Dübener egg
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The Würdig 301 (in the late GDR Würdig 301-2 ), popularly known as the “ Dübener Ei ” or “Kuschelkugel”, is one of the lightest caravans .
The beginnings of the Worthy 301
The history of the Würdig 301 began in Bad Düben (Saxony) in 1936 and ended with the last delivery in 1990. The designer Max Worthy created with this aerodynamic form a permanent silhouette for the next fifty years. When Würdig and his girlfriend were unable to stay overnight in an inn due to the lack of a marriage license, he came up with the idea of an independent travel home so that in future he would no longer have to rely on the uncertain hospitality of third parties.
At the same time, similar caravans - but with no standing height - were popular in the United States under the name teardrop trailers . American magazines published blueprints for self-construction.
The popularity of the small and lightweight caravan rapidly increased and so it was in the 1930s, soon a slight mass production leading to the Second World War came to a complete standstill. At the end of the 1950s, Max Würdig's son, Karl-Bernhard Würdig, took over the business.
VEB camping caravan
Equipment and purchase price
The vehicle was a lightweight single-axle trailer with an empty weight of 270 to 300 kg and a maximum load of 130 kg. The dimensions vary slightly and were approximately 380 cm (length) × 172 to 175 cm (width) × 210 to 215 cm (height). The superstructure was a wooden construction with a hard paper cover, the interior cladding made of plywood. The equipment included a gas stove, a wardrobe and a table with a two-part seating area that could be joined to form a double bed (bed). Upon request, a lockable awning extended the living space. The price was around 5000 marks in the mid-1960s and rose to around 6500 marks by 1990. That corresponded to almost half of an average annual income.
Serial production
The first post-war series went into production in the GDR in 1955, without a front window and with 16-inch tires until the early 1960s. Before that, only individual prototypes were made, with a round (pre-war) rear end and an unnumbered chassis. Since the planned economy of the GDR did not provide for the provision of material for caravan construction, the initial situation was difficult - especially for a private company that remained dependent on state material allocations. Sometimes less than ten caravans left the small 12-person company each year. In the mid-1960s, the output was increased to around 20 to 40 units, before it was nationalized in 1972 and renamed VEB Campingwohnwagen Bad Düben to a further increase to up to 90 units per year.
Inconsistent vehicle numbering
The series vehicles were numbered throughout, but according to a changing system. The VIN was three-digit until the end of the 1950s, with the first digit indicating the month of production and the last two digits the year of production since the mid-1950s. At the beginning of the 1960s, the FIN became four-digit: the last two digits marked the year of production, as before, the first two digits now the number of items, which related to the number of vehicles manufactured since 1955. In 1966/67 the year was omitted, the FIN only marked the number of pieces. Because the total production had already exceeded 100 at this point in time, the FIN was initially back to three digits. In 1981/82 the thousandth copy was produced, at the end of production in June 1990 the last chassis numbers were around 1700. The total number of units produced was an estimated 2000 to 2200 units, but most of them no longer exist.
The Dübener egg after the end of the GDR
The vehicle, which has become rare today, can be seen occasionally at classic car meetings or on Ascension Day at the so-called "Dübener egg meeting". The Dübener egg has now been included in the camping museum.
Picture gallery
Worthy 301 with awning
Dübener egg
Worthy 301 from 1975
EMW 340-2 and Dübener Ei
Dübener Ei and Škoda Octavia
