle"), ''Ausf.' ...
heavy tank Heavy tank is a term used to define a class of tanks produced from World War I through the end of the Cold War. These tanks generally sacrificed mobility and maneuverability for better armour protection and equal or greater firepower than tanks ...
s. Continuing after the war, Maybach Motorenbau remained a subsidiary of
Luftschiffbau Zeppelin Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH is a German aircraft manufacturing company. It is perhaps best known for its leading role in the design and manufacture of rigid airships, commonly referred to as ''Zeppelins'' due to the company's prominence. The name ...
, making diesel engines. During the 1960s Maybach came under the control of Daimler-Benz and was renamed
MTU Friedrichshafen MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH is a German manufacturer of commercial internal combustion engines founded by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach in 1909. Wilhelm Maybach was the technical director of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG), a predec ...
. In 2002 the ''Maybach'' brand name was revived for a luxury make but it was not successful. On 25 November 2011 Daimler-Benz announced they would cease producing automobiles under the ''Maybach'' brand name in 2013. In 2014, Daimler announced production of an ultra-luxury edition of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class under the new Mercedes-Maybach brand.


Early life and career beginnings (1846 to 1869)

Wilhelm Maybach was born in
Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Mid ...
, Baden-Württemberg, in 1846, the son of a carpenter and his wife Luise. He had four brothers. When he was eight years old the family moved from
Löwenstein Löwenstein () is a city in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was first mentioned in 1123. The castle of Löwenstein served as a residence for the counts of Löwenstein-Wertheim. In 1634 the castle was destroyed by the ...
near Heilbronn to
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
. His mother died in 1856 and his father in 1859. After his relatives published an announcement in the ''Stuttgarter Anzeiger'' newspaper, a philanthropic institution at
Reutlingen Reutlingen (; Swabian: ''Reitlenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it has a population of 115,818. Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which ...
took in Maybach as a student. Its founder and director, Gustav Werner, discovered Maybach's technical inclination and helped to stimulate his career by sending him to the school's engineering workshop. At 15 years old (1861), Maybach was heading for a career in
Industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advan ...
and took extra classes in physics and mathematics at Reutlingen's public high school. By the time he was 19 years old, he was a qualified designer working on stationary engines. His workshop manager, Gottlieb Daimler, then 29, noticed his efforts and took him on as his main assistant, a post he held until Daimler's death in 1900.


Daimler and Otto's four-stroke engine (1869 to 1880)

In 1869, Maybach followed Daimler to Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft Karlsruhe AG in
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
, a manufacturer of heavy locomotives. Daimler was on the Executive Committee and they spent long nights discussing new designs for engines, pumps, lumber machinery, and metalworking. In 1872, Daimler moved to Deutz-AG-Gasmotorenfabrik in
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
, then the world's largest manufacturer of stationary gas engines.
Nicolaus Otto Nicolaus August Otto (10 June 1832, Holzhausen an der Haide, Nassau – 26 January 1891, Cologne) was a German engineer who successfully developed the compressed charge internal combustion engine which ran on petroleum gas and led to the mod ...
, part owner of the company, focused on engine development with Daimler. Maybach joined them as Chief Designer. In 1876, Nicolaus Otto patented the
Otto cycle An Otto cycle is an idealized thermodynamic cycle that describes the functioning of a typical spark ignition piston engine. It is the thermodynamic cycle most commonly found in automobile engines. The Otto cycle is a description of what happ ...
engine. It was a
four-stroke cycle A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directi ...
gas internal combustion engine with intake, compression, power, and exhaust strokes. One of Otto's more than 25 patents on this engine was later challenged and overturned, allowing Daimler and Maybach to produce their high-speed engine. Also in 1876, Maybach was sent to show Deutz's engines at the Philadelphia World's Fair (USA). On returning to Cologne in 1877, he concentrated on improving the four-stroke design to prepare it for its impending commercial launch. In 1878, Maybach married Bertha Wilhelmine Habermaas, a friend of Daimler's wife, Emma Kunz. Her family members were landowners who ran the post office in
Maulbronn Maulbronn () is a city in the district of Enz in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. History Founded in 1838, it emerged from a settlement, built around a monastery, which belonged to the Neckar Community in the Kingdom of Württemberg. In ...
. On 6 July 1879 Karl Maybach was born, the first of their three children. In 1880, Daimler and Otto had serious disagreements, resulting in Daimler's leaving Deutz-AG. Daimler received 112,000 goldmarks in Deutz-AG shares as compensation for patents granted to him and Maybach. Maybach also left shortly afterwards, and followed his friend to found a new company in
Cannstatt Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's ...
.


Daimler Motors: fast and small engines (1882)

In 1882, Maybach moved to Taubenheimstrasse in Cannstatt, Stuttgart, where Daimler had purchased a house with 75,000 goldmarks from his Deutz compensation. They added a brick extension to the glass-fronted summer house in the garden, which became their workshop. Their activities alarmed the neighbours, who suspected they were engaged in counterfeiting. The police raided the property in their absence using the gardener's key, but found only engines.


The Daimler engine

In late 1883, Daimler and Maybach patented the first of their engines fueled by
Ligroin Ligroin is the petroleum fraction consisting mostly of C7 and C8 hydrocarbons and boiling in the range 90‒140 °C (194–284 °F). The fraction is also called heavy naphtha. Ligroin is used as a laboratory solvent. Products under the name ...
. This engine was patented on 16 December 1883. It achieved Daimler's goal of being small and running fast enough to be useful at 750
rpm Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
(soon after up to 900). Daimler had three engines built in 1884. Maybach persuaded him to put one in a vehicle, the result being the '' Reitwagen''. In 1884, Maybach's second son Adolf was born.


The "Grandfather Clock engine" (1885)

By the end of 1885, Maybach and Daimler developed the first of their engines, which is regarded as a precursor to all modern
petrol engines A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ...
. It featured: * single vertical cylinder * air cooling * large cast-iron
flywheel A flywheel is a mechanical device which uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy; a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, ass ...
* revolutionary hot tube ignition (Patent 28022) * exhaust
valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...
controlled by a
camshaft A camshaft is a shaft that contains a row of pointed cams, in order to convert rotational motion to reciprocating motion. Camshafts are used in piston engines (to operate the intake and exhaust valves), mechanically controlled ignition systems ...
allowing high speeds * a speed of 600
rpm Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
, when at the time most engines could only achieve about 120 to 180 rpm. In 1885, they created the first
carburetor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meteri ...
, which mixed evaporated gasoline with air to allow its efficient use as fuel. It was used that year on a larger but still compact version of the engine, now with a vertical cylinder, that featured: * 1
Horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...
at 600 rpm output * 100 cc
engine displacement Engine displacement is the measure of the cylinder volume swept by all of the pistons of a piston engine, excluding the combustion chambers. It is commonly used as an expression of an engine's size, and by extension as a loose indicator of the ...
* non cooled insulated cylinder with unregulated hot-tube ignition (patent DRP-28-022) Daimler baptized it the ''Standuhr'' (lit. "grandfather clock"), because of its resemblance to a
pendulum clock A pendulum clock is a clock that uses a pendulum, a swinging weight, as its timekeeping element. The advantage of a pendulum for timekeeping is that it is a harmonic oscillator: It swings back and forth in a precise time interval dependent on it ...
. In November 1885, Daimler installed a smaller version of the engine onto a wooden bicycle, creating the first motorcycle (patent 36-423 – Vehicle with gas or petroleum engine), and Maybach drove it three kilometers from Cannstatt to
Untertürkheim Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Swab ...
, reaching . It became known as the ''Reitwagen''. On 8 March 1886, the inventors bought an American model coach built by Wilhelm Wimpff & Sohn, telling the neighbors that it was a birthday gift for Mrs. Daimler. Maybach supervised the installation of an enlarged 1.5 hp Grandfather Clock engine onto the coach, and installed a belt drive to the wheels. The vehicle reached when tested on the road to Untertürkheim. Maybach and Daimler went on to prove the engine in many other ways, including: * On water (1887). It was mounted in a 4.5-metre-long boat which achieved 6 knots (11 km/h). The boat was called the ''
Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwenn ...
'' after the river it was tested on and was registered as patent number DRP 39-367. Motor boat engines would become their main product until the first decade of the 1900s. * More road vehicles, including street cars * In the air. They built the first motorized airship, a balloon based on designs by Dr. Friedrich Hermann Wölfert from Leipzig. They replaced his hand-operated drive system and flew over Seelberg successfully on 10 August 1888. By 1887 they were licensing their first patents abroad, and Maybach represented the company at the great Paris
Exposition Universelle (1889) The Exposition Universelle of 1889 () was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 5 May to 31 October 1889. It was the fourth of eight expositions held in the city between 1855 and 1937. It attracted more than thirty-two million visitors. The ...
.


First Daimler-Maybach automobile built (1889)

Sales increased, mostly from the Neckar motorboat. In June 1887, Daimler bought land in the Seelberg Hills of Cannstatt. The workshop was some distance from the town on Ludwig Route 67, because Cannstatt's mayor objected to the presence of the workshop in the town. It covered 2,903 square meters and cost 30,200 goldmarks. They initially employed 23 people. Daimler managed the commercial issues and Maybach the design department. In 1889 they built their first automobile to be designed from scratch rather than as an adaptation of a stagecoach. It was publicly launched by both inventors in Paris in October 1889. Daimler's engine licenses began to be taken up throughout the world, starting the modern car industry in: * France, 1890, Panhard & Levassor and
Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
* United Kingdom, 1896, The Daimler Motor Company of Coventry * United States of America, 1891,
Steinway Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to the opening of a ...
*
Austro-Daimler Austro-Daimler was an Austro-Hungarian automaker company, from 1899 until 1934. It was a subsidiary of the German ''Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft'' (DMG) until 1909. Early history In 1890, Eduard Bierenz was appointed as Austrian retailer. The com ...
in Austria, starting in 1899


Daimler's "pact with the devil", DMG, and the Phoenix engine (1890 to 1900)

Resources were scant to keep the business going, as neither the engine sales nor the worldwide proceeds from their patents were yielding enough money. Fresh capital was injected by bringing in the financiers
Max von Duttenhofer Max Duttenhofer (May 20, 1843 in Rottweil – August 14, 1903 in Tübingen, full name: Max Wilhelm Heinrich Duttenhofer, 1896: Max von Duttenhofer) was a German entrepreneur and industrialist. His factory invented smokeless gunpowder. Life ...
and
William Lorenz William F. Lorenz (February 15, 1882 – February 19, 1958) was a Major (O4) in the United States Army Medical Corps during World War I. He was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his combat actions in France, and had previously ser ...
, former munitions makers, who were associated with
Kilian von Steiner Kilian von Steiner (; 9 October 1833 – 25 September 1903) was a German banker and industrialist. Life and career Born in Laupheim as the eighth child of Jewish merchant Viktor Steiner and his wife Sophie, Kilian Steiner spent his youth in t ...
, the owner of a German investment bank. The company was taken public. In 1890, Daimler and Maybach together founded the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, the Daimler Motor Corporation or DMG for short, which was dedicated to the construction of small high-speed internal combustion engines for land, water, or air transport. Maybach was Chief Designer. After spending long hours debating which fuel was best to use in Otto's four-stroke engine, which had normally used
methane gas Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Ear ...
as a fuel, they turned to petroleum which until then had been used mainly as a cleaner and sold in pharmacies. The company's re-foundation took place on 28 November 1890. This has been regarded as a "pact with the devil" by some German historians, as the following decade was chaotic for Daimler and Maybach. DMG continued to expand, selling engines from Moscow to New York, and additional stationary engine-making capacity was added, but the belief continued that automobile production would not be profitable. The new chairmen planned to merge ''DMG'' and ''Deutz-AG'', in spite of Daimler's disagreement with Nicolaus Otto. Gottlieb Daimler and Chief Engineer Maybach preferred to produce automobiles and reacted against Duttenhofer and Lorenz in particular. Maybach was rejected as a member of the Board of Management and left the company on 11 February 1891, and continued his design work from his own house, financed by Daimler. In late 1892, he set up a shop in the ballroom of the former Hermann Hotel and Winter Garden where he employed 17 workers, five of which were paid by Daimler. In 1894 Maybach designed his third engine model, together with Daimler and his son Paul. Used in the Phoenix, it gained worldwide attention, pioneering the use of four cylinders in the automobile and featuring: * single block casting of cylinders, arranged vertically and parallel to each other * camshaft controlled exhaust valves * spray-nozzle carburetor (patented by Maybach in 1893) * improved belt drive Maybach's creations are considered among the finest motors of the late 19th century. His inventions became indispensable for any model by any automaker in the world. He became recognised as the backbone of France's early automobile industry, where he was hailed as the "King of Designers". Daimler was forced out of his post as Technical Director at DMG and resigned in 1893, which damaged DMG's prestige. However, in 1894, a British industrialist, Frederick Simms, purchased the rights to the Phoenix engine for 350,000 marks and stabilised the company's finances. He also made it a condition that Daimler be re-employed. In 1895 DMG assembled its 1,000th engine, and Maybach also returned as Chief Engineer, obtaining 30,000 goldmarks worth of shares through his original contract with Gottlieb Daimler. Maybach patented more automobile inventions, including: * a revolutionary cooling system, tubular
radiator Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...
with fan * the honeycomb radiator Around this time though Maybach suffered two setbacks. His teenage second son, Adolf, suffered a
schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...
attack and spent the rest of his life in various mental institutions. (In 1940, his son was murdered by the
Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
as part of the Euthanasia Program.) In 1900, Gottlieb Daimler died of heart disease.


Daimler-Mercedes engine of 1900

Between April and October 1900, Maybach designed a completely new kind of car inspired by racing which would be called the
Mercedes 35 hp The Mercedes (german: Mercedes ) was a radical early car model designed in 1901 by Wilhelm Maybach and Paul Daimler, for Emil Jellinek. Produced in Stuttgart, Germany, by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG), it began the Mercedes line of car ...
when released in 1902. It featured: * long wheelbase * wide track * low height * unheard-of power from its 35 hp engine allowing it to reach .
Emil Jellinek Emil Jellinek, known after 1903 as Emil Jellinek-Mercedes (6 April 1853 – 21 January 1918) was a wealthy European automobile entrepreneur with Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG), responsible in 1900 for commissioning the first modern automobile ...
, a successful Austrian dealer and racing driver on the
French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...
who greatly admired Maybach's work, promised to buy a shipment of 36 automobiles for 550,000 goldmarks if Maybach could design a great
race car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organi ...
for him following his specifications. The prototype was finished in December 1900 and, in 1901 went on to have a string of racing successes. Its engine was baptized Daimler-Mercedes (Spanish for mercy) after Mercedes Jellinek, Emil's 10-year–old daughter. European high society bought the car in large numbers making it the commercial success that convinced the company directors there was a future in automobiles. Production increased greatly and DMG rapidly increased in size and number of employees. DMG officially registered the Mercedes trademark in June 1902. In 1902, a fire destroyed DMG's Cannstatt facilities and the company moved to Stuttgart-
Untertürkheim Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Swab ...
. Maybach continued with his innovations: * a 6-cylinder/70 hp engine (1903–04) * a pioneer aircraft engine: a high speed racing engine of 120 hp, with overhead inlet and exhaust valves and double ignition (1906) DMG demoted him to an "Inventor's Office" causing him to leave the company again in 1907. DMG replaced him with Paul Daimler. That same year, the German Engineers Association (VDI) recognized Wilhelm Maybach as an honorary member.


Zeppelin engines (1908)

In 1900, Maybach had had his first contact with Count
Ferdinand von Zeppelin Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (german: Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin; 8 July 1838 – 8 March 1917) was a German general and later inventor of the Zeppelin rigid airships. His name soon became synonymous with airships a ...
who sought to improve the engines of the
Zeppelin LZ1 The Zeppelin ''LZ 1'' was the first successful experimental rigid airship. It was first flown from a floating hangar on Lake Constance, near Friedrichshafen in southern Germany, on 2 July 1900.Lueger, Otto: Lexikon der gesamten Technik und ihre ...
airship. Maybach built some engines for him based on sketches of a 150 hp unit created by his son, Karl, while at DMG. In 1908, Count Zeppelin attempted to sell his models ''LZ3'' and ''LZ4'' to the government. On 5 August, ''LZ4'' exploded against a row of trees after attempting an emergency landing when its engines failed. This was far from being the end for the airship project as 6.25 million goldmarks were raised in a donation campaign after the accident. Count Zeppelin founded the
Luftschiffbau Zeppelin Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH is a German aircraft manufacturing company. It is perhaps best known for its leading role in the design and manufacture of rigid airships, commonly referred to as ''Zeppelins'' due to the company's prominence. The name ...
GmbH, the company that built the Zeppelin airships. Maybach had to hold off joining the new company for a while as he was still in litigation with DMG, so Karl took his place. On 23 March 1909, a deal was finally signed, creating an engine subsidiary to Luftschiffbau Zeppelin at Bissingen/Enz, in
Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...
. Wilhelm Maybach was Technical Assistant and Karl was Technical Manager. Their first designs reached 72 km/h (45 mph). Wilhelm Maybach moved his company to
Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''Kre ...
and renamed it ''Luftfahrzeug-Motoren-GmbH''. Karl and Wilhem held 20% of the shares with an arrangement for Karl to inherit. They kept supplying ''Zeppelin'', but worked on other airship engines too. In 1912, the company adopted the name Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH (Maybach Engine Construction Company). In 1916, they developed a 160 hp aircraft engine which sold 2000 units before the end 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 ...
. In 1916, Wilhelm Maybach was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Technical
University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart (german: Universität Stuttgart) is a leading research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany wit ...
.


Maybach automobiles (1922–1945)

After the First World War, the
Versailles Treaty The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
of 1919 prohibited airship production in Germany, so Maybach turned to making high-speed diesel engines for naval and railroad use, and petrol engines for automobiles, but not complete automobiles. Many of the small automakers in Germany built their own engines for cost reasons and only the Dutch
Spyker Spyker or Spijker was a Dutch carriage, automobile and aircraft manufacturer, started in 1880 by blacksmiths Jacobus and Hendrik-Jan Spijker. Originally located in Hilversum, the company relocated to Trompenburg, Amsterdam in 1898. Notable produ ...
company was interested in taking Maybach engines. Wilhelm Maybach turned down the contract because he could not agree to its conditions. Instead, he opted to build complete automobiles and the factory began to produce Maybach limousines in 1921. The first model, the Maybach W3, was shown at the 1921 Automobile Exposition in Berlin and featured * 6-cylinder engine * 4-wheel brakes * new transmission system * maximum speed of It was produced until 1928, selling 300 units, mostly with sedan bodies; the two-seat sport version was less successful. The Maybach W5 followed, with the top speed increased to ; 250 units sold in 1927 and 1929. Next Maybach produced the V12 car: * the first 12-cylinder German automobile * lightweight aluminium engine based on his airship work * light alloy pistons * 7-litre capacity * high torque and power – at 2,800 rpm Only a few dozen were sold due to the German postwar economic crisis. In 1930, its successor, the DS7-Zeppelin, also featured a 12-cylinder engine of 7 liters. In August 1929, the Zeppelin LZ-127 used five Maybach-V12 petrol engines of each. Neither Wilhelm nor Karl owned a Maybach automobile. Wilhelm never even owned a car. "He, who created the basics for the modern automobilism, rarely utilized a car for his personal purposes. He walked or took the tram. Although he could have afforded one, he did not own a car." Wilhelm Maybach died at the age of 83 in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
on 29 December 1929.


Maybach Motorenbau GmbH

His business, Maybach Motorenbau GmbH, continued in
Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''Kre ...
under his son
Karl 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'', an ...
. From around 1935 Maybach made and designed almost all the engines for tanks and half-tracks used by the German armed forces during World War 2. After 1945 it manufactured a full range of diesel engines. In the early 1960s Maybach began to construct large Daimler-Benz engines in Friedrichshafen under a licence agreement and entered close collaboration with Daimler-Benz. During the mid 1960s Maybach Motorenbau GmbH became Maybach Mercedes-Benz Motorenbau GmbH and 83 percent owned by Daimler-Benz. In 1998 Mercedes-Benz announced what would prove to be a temporary revival of the Maybach brand for automobiles. Daimler AG currently produces an ultra luxury edition of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class under the Mercedes-Maybach brand.


Legacy

* Wilhelm Maybach was accepted into the
Automotive Hall of Fame The Automotive Hall of Fame is an American museum. It was founded in 1939 and has over 800 worldwide honorees. It is part of the MotorCities National Heritage Area. the Automotive Hall of Fame includes persons who have contributed greatly to au ...
in 1996. * Three technical Schools in Germany are named ''Wilhelm Maybach'': Stuttgart,
Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Mid ...
, and
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
-
Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...
. * In 2002,
Daimler AG The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...
began to produce models under the Maybach name. * In 2005, in honor of his grandfather Karl and his great-grandfather Wilhelm,
Ulrich Schmid-Maybach Ulrich Schmid-Maybach is a philanthropist, real estate developer, and entrepreneur.Ryono, Debra. The Maybach Hybrid. worth.com. 2009-01-04. URL:http://www.worth.com/Editorial/Thought-Leaders/Profiles/Profile-Maybach-April-May08.asp. Accessed: 2009-0 ...
founded the Wilhelm and Karl Maybach Foundation.Ryono, Debra. The Maybach Hybrid. worth.com. 4 January 2009. http://www.worth.com/Editorial/Thought-Leaders/Profiles/Profile-Maybach-April-May08.asp. Accessed: 2009-01-04. (Archived by WebCite at https://www.webcitation.org/5daklZV1p)


See also

*
Mercedes Simplex The Mercedes Simplex was an automobile produced from 1902 to 1909 by the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG, Daimler Motor Society, a predecessor of Daimler-Benz and Daimler-Chrysler). It continued the use of the Mercedes name as the brand of DMG, ...
*
Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
*
German inventors and discoverers ---- __NOTOC__ This is a list of German inventors and discoverers. The following list comprises people from Germany or German-speaking Europe, and also people of predominantly German heritage, in alphabetical order of the surname. For the li ...


Notes


External links


Maybach Manufaktur

A biography of Wilhelm Maybach (in German)

Maybach UK Site

Maybach Foundation


Bibliography

* * Niemann, Harry: Mythos Maybach, 4. Aufl., Stuttgart 2002 * Niemann, Harry: Maybach – der Vater des Mercedes, 3. Aufl., Stuttgart 2000 * Niemann, Harry: Wilhelm Maybach – König der Konstrukteure, 1. Aufl., Stuttgart 1995 * Rathke, Kurt: Wilhelm Maybach – Anbruch eines neuen Zeitalters, 1. Aufl., Friedrichshafen 1953 * Rauck, Max J.: Wilhelm Maybach: der grosse Automobilkonstrukteur. Baar 1979. * Dokumentarfilm im Auftrag der Mercedes-Benz AG 1995
Wilhelm Maybach – König der Konstrukteure
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maybach, Wilhelm 1846 births 1929 deaths People from Heilbronn German automotive pioneers Engineers from Baden-Württemberg 19th-century German inventors German founders of automobile manufacturers German industrialists 19th-century German businesspeople 20th-century German businesspeople Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft Mercedes-Benz People associated with the internal combustion engine People from the Kingdom of Württemberg 19th-century German engineers 20th-century German engineers