August Horch
August Horch | |
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Born | (1868-10-12)12 October 1868 Winningen, Rhenish Prussia |
Died | 3 February 1951(1951-02-03) (aged 82) Münchberg, Bavaria |
Known for | Founder of Audi and Horch |
August Horch (12 October 1868 – 3 February 1951) was a German engineer and automobile pioneer, the founder of the manufacturing giant that eventually became Audi.
Beginnings
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Dr._Rudolf_St%C3%B6ss_sur_Horch_18-20_hp%2C_vainqueur_de_l%27Herkomer-Konkurrenz_1906.jpg/240px-Dr._Rudolf_St%C3%B6ss_sur_Horch_18-20_hp%2C_vainqueur_de_l%27Herkomer-Konkurrenz_1906.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-T1129-501%2C_August_Horch_in_Horch-PKW.jpg/240px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-T1129-501%2C_August_Horch_in_Horch-PKW.jpg)
Horch was born in Winningen, Rhenish Prussia. His initial trade was as a blacksmith, and then was educated at Hochschule Mittweida (Mittweida Technical College). After receiving a degree in engineering, he worked in shipbuilding. Horch worked for Karl Benz from 1896, before founding A. Horch & Co. in November 1899, in Ehrenfeld, Cologne, Germany.[1]
Manufacturing
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Gedenktafel_horch_ehrenfeld.jpg/200px-Gedenktafel_horch_ehrenfeld.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/August_Horch_museum_%28aka%29.jpg/200px-August_Horch_museum_%28aka%29.jpg)
The first Horch automobile was built in 1901. The company moved to Reichenbach in 1902 and Zwickau in 1904. Horch left the company in 1909 after a dispute, and set up in competition in Zwickau. His new firm was initially called Horch Automobil-Werke GmbH, but following a legal dispute over the Horch name, he decided to make another automobile company. (The court decided that Horch was a registered trademark on behalf of August's former partners and August was not entitled to use it any more). Consequently, Horch named his new company Audi Automobilwerke GmbH in 1910, Audi being the Latinization of Horch.
Post Audi
Horch left Audi in 1920 and went to Berlin and took various jobs. He published his autobiography, I Built Cars (Ich Baute Autos) in 1937. He also served on the board of Auto Union, the successor to Audi Automobilwerke GmbH he had founded. Horch remained an honorary executive at Auto Union during and after its reincorporation in Ingolstadt, Bavaria in the late 1940s until his death in 1951, ultimately not living to see the later resurrection of his Audi brand a decade later under the ownership of Volkswagen.
He was an honorary citizen of Zwickau and had a street named for his Audi cars in both Zwickau and his birthplace Winningen. He was made an honorary professor at Braunschweig University of Technology.[1] There is an August Horchstrasse (August Horch Street) at Audi's main manufacturing plant in Ingolstadt.
References
- ^ a b "Names Behind The Company: August Horch". AutoWeek: 19. November 30, 2009.
External links
- Newspaper clippings about August Horch in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
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SUVs/Crossovers |
Audi S: | |
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Audi RS: |
discontinued models
- Front
- 920
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Cars |
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Series |
- 80
- 100 LS Cabriolet
- Asso Di Piche
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- Quartz
- B12 80
- Avus quattro
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- Rosemeyer
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- Vorsprung durch Technik
- World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson
Category
Commons