Motor cycle racers2 by Max Esser-Mutter Erde fec

Ewald Kluge (19 January 1909 – 19 August 1964) was a

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 ...

motorcyclist.

Life

Ewald Kluge had a difficult upbringing. At the age of twelve, his mother died and he was forced to stay at home, working for his father's company. At fourteen, he sought a teaching position but was unsuccessful and ended up washing cars, which led to an apprenticeship as a mechanic in a garage. At the age of nineteen he was made redundant and started working as a taxi driver in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. For 800

Reichsmark The (; sign: ℛℳ; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 in West Germany, where it was replaced with the , and until 23 June 1948 in East Germany, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reich ...

s Kluge bought a Dunelt motorcycle in which he entered the 1929 Freiberger Dreiecksrennen, starting first and finishing in third place. Over the next few years, Kluge rode a private

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 ...

before joining the DKW works team in 1934 as a mechanic and backup rider. In 1935 he was made a full member of the works team. From 1936 to 1939, Kluge was German champion in the 250 cc class and in 1938 and 1939 he was also European champion. In June

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the authoritarian regime. ** State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France ...

, Kluge won the 250 cc Lightweight TT at the

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

by a margin of eleven minutes and ten seconds over second placed Ginger Wood. He was the first German and only the second rider from continental Europe to win the race. 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Kluge was a Sergeant 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 ...

at the school for army motorisation in Wünsdorf. In 1943, he was released from his role at the request of

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 ...

, for whom he went to work in their testing department. After the war, the Russians denounced him as a

Nazi 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 ...

and between 1946 and 1949 he was imprisoned in NKVD Special Camp No. 1. From 1950, Kluge was once again a rider for

, often riding in both the 250 cc and 350 cc classes. In , Kluge competed at the

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in Rh ...

, finishing fifth in the 350 cc race and fourth in the 250 cc race. In 1953 he had a serious crash at the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around the village a ...

in which he fractured his thigh, ending his riding career. Later he worked in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

for Auto Union. Kluge died on 19 August 1964 from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. He was married and had a son and a daughter.

Legacy

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Ba ...

and Weixdorf, there are streets named after Kluge. At

AVUS The Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße ('Automobile traffic and training road'), known as AVUS, is a public road in Berlin, Germany. Opened in 1921, it was also used as a motor racing circuit until 1998. Today, the AVUS forms the northern p ...

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 constitu ...

, there is a monument to him.

References

Books

* * Dieter Herz: "Der kluge Mann" in "Motor-Klassik", May 1989 (German) * *

Footnotes

External links

Ewald Kluge at MotoGP.com

Ewald Kluge at the Official Isle of Man TT Database
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kluge, Ewald 1909 births 1964 deaths German motorcycle racers 250cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders Isle of Man TT riders Enduro riders Deaths from cancer in Germany National Socialist Motor Corps members German taxi drivers German Army soldiers of World War II