Josef Giggenbach

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Bayerland-JAP from 1927

Josef "Sepp" Giggenbach (born April 1, 1906 in Trostberg ; † May 25, 1980 in Mühldorf am Inn ) was a German motorcycle racer .

life and career

In 1914, Sepp Giggenbach's parents moved from Trostberg to Mühldorf am Inn, about 30 kilometers away. There he attended elementary school and then did an apprenticeship as a mechanic in a local company. When the Motorsport Club Mühldorf was founded in 1923, Giggenbach took part in a motorsport event for the first time: he tried his hand at the Trostberg – Tittmoning – Altötting – Mühldorf trip on a bicycle with an auxiliary motor, but failed after 18 kilometers with a broken frame.

The enthusiasm for motorsport was above all the dirt track races in Mühldorf, where he started for the first time in 1924 as an 18-year-old on a Triumph Knirps with a 200 cc engine. On Pentecost Sunday 1925 he won his first dirt track race on a 250 cm³ Bayerland , which the motorcycle manufacturer Anton Baierlein had made available to him. More victories followed. Giggenbach rode on the sand track, the grass and the ice rink, on the mountain and finally on the road.

In 1927 , Giggenbach won the German Grand Prix in the 1000 cm³ class on the Nürburgring on a Bayerland with a 990 cm³ V2 built -in engine from JAP and thus the once-only European championship in this category. He drove the race over 18 laps on the entire route ( north and south loop ) or 509.4 km in 5: 58: 36.4 hours, which corresponded to an average of 85.52 km / h. Werner Huth finished second on a Harley-Davidson, almost 16 minutes behind. Third place went to Heinz Kürten on Andrees . Of the twelve machines that started, six drove the race to the end. Two years later, Giggenbach also won the large class at the Schleizer triangle race . In 1930 he was second on an NSU at the Nürburgring.

The career was not only crowned by successes. Giggenbach also experienced serious falls and, according to his own statement, had to "cure 28 broken bones". In order to be economically independent from the sport, he founded the Mech. Werkstätte - Motorräder - Mietauto in 1930 . Nevertheless, Giggenbach wanted to continue to be active in motorsport and joined the Motor SS in 1933. Later he was assigned to the Reich leadership of the NSDAP as a mechanic and driver. In 1936 Giggenbach announced his retirement from racing.

After returning from three years of American captivity, however, Giggenbach's second motor sport career began in 1948, initially as a co-driver or “lubricant” in Willi Haselbeck's team. Since his company had been destroyed in the war, he initially worked in a motorcycle workshop in Würzburg, until he and his brother founded their own workshop and vehicle dealership in Mühldorf in 1952. As an athlete, he participated successfully in reliability drives before he ended his active racing career in 1954. He then worked as a functionary and organizer in motorsport, including as sports supervisor of the Supreme Motorsport Commission (OMK). He was also a member of the Mühldorf city council for 16 years.

Private

Sepp Giggenbach was married and had two daughters and a son. His home community of Mühldorf am Inn honors him with the Sepp-Giggenbach-Straße named after him .

statistics

title

Race wins

(colored background = European championship run )

year class machine run route
1927 1000 cc Bayerland - JAP Grand Prix of Germany Nürburgring
1929 1000 cc Bayerland-JAP Schleizer triangle race Schleizer triangle

References

literature

Web links

  • Photo Josef Giggenbach 1935 (on the right in the picture with hat and coat)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary in the Mühldorfer Anzeiger from May 27, 1980.
  2. ^ A b c d Laudation from MSC chairman Günther Ehe on the occasion of Sepp Giggenbach's 70th birthday.
  3. ↑ a b c Memories of European Champion Sepp Giggenbach . In a publication from MSC Mühldorf.
  4. ↑ Vincent Glon: L'Histoire de la course moto - Palmarès des Championnats d'Europe (1924-1937 et 1947-1948). racingmemo.free.fr, accessed on February 2, 2019 (fe).
  5. ↑ Vincent Glon: L'Histoire de la course moto; 5th partie: Les Grand Prix d'Europe. (1924-1937); 1927. racingmemo.free, accessed February 17, 2013 (fe).
  6. ↑ Thora Hornung: 50 years Nürburgring - curve labyrinth for experts. Görres-Verlag, Koblenz 1977.
  7. ^ Paul Weyres. (No longer available online.) Www.harleysons.de, archived from the original on February 24, 2015 ; accessed on February 24, 2015 .
  8. ↑ Vincent Glon: Schleizer triangle race - Schleiz (Allemagne). racingmemo.free.fr, accessed February 17, 2013 (fe).
  9. ^ Mühldorfer Anzeiger from April 3, 1976.
  10. ↑ letter sheet or invoice form of the company.
  11. ^ Mühldorfer Anzeiger, May 27, 1980.
personal data
SURNAME Giggenbach, Josef
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Giggenbach, Sepp
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German motorcycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH April 1, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Trostberg
DATE OF DEATH May 25, 1980
Place of death Mühldorf am Inn