František Alexander Elstner

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František Alexander Elstner (born April 11, 1902 in Královské Vinohrady near Prague , Bohemia , Austria-Hungary , † September 8, 1974 in Prague) (also František Aleksandr Elstner ) was a Czechoslovak journalist and writer .

Life

Elstner was active in the scout movement since his youth . In 1923 he founded a scout school. He later published several books on the subject. From 1918 he worked on various motor magazines and was involved in the establishment of several motor clubs. Elstner and his wife Růžena traveled a large part of Europe with a motorcycle and trailer in the 1920s.

In 1932, the automobile manufacturer Aero wanted to prove the quality of its Aero 10 model by means of a stress test in the form of a long-distance drive and won Elstner for the trip. The more than 3300 km long journey led from Prague over the Alps to the Albanian border and back. After the successful completion of this drive, Elstner wanted to prove that the aero vehicles could withstand even greater loads. In 1933 the AeroSpExOr (Aero Sport Expedition Orient) went through Italy , Sicily , Libya , Tunisia , Algeria , Morocco and Spain . Three Aero 18s were used for this 14,000 km long route . The next year an expedition followed with a slightly modified and longer route (17,600 km), this time with four blue painted Aero 20s (the 'Blue Team'). The four vehicles were driven by three women's and one men's teams. In 1935, the next long-distance journey with an Aero 30 led over 7,500 km to England and Scotland .

In 1936 Elstner toured North America with his wife in a new car. Since he was now working for the Škoda company , he chose a Škoda Popular for the three-month expedition to the USA and Mexico over a distance of 25,000 km . A year later Elstner traveled in a Škoda Rapid across the Balkans and Romania to the Black Sea and from there back north via Ukraine and Slovakia. The last trip the Elstners made before the outbreak of World War II was a trip through South America in 1938, again in a Škoda Popular. The route led from Buenos Aires to Bolivia and back via Uruguay . The return to Prague was already overshadowed by the Munich Agreement .

It was not until autumn 1947 that Elstner was able to undertake his next long-haul journey, this time through North Africa again . The route led through the Sahara to Cotonou and back again. His choice fell on the Aero Minor . The co-drivers were his second wife Anna and his son from his first marriage. The small car covered the distance of 13,100 km in 22 days, which corresponded to an average of 426 km per day. This would be Elstner's last great journey for a long time. After the Communist Party came to power , he was not able to go on a long-distance journey again until 1959 - an advertising drive through the Soviet Union in the Škoda Octavia , which covered 14,000 km.

From 1936 to 1941 Elstner worked as a consultant for Škoda, then as a writer and specialist journalist, with the exception of the years 1953 to 1955, when he had to work as a construction worker . The books he wrote mainly dealt with his travels and automobile culture, often prepared didactically for children and young people.

Elstner died in 1974. He is buried in the Vinohrady cemetery .

Works (selection)

  • ABC motoristy: Tisková služba Ligy čsl. motoristů , Prague 1933.
  • Abeceda bezpečnosti: Praktické náměty pro školní vyučování s ideovým výkladem dopravníhoproblemému , Prague 1937.
  • Aero, malý vůz - pro velké cesty! , Prague 1933–1934.
  • Benzinové opojení: pošetilé kapitoly o lidech, kteří propadli benzinu v dobách nedávno minulých , Prague 1947.
  • Cvičná křižovatka: scenario výchovného pásma , Prague 1953.
  • Automobily včera, dnes a zítra , Prague 1969.
  • Dobrodružné cesty světem: výbor z knih Evropan se vrací, Na jih od Bengházi a Tango Argentino , Prague 1971

literature

Web links

  • Elstner during the Sahara expedition in 1947, picture on www.aero-ig.de .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Reinhard Bauer: Aero: Automobil-Marketing durch Motorsport (PDF), version from February 16, 2014
  2. ↑ Review: Around the world in the Skoda Rapid. In: auto.de. August 2, 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Martin Tolar: Historie Aero Minor. In: autozine.cz. September 26, 2014, accessed November 23, 2017 (Czech).
  4. ^ František Alexander Elstner , in: Slovník české literatury po roce 1945 .
personal data
SURNAME Elstner, František Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czechoslovak writer and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH April 11, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Prague
DATE OF DEATH September 8, 1974
Place of death Prague