Fresh on

This article deals with the company Frischauf. For further meanings, see Frischauf (disambiguation) .

Former bicycle factory Frischauf (picture in letterhead)

The Frischauf bicycle factory was a cooperative-based company founded by the workers' cycling association Solidarity in 1912 in Offenbach am Main . Initially bicycles were produced with around 200 employees, later with over 1000 employees also bicycle accessories, sewing machines and motorcycles. In early 1933 , the cooperative was expropriated by the National Socialists and the factory was renamed Mayweg-Werke.

Prehistory and beginnings

In the years 1880 to 1890, workers' cycling clubs were founded all over Germany with social democratic support. These associations were often given the nickname “Solidarity” in order to distinguish themselves as a “working class” in the then still pronounced class society in Germany. In 1896 the central association "Solidarity" was founded with its seat in Chemnitz , in 1907 it was moved to Offenbach am Main . Bicycling had become extremely popular, but it was hardly affordable for workers. Based on the model of a Berlin purchasing cooperative, a Germany-wide network of bicycle sheds with the name "Frisch auf" was built. These bicycle houses were organized as a cooperative and enabled the last 330,000 members to purchase inexpensive bicycles. Like the Central Solidarity Association, the cooperative headquarters was located in Offenbach. In the meantime, the association, renamed “Arbeiter Rad- und Kraftfahrerbund Solidarität”, was the largest cycling association in the world.

history

In 1922 , in Offenbach in Sprendlinger Landstrasse 220-224, the production of its own bicycles began. The workforce grew steadily and the product range was expanded further. In addition to women's and men's bicycles, bicycle accessories were also produced in-house. The Frischauf bicycles were mostly painted green, a trademark of the company. Sewing machines and motorcycles were added later. The company operated very successfully in times of high unemployment in Germany. Social benefits such as housing for employees and insurance policies for cooperative members were exemplary for the time.

After the National Socialists seized power in early 1933, the success story ended under violent circumstances. With the ideological proximity to the social democratic worldview, the new rulers justified the ban on the cycling association and the expropriation of the cooperative property. The chairman, Heinrich Niemann, was murdered by members of the SA in his office, the company premises were occupied and employees who were unwilling to adapt were deported to concentration camps. The former cooperative company was initially taken over by Mayweg-Werke and finally renamed REX-Maschinenbaugesellschaft mbH in 1938. During the Second World War, this company employed around 600 prisoners of war and slave labor for arms production. Allied associations bombed and damaged the factory buildings so badly that production had to be stopped. After the war, the expropriated work was no longer given to the newly founded cycling association “Solidarity” and only a small amount of compensation was paid. This ended the company history of the Frischauf bicycle factory.

Some apartment buildings for former employees of the Frischauf company have been preserved to this day and are part of the Route der Industriekultur Rhein-Main project .

literature

• Irmgard Baumann: The Fresh Up Bicycle House in Offenbach am Main and my family - contemporary history from the perspective of the common people. Berthold-Verlag, Offenbach am Main 2016, ISBN 978-3-939537-44-1 .
• Ralf Beduhn, Jens Klocksin (Ed.): Rad - Culture - Movement. 100 years around the bike: Solidarity cycling and motorists' association. Illustrated history 1896–1996. Klartext-Verlag, Essen 1995, ISBN 3-88474-233-7 .

Web links

• The Arbeiter Rad- und Kraftfahrerbund Solidarity on cycling4fans.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Local route guide No. 13 of the Route der Industriekultur Rhein-Main. (PDF; 686 kB) (No longer available online.) In: krfrm.de. KulturRegion FrankfurtRheinMain gGmbH, August 2006, archived from the original on November 17, 2015 ; accessed on November 14, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Coordinates: 50 ° 4 ′ 57.5 ″  N , 8 ° 44 ′ 40.5 ″  E