Hermann Rützler

A Steyr VI Sport - Rützler started with such a vehicle in the 1920s.

Hermann Rützler (born June 20, 1883 in Mellau , † June 6, 1960 in Vienna ) was an Austrian photographer and racing car driver .

Hermann Rützler was a photographer in Dornbirn at a young age , but was enthusiastic about bicycles and motorcycles from an early age. After his studio was destroyed by fire and he came into conflict with the authorities several times, he went to Russia in 1910 .

There he developed into a car specialist who maintained close relationships with the aristocracy and the imperial Russian motorists. The October Revolution put an end to his stay in the Tsarist Empire and Rützler had to return to Austria.

From 1920 he worked first as a driving master, later as head of test driving and as a racing driver for the Österreichische Waffenfabriks AG , which became the Steyr-Werke AG in 1923. Between 1921 and 1925 he celebrated numerous victories in national and international hill climbs . He became popular with his victory on the Klausen Pass in 1923 at the wheel of a Steyr VI. In 1923 he also ran several laps at the Targa Florio before an accident ended his journey.

After the end of the racing activities of Steyr Rützler left the company in 1927 and started in Vienna with a repair shop for motor vehicles independently . Rützler led his company into old age and died in Vienna in 1960.

literature

• Martin Pfundner: Austro Daimler and Steyr. Rivals until the merger. Ferdinand Porsche's early years . Böhlau, Vienna 2007. ISBN 978-3-205-77639-0

Web links

• Image: Hermann Rützler on a Steyr IV, at the Klausen race in 1921