Feldberg race

Feldberg circuit as a hill climb
until 1936

Oberreifenberg , Reifenberg , Taunus , Hesse , Germany
Route type:	temporarily
Opening:	1950
Decommissioned:	1954
Hill climb track
1920-1936
Important events:	including Grand Prix classes
Feldberg circuit
1950-1954
Route data
Important events:	German motorcycle championship Formula 3
Route length:	11.6  km (7.21  mi )
Height difference:	180  m (590.55  ft )

Coordinates: 50 ° 14 ′ 37.4 "  N , 8 ° 26 ′ 38.4"  E

The Feldberg race was an automobile and motorcycle race that was held between 1920 and 1954 on various courses in the area of ​​the Großer Feldberg ( 879  m above sea  level ) in what was then the Obertaunus district of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau or the later state of Hesse .

History and route

The race took place from 1920 to 1928, from 1934 to 1936 and most recently 1950 to 1954 in various motorcycle and automobile classes. The route was changed several times. From 1921 the initial hill climb route was eight kilometers long and was extended to twelve kilometers in 1935. The winner of the 1928 race was Hans Stuck in an Austro-Daimler . The winners on Feldberg in the 1930s were Paul Pietsch in an Alfa Romeo and Hans Stuck and Bernd Rosemeyer in an Auto Union .

When racing resumed on October 1, 1950, an 11.6 km long circuit with start and finish was driven east of Oberreifenberg ; the altitude of the Feldberg race track was between around 500 and 680  m . At that time, almost the entire top class of German drivers had lined up, including DKW drivers Hermann Paul Müller and Ewald Kluge . Walter Glöckler won the sports car class up to 1100 cm³ on a self-built VW.

The races from 1951 to 1954 were also runs of the German Motorcycle Championship. Every year over 100,000 spectators attended the events.

The Feldberg race on July 18, 1954 was an internationally advertised run for the German Championship for motorcycles. The NSU factory team was missing. Nevertheless, NSU dominated the class up to 250 cm³ with private drivers on the Sportmax . Walter Reichert from Ingelheim am Rhein won the race over 13 laps or 150.488 km in 1: 25: 56.7 hours (average 105.0 km / h) ahead of Fritz Kläger from Freiburg im Breisgau . Hubert Luttenberger followed Adler in third place, ahead of two other Sportmax. August Hobl dominated the class up to 350 cm³ on DKW (112.4 km / h) ahead of three Australians on Norton and the 500 solo class was won by Australian Jack Ahearn on Norton (112.6 km / h) ahead of another Norton and Walter Zeller on BMW . After crossing the finish line, Ahearn fell badly. In the ten-lap race of the teams, world champion Eric Oliver from England fell , so BMW safely took the first four places, with Wilhelm Noll / Fritz Cron (105.2 km / h) in first place, followed by Fritz Hillebrand / Manfred Grunwald, Willi Faust / Karl Remmert and Walter Schneider / Hans Strauss. Despite bad weather around 50,000 spectators are said to have seen the Feldberg race, which began with the 125 cm³ class and the victory of Horst Fügner from Chemnitz at an IFA ; Second place in the 125cc class went to Karl Lottes on MV Agusta, ahead of another IFA under Erhart Krumpholz .

For 1955, the OMK requested the conversion of a section of the route, but this was not carried out. Thus the end of the field hill climb had come. As a result of the serious accident at the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1955 , many motorsport events across Europe were canceled or suspended in the following years.

Schorsch Meier holds the Feldberg lap record in a BMW with 119.1 km / h.

Winners list

Feldberg Mountain Prize 1934–1936

Edition	date	class	winner
1.	1934	250 cc	Walfried Winkler ( DKW )
		350 cc	Ernst Loof ( Imperia )
		500 cc	Bernhard Petruschke ( Rudge )
		1000 cc	Kurt Mansfeld ( BMW )
		Carriages 350 cm³	Ernst Loof / unknown ( Imperia )
		Carriages 600 cm³	Karl Braun / Erwin Badsching ( Horex )
		Spans over 1000 cm³	Karl Braun / Erwin Badsching ( Tornax )
		Sports car 800 cm³	Adolf Brudes ( MG )
		Sports car 1100 cc	Willi Briem ( Amilcar C6)
		Sports car 1500 cm³	Ernst Günther Burggaller ( Bugatti T51A )
		Racing car 2000 cm³	Rudolf Steinweg ( Bugatti T35C Monoplace )
		Racing car over 2000 cm³	Paul Pietsch ( Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza )
2.	1935	250 cc	Arthur Geiss ( DKW )
		350 cc	Oskar Steinbach ( NSU )
		500 cc	Oskar Steinbach ( NSU )
		Carriages 600 cm³	Toni Babl / Julius Beer ( Douglas own construction)
		Span 1000 cm³	Karl Braun / Erwin Badsching ( Horex )
		Sports car 1100 cc	Heinz Brendel ( Fiat )
		Sports car 1500 cm³	Kurt Illmann ( BMW 315/1 )
		Sports car 2000 cm³	Rudolf Hasse ( eagle )
		Sports car over 2000 cm³	Herbert Berg ( Mercedes-Benz SSK )
		Racing car 1100 cm³	Bobby Kohlrausch ( MG )
		Racing car 1500 cc	Rudolf Steinweg ( Bugatti T51A Monoplace )
		Racing car 3000 cm³	Herbert Wimmer ( Bugatti T35B )
		Racing car over 3000 cm³	Hans Stuck ( Auto Union )
3.	September 27, 1936	250 cc	Ewald Kluge ( DKW )
		350 cc	Heiner Fleischmann ( NSU )
		500 cc	Heiner Fleischmann ( NSU )
		Carriages 600 cm³	Hans Starke / Cilly Starke ( NSU )
		Span 1000 cm³	Hans Starke / Cilly Starke ( NSU )
		Sports car without compressor 1100 cm³	Heinz Brendel ( NSU - Fiat )
		Sports car with compressor 1100 cm³	Bobby Kohlrausch ( MG )
		Sports car without compressor 1500 cm³	Walter Glöckler ( Hanomag )
		Sports car without compressor 2000 cm³	Paul Schweder ( Adler Trumpf Sport )
		Sports car with compressor 2000 cc	Herbert Berg ( Alfa Romeo )
		Sports car without compressor 2000 cm³	Erich Pätzold ( Ford )
		Racing car with supercharger 1100 cm³	Walter Bäumer ( Austin )
		Racing car 1500 cc	Ernst-Dietrich Tröltsch ( Bugatti T51A Monoplace )
		Racing car 3000 cm³	Adolf Brudes ( Bugatti T35B )
		Racing car over 3000 cm³	Bernd Rosemeyer ( Auto Union )

Feldberg race 1950–1954

Edition	date	class	winner
1.	October 1, 1950	125 cc	Hermann Paul Müller ( DKW )
		250 cc	Ewald Kluge ( DKW )
		350 cc	Siegfried Wishes ( DKW )
		500 cc	Ernst Hoske ( BMW )
		Carriages 600 cm³	Wilhelm Noll / Fritz Cron ( BMW )
		Ranges 1200 cm³	Sepp Müller / Fred Minderlein ( BMW )
		Formula 3 racing car 500 cm³	Gottfried Vollmer (Atlas)
		Sports car 1100 cc	Walter Glöckler ( VW self-build)
2.	May 20, 1951	125 cc	Rudi Felgenheier ( DKW )
		250 cc	Hein Thorn Prikker ( Moto Guzzi )
		350 cc	Hans Baltisberger ( AJS )
		500 cc	Walter Zeller ( BMW )
		Carriages 500 cm³	Wiggerl Kraus / Bernhard Huser ( BMW )
		Carriages 750 cm³	Franz Mohr / Günter Müller ( BMW )
3.	June 15, 1952	125 cc	Otto Daiker ( NSU )
		250 cc	Hein Thorn Prikker ( Moto Guzzi )
		350 cc	Fritz Kläger ( AJS )
		500 cc	Rudi Knees ( Norton )
		Carriages 500 cm³	Wilhelm Noll / Fritz Cron ( BMW )
		Carriages 750 cm³	Ernst Ebersberger / Hans Strauss ( BMW )
4th	June 14, 1953	125 cc	Werner Haas ( NSU )
		250 cc	Siegfried Wishes ( DKW )
		350 cc	Siegfried Wishes ( DKW )
		500 cc	Georg Meier (racing driver) ( BMW )
		Carriages 500 cm³	Wilhelm Noll / Fritz Cron ( BMW )
5.	July 18, 1954	125 cc	Horst Fügner ( IFA )
		250 cc	Walter Reichert ( NSU )
		350 cc	August Hobl ( DKW )
		500 cc	Jack Ahearn ( Norton )
		Carriages 500 cm³	Wilhelm Noll / Fritz Cron ( BMW )

swell

• Feldberg race. In: Hansjörg Meister. feldbergrennen.de, accessed on May 27, 2015 . 
• Book Everything about the legendary field mountain races. In: Speedweek Online. speedweek.com, accessed May 27, 2015 . 
• ADAC and AvD (eds.): Internationaler Motorsport. Europa-Contact-Verlags-Ges., Döffingen 1954, pp. 198 and 199
• Hans-Peter Lohmann: Legendary German race tracks. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-613-03438-9

literature

• Holger Rühl: The field mountain races in the Taunus 1904–1954 - The German TT 1950–1954. Motorsport Verlag, Weilrod-Finsternthal im Taunus 2009 (without ISBN)
• Holger Rühl: The automobile races in the Taunus 1904–1926. Societäts-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-7973-0881-7
• Rudolf Steber: Between start and finish - legendary race tracks in Hesse; Feldbergring, Dieburger Dreieck, Schottenring, Herkules-Bergring, Battenbergring. Burgwald-Verlag, Cölbe-Schönstadt 2010, ISBN 978-3-936291-45-2

Web links

• Feldbergrennen , on feldbergrennen.de, accessed on May 27, 2015
• Feldberg circuit, route map 1952, on feldbergrennen.de, accessed on May 27, 2015