Max Hahn (cyclist)

Max Hahn

Max Hahn at an award ceremony on the cycling track in Treptow (1922)
To person
Nickname	Kikiriki
Date of birth	January 31, 1899
date of death	February 18, 1960
nation	Germany
discipline	Street
End of career	circa 1926
Last updated: November 6, 2018

Max Hahn (born January 31, 1899 in Mühlhausen , East Prussia , † February 18, 1960 in Berlin ) was a German racing cyclist and bicycle designer.

biography

Max Hahn was born in East Prussia; when he was five years old, the family moved to Berlin. At the age of eight he was given his first bicycle for Christmas, and when he was 13 he competed in his first youth race over 20 kilometers. He was in the lead when he collided with a horse and cart , fell and had to stop the race. At the age of 14 he became club champion of Olymp 1912 over 1000 meters and won the 150 kilometer Berlin- Frankfurt (Oder) -Berlin race. In the following year he rented a cabin at the Treptow cycling track and began to train systematically on the track , for example with Emil Lewanow . In 1917 he was drafted as a soldier.

In the 1920s, Hahn established himself in the capital as a driver in six-day races, an endurance discipline , but also as a "flyer" (the name for sprinters at the time ). He started in a total of 13 six-day races, finished second with Franz Krupkat in 1923, with Oskar Tietz twice in 1925 and third in 1926. In later years Hahn explained to his son that he was never allowed to win because of agreements. In 1925 Hahn was third in the German sprint championship and in 1926 runner-up. Hahn ended his active cycling career at the end of the 1920s.

Hahn then opened the “First Berlin Radsporthaus Max Hahn” and created his own bicycle brand Rennhahn , for which he advertised with slogans such as B. "Rennhahn overnight, makes you a master". Well-known train drivers of the time such as Paul Buschenhagen , Willy Funda and Georg Kroschel drove Rennhahn bikes. Together with Oscar Tietz, he developed the "first rocket-bike in the world", the valve Rak I . The vehicles were tested on the Berlin Olympic track in Plötzensee , which was also reported in the newsreel . Nothing is known about the progress of the experiments. Hahn also constructed a (patented) racing simulator, called "10 role team apparatus", with which ten drivers could compete against each other at the same time; the distance covered was indicated by a pointer on a large disk. Hahn also worked as a tinkerer and inventor in the field of bicycle components: He received patents for a valve cap , for a suspension integrated in the steering head , an adjustable handlebar (the so-called Van Kempen handlebar ) and other inventions.

During World War II , both the building in which the shop was located and the house in which the family lived were destroyed. After the war, Hahn opened the Maxim restaurant in Neukölln , which became a meeting place for cyclists, and a bicycle shop in Kreuzberg .

In 1946 the Sportring Neukölln , a consortium led by Max Hahn, received an order from the Neukölln District Office to operate the Werner-Seelenbinder-Radrennbahn in Neukölln, which opened in 1948. In 1952 there was a quarrel behind the scenes, and the district office terminated Hahn's lease; a subsequent court case ended with a small amount of compensation for Hahn. The loss of the railway, which Hahn had invested his entire fortune in expanding, plunged him into high debts for the rest of his life. His comment on this: "Maxe Hahn, you have eaten up the greatest stupidity of your life." That is why he had to stop the decades of financial support from several Berlin cycling clubs , which therefore included the addition Rennhahn in their names, including RVg Rennhahn , which Hahn 1929 had co-founded. In 1953 the club was renamed the Berlin Racing Driver Association in 1929 .

Around 1952, Max Hahn, with the support of Oskar Tietz and Walter Sawall, built so-called Bambi bikes , a high-quality mini racing bike for children between the ages of ten and 14 that were to be used on specially built cycle tracks . Hahn first advertised these "mini wheels" as early as the 1920s. After several races in different places, the first Bambi racetrack with races of 300 children in front of 5000 spectators was inaugurated in Kreuzberg at the Wassertorplatz in 1953 . In 1952, for example, the winner waved to travel to the World Railroad Championships in Paris . Even the Tour de France winner Fausto Coppi was put on a Bambi bike in an effective advertising . The Walt Disney Pictures , producer of the animated film Bambi demanded royalties, as you would have secured the trademark rights. But since there were already numerous products with the name Bambi , Hahn did not have to pay any fees to Disney. However, the Bund Deutscher Radfahrer (Association of German Cyclists) was opposed to the Bambi movement because it was “harmful” for children to ride these bikes, and there was also trouble with the suppliers. As early as 1954, sales of Bambi bikes collapsed and the project came to an end. The extent to which the financial debacle surrounding the cycling track in Neukölln played a role is unclear.

The bicycle business slackened sharply in the 1950s, and Hahn switched to radio and television sets with little success.
Max Hahn died in 1960 at the age of 61 and was buried in St. Jacobi Kirchhof I in Neukölln.

literature

• Renate Franz / Michael Mertins: About racing rocket wheels and nimble Bambis: the racing cyclist Max Hahn . In: Association of historical bicycles (ed.): The bone shaker. Magazine for lovers of historic bicycles . tape 52 , no. 2 , 2011, p. 4-10 .
• Michael Mertins: New Findings About Max Hahn . In: Association of historical bicycles (ed.): The bone shaker. Magazine for lovers of historic bicycles . tape 57 , no. 1 , 2014, p. 11-15 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Franz / Mertins, Von Rasenden Raketenwheels , p. 4.
2. ^ Sports album of the cycling world. A cycling yearbook contains the events of 1922 in words and pictures . tape 21 . Guido Hackebeil, Berlin 1922, p. 21 .
3. ↑ Roger de Maertelaere: Mannen van de night. 100 years of zesdaagsen . De Eecloonaar, Eeklo 2000, ISBN 90-74128-67-X , p. 214 .
4. ↑ Franz / Mertins, Von Rasenden Raketenwheels , pp. 4/5.
5. ↑ Franz / Mertins, Von Rasenden Raketenwheels , p. 5/6.
6. ↑ Franz / Mertins, Von Rasenden Raketenwheels , p. 5.
7. ↑ Mertins, New Findings About Max Hahn , p. 13f.
8. ↑ Franz / Mertins, From racing rocket wheels , p. 6.
9. ↑ Mertins, New Findings About Max Hahn , p. 14.
10. ↑ Franz / Mertins, Von Rasenden Raketenwheels , pp. 6/7.
11. ↑ 125 years of the Berlin cyclists' association 1888. A foray through 125 club history in Berlin . 2013, p. 75 f .
12. ↑ The Bambi case. In: adfc-nrw.de. Retrieved October 9, 2018 . 
13. ↑ Franz / Mertins, Von Rasenden Raketenwheels , p. 9.
14. ↑ Franz / Mertins, Von Rasenden Raketenrräder , p. 10.
15. ↑ Franz / Mertins, Von Rasenden Raketenwheels , p. 7.
16. ^ Franz / Mertins, Von Rasenden Raketenwheels , p. 11.