Body Alexis Kellner
The body Alexis Kellner AG was a German manufacturer of bodywork based in Berlin .
history
Founded by Consul General Alexis Kellner (1880–1953) in 1910, the company settled in Kaiserin-Augusta-Allee 101 in Berlin-Moabit . A photo album of the company that was kept in the Gotha Research Library around 1914, on the other hand, mentions Kaiserdamm 26/27 in Berlin-Westend as the address.
As early as 1911 at the International Motor Show in Berlin, the Kellner bodies attracted a lot of attention and were sold many times. Among other things, Kellner's early inventions included a retractable window behind the driver's seat, with which a closed vehicle could be converted into an open one in a short time, concealed bonnet hinges and a suitcase that was attached to the running board.
In 1920, Kellner had a plagiarism dispute with the Württemberg car body manufacturer Drauz over the authorship of a body shape, which was carried out with advertisements under the heading "City or Province" in the engine press.
In the 1920s, in particular, the company was known for its luxurious bodies - mostly convertibles and only one-offs (e.g. on Horch chassis). The vehicles with attractive lines were equipped with lots of plush and wooden paneling. Alexis Kellner was also the only brand in the industry that used naked women to advertise their products.
In 1926, Kellner propagated the balloon body , which wanted to compensate for the low torsional rigidity of the chassis at the time by hanging this new type of body articulated (i.e. floating ) on the chassis at only three points . The seats should be firmly attached to the chassis. It was hoped that this would enable lighter bodies to be used that would not have to deal with the torsion of the chassis. The picture of a body that floated like a balloon over the chassis and occupants was imagined. However, this idea could not be implemented due to technical difficulties.
After the company had about 200 employees in the meantime, the company ran into economic difficulties in 1929 due to a lack of demand and went bankrupt in 1930. In the same year, the name and patent rights were sold to the competitor Drauz in Heilbronn , who among other things used the Kellner patent for the use of a leather strap in the middle above the convertible top to prevent the fabric roof from bulging when driving fast in the convertible construction for Ford Germany . Drauz then set up the Alexis Kellner GmbH bodywork in Heilbronn , which only served as a sales company for Drauz bodies.
swell
- Werner Oswald : German Cars 1920-1945 . 10th edition. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-87943-519-7 .
- Motor magazine . September / October 1920, p. 196.
- Festschrift for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Reichsverband der Automobilindustrie e. V. 1901-1926, ed. from the Reichsverband der Automobilindustrie e. V., Berlin 1926.
- Hanns-Peter Rosellen: "... and still forward" The dramatic development of Ford in Germany 1903 to 1945. Frankfurt am Main 1986, ISBN 3-88767-077-9 , p. 89.
Individual evidence
- ^ Photo album of the body shop Alexis Kellner, Berlin. [approx. 1914], sheet 1a. Signature of the Gotha Research Library: Math 8 ° 1522a / 08