Protos

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Protos Automobile GmbH

logo
legal form Company with limited liability
founding 1898 in Schöneberg
resolution 1926
Reason for dissolution Merger with NAG
Seat Schöneberg, Reinickendorf , Spandau and (from 1920) Berlin , Germany
Branch Automobile manufacturer

Protos emblem

Protos was a German automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer in Berlin .

Company history

Protos racing car
Protos Type C from 1918-1924
Protos Type C 1 from 1925
Representation of a 60 PS Protos in Meyer's Blitz-Lexikon., Leipzig 1932, digital full-text edition

The company was founded in 1898 by engineer Alfred Sternberg and Oskar Heymann as the Protos engine factory in the then still independent town of Schöneberg near Berlin . In 1906 the company headquarters was relocated from Schöneberger Großgörschenstrasse  39 to Reinickendorf . The Siemens-Schuckert took over in 1908 Protos completely and moved the company to Spandau to the Nonnendamm in Siemensstadt , where the name Protos car plant Nonnendamm GmbH emerged. In 1911 the company was changed to Protos Automobile GmbH . Protos also developed electric cars, some of the plant Wilhelmsruh the Electricity Bergmann were produced. In 1926 the company was sold to AEG and Protos was merged with the AEG subsidiary NAG ( Nationale Automobil Gesellschaft ). The new NAG-Protos AG only existed for one year. On January 1, 1928, NAG-Protos took over the Chemnitz Presto works . With the change of name to Nationale Automobil-Gesellschaft AG, Prestowerke department, Chemnitz , the name Protos expired.

Protos commercial vehicles

Around 1908 Protos built an electric truck for municipal purposes on Nonnendamm in Berlin. Commercial vehicle designers were u. a. Ernst Valentin and Franz Starkloph. The vehicle was powered by two wheel hub motors via the rear wheels . In addition to the normal steering wheel, there were additional steering wheels on the right and left on the outside of the truck, which could be operated by the driver walking alongside the vehicle. This facility was u. a. also with Faun . This municipal electric truck was also built by Protos as a normal electric truck with a payload of four tons and as an electric omnibus. The chassis were manufactured by Siemens-Schuckert and the motors by Siemens & Halske . In 1911 commercial vehicle production for electric vehicles was discontinued. In addition to the passenger and delivery vans, truck and omnibus types were again produced as forward control vehicles with 2.5 t and up to 30  hp from 1913 . During the First World War , many trucks with 40 HP and 3 t payload were built as so-called regular three-ton trucks . In addition, a truck type with 50 HP and 4.5 t payload was built. The motor vehicle AG (KAG) took over the sale and distribution of the trucks. After the war, the trucks that were no longer needed and were left on the dump were still on offer until the 1920s. Production was limited to cars and vans.

The car production and models from 1905 to 1927

The car models, which were very similar to the delivery van of the time, enjoyed a good reputation at the time, and Protos was a car manufacturer with a very high value for reliability. This was mainly promoted by the - later revoked - victory of the endurance race from New York to Paris in 1908. However, the vehicle used was a converted light truck.

Type Construction period cylinder Displacement power Vmax
17/35 hp 1905-1908 4 row 4560 cc 35 hp (25.7 kW) 85 km / h
Type E1 (18/42 HP) 1906-1914 4 row 4560 cc 44 PS (32.3 kW) 90 km / h
6/10 hp 1908 4 row 1596 cc 11 hp (8.1 kW) 60 km / h
Type G (6/12 HP) 1908 4 row 1502 cc 12 HP (8.8 kW) 55 km / h
26/50 hp 1908-1914 6 row 6840 cc 55 HP (40 kW) 100 km / h
Type E2 (27/65 HP) 1908-1914 6 row 6840 cc 65 hp (48 kW) 115 km / h
Type F (18/45 HP) 1910-1912 6 row 4578 cc 48 hp (35.3 kW) 100 km / h
Type G1 (6/18 HP) 1910-1914 4 row 1570 cc 18 hp (13.2 kW) 60 km / h
Type C (10/30 hp) 1918-1924 4 row 2614 cc 30 HP (22 kW) 75 km / h
Type C1 (10/45 HP) 1924-1927 4 row 2614 cc 45 hp (33 kW) 85 km / h

A Protos luxury limousine owned by the Brazilian Foreign Minister is in the Rio de Janeiro Museum .

Manufacture of household and electrical appliances from 1925 to 1934

From the autumn of 1925, Siemens began using the Protos brand name for household appliances and radios . The use of the brand name was discontinued with the outbreak of the war.

The first car trip around the world

Protos racing car from 1907

The Protos became legendary as a participant in what was then the longest car race in the world, which went from New York to Paris in 1908 . The route passed through Canada , Alaska , China , Mongolia , Siberia and Russia . Of six participating starters, the Protos, with Lieutenant Hans Koeppen at the steering wheel, was the first to reach the finish in Paris on July 26, 1908. They were later reset to # 2 as they were never in Alaska. The first car trip around the world was won by Thomas (USA). On February 12, 1908, only six of the actual 13 registered vehicles started, with the car manufacturers De Dion-Bouton , Motobloc , Sizaire-Naudin , Züst and Thomas (USA) participating in addition to the Protos .

The Protos car for the world rally developed 40 hp and was supplied to a Berlin body shop , the Jos car factory. Neuss , built only for this purpose. The chassis alone already weighed 1.1 t; fully equipped and filled with 800 liters of petrol it came to 2.7 t.

The globetrotting Protos is in the Deutsches Museum in Munich. In 1908, Siemens-Schuckertwerke donated the exhibit to the museum that had opened five years earlier.

literature

  • The history of German truck construction. Volume 1, p. 148. Weltbild Verlag 1994 ISBN 3-89350-811-2 .
  • The beginning of all vice. Pp. 55-56. Westermann-Verlag 1985 ISBN 3-07-508991-5 .
  • Hans Koeppen: Around the world in a car. Ullstein, Berlin 1908. Revised. Ullstein, Hamburg 1935.
  • Hans-Otto Neubauer: Cars from Berlin - PROTOS and NAG. edition Auto & Verkehr. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-17-008130-6 .
  • Werner Oswald : German Cars 1920–1945. 10th edition. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-87943-519-7 .
  • George Schuster, Tom Mahoney, (German version: Reinhart Becker): The longest car race of all time. New York - Moscow - Paris (1908). Reprint. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-87162-9 .
  • Halwart Schrader : German Cars 1885–1920. 1st edition. Volume 1. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-613-02211-7 .

See also

Web links

Commons : Protos Vehicles  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The history of German truck construction. Volume 2b, pages 133-135.
  2. ^ The catalog of Radio-Zentrale Prohaska GmbH, Berlin 1928
  3. ^ Siemens company website, History , accessed May 16, 2019