Wilhelm Gutbrod
Wilhelm Gutbrod (born February 26, 1890 in Gerlingen near Stuttgart ; † August 9, 1948 in Plochingen am Neckar ) was an inventor and entrepreneur in vehicle construction. He developed numerous motorcycles and automobiles, three-wheel and four-wheel delivery vans as well as lawnmowers, which were marketed under the brand names Standard and Gutbrod .
Farmer's son
Wilhelm Gutbrod was born on February 26, 1890 in Gerlingen near Stuttgart into a peasant family and grew up in simple circumstances. He attended elementary school in his home town and then did an apprenticeship as a lathe operator and toolmaker in the neighboring Korntal . Apparently he was noticed by his good perception and diligence, as he was already employed as a foreman on construction sites in his second year of training. After completing his apprenticeship, Gutbrod worked for the still young precision mechanics and electrical engineering company Bosch in Stuttgart. In addition to his work there, he also attended evening courses at the mechanical engineering school.
Soldier and student
From 1910 to 1912 Wilhelm Gutbrod did his military service with Artillery Regiment 65 in Ludwigsburg, Württemberg . He then began to study at the mechanical engineering school in Esslingen am Neckar, despite tight funds . Because he did particularly well in the entrance exam there, his school fees were waived. With the outbreak of the First World War, he entered his Ludwigsburg regiment in 1914, but in 1915 voluntarily switched from the artillery to the air force still under construction . Due to his technical skills, he was assigned to the engine school in Untertürkheim as a trainer for engine construction . During the war he continued his mechanical engineering studies at night school. 1918 Gutbrod could take the regular studies at the engineering school in Esslingen back to 1919 with the engineering exam successfully. He had designed a two-stroke motorcycle for his final exam .
Before that, on May 26, 1917 , he had married Pauline Maria Hahn. In April 1918 his first of two sons, Walter, was born.
engineer
After completing his studies, Wilhelm Gutbrod went to the Kaelble company in Backnang as operations manager in October 1919 , which manufactured motorized road rollers . There he designed and built the first diesel engine for the Kaelble rollers. In 1923 he moved to the Stuttgart company Klotz, where Gutbrod's two-stroke motorcycle designed for the engineering test was built almost unchanged. This motorcycle reached a speed of almost 130 kilometers per hour and achieved several successes in motorcycle races in the following years.
Vehicle builder
In 1926 Wilhelm Gutbrod went into business for himself together with the commercial director of the Klotz company, Gustav Rau, and in 1926 founded the Standard-Fahrzeugfabrik GmbH in the former horse stables of a Ludwigsburg barracks . Gutbrod himself acted as the company's technical director and managing director. The company moved to Stuttgart-Feuerbach in 1933 and to Plochingen am Neckar in 1937 .
The company began building Standard motorcycles in 1926 and manufacturing automobiles and three-wheel and four-wheel delivery vans under the Gutbrod brand in 1933 . The motorcycles achieved numerous national and international successes in races and long-distance journeys in the following years. The company's first Gutbrod Superior 500 automobile was marketed as the first Volkswagen before the later VW. The delivery vans were particularly successful because of their robustness.
In World War II the production came to a complete standstill. In 1946 the plant in Plochingen was partially dismantled. Although Wilhelm Gutbrod was seriously ill towards the end of the war, he began to rebuild the company before he died on August 9, 1948.
After his death, the eldest son Walter Gutbrod continued to run the company, but in 1953 the company had to be partially sold due to insolvency. Today hand and ride-on mowers, scarifiers and tillers are still sold under the Gutbrod name .
literature
- Otfried Jaus / Peter Kaiser: In addition to the big ones: Standard Gutbrod
- Facsimiles of the manuscript pages on the life of Wilhelm Gutbrod
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gutbrod, Wilhelm |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German inventor and entrepreneur in vehicle construction |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 26, 1890 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gerlingen near Stuttgart |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 9, 1948 |
| Place of death | Plochingen am Neckar |