Industriewerke Ludwigsfelde is an automotive factory in Ludwigsfelde in Brandenburg, just south of Berlin in Germany. The factory is part of Daimler AG and since 1991 it has made Mercedes-Benz vans. It is also the producer of the Multicar line of vehicles.
Supplier of aero engines for the Luftwaffe
The Daimler-Benz company established the Ludwigsfelde factory in 1936 to make DB 600 aero engines for new Luftwaffe bomber- and fighter-aircraft. In the course of German re-armament and the Second World War the factory went on to make Daimler-Benz DB 601, DB 603 and DB 605 engines for various Luftwaffe aircraft.
During the Second World War (1939–1945) the factory used at least 10,000 prisoners of war, forced labourers and concentration-camp prisoners to work in the factory. From 1943 to 1944 it used the forced labour of about 1,100 women prisoners from the Ravensbrück concentration camp north of Berlin. Ludwigsfelde lies at least from Ravensbrück, so the forced labourers were housed near the factory in a subsidiary concentration camp called the Deutschlandhalle.
Early in 1945 the United States Army Air Forces bombed the factory. Then, after the surrender of Germany in May 1945, what remained of the works was dismantled and taken to the Soviet Union as part of the Allies' programme to take reparations from Germany and reduce German industrial capacity.
Post-war recovery
Brandenburg was part of the Sowjetische Besatzungszone (SBZ or Soviet occupation zone) from 1945 and the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR or German Democratic Republic) from 1949. The Volkseigener Betrieb Industriewerke Ludwigsfelde was founded on 1 March 1952. Initially it made marine diesel engines, machine tools and machine elements. Assembly of Multicar M21 Diesel-Ameise ("diesel ant") vehicles was transferred to Ludwigsfelde from the Schmiedewerk Roßwein ("Roßwein Forge Works") in Saxony. In 1953 IWL became involved in the development of motor scooters, which entered production in 1954.
In 1958 IWL began production of drop forging, precision-casting, jet engines, agricultural machinery and one-off special machinery. The jets were Pirna 014 engines for the Dresden 152 airliner, whose first prototype made its first test flight in December 1958. In 1960 VEB Flugzeuge Dresden was building 20 aircraft to enter service with Deutsche Lufthansa der DDR (which in 1963 became Interflug), for which IWL had begun series production of the Pirna 014.
However, the first 152 prototype crashed in March 1959 killing its crew, and the second prototype was grounded after a fuel tank malfunction caused a dangerous reduction in fuel supply to the engines. During ground testing in September 1960 the third prototype also suffered a fuel tank fault, and its ground tests were ended in December. In February 1961 the SED Politbüro decided to terminate aircraft production, which brought Pirna 014 production to an end at IWL. One engine was tested on an Ilyushin Il-28 aircraft until June 1961 but this did not lead to the Pirna 014's further use or production. In about mid-1961 all Dresden 152 aircraft were scrapped.
Cancellation of the 152 left IWL with 30 completed jet engines and a gap in planned industrial production. The engines were later used to power minesweepers for the Volksmarine.
IWL motor scooters
After the Second World War, various manufacturers — and particularly aircraft and aircraft components makers — diversified into other products including motor scooters. In Italy, Piaggio launched the Vespa in 1946 closely followed by Innocenti's launch of the Lambretta in 1947. The new scooters found a market among customers who could not obtain or could not afford a car but wanted a machine that was cleaner, simpler and gave more weather protection than a motorcycle. Both Piaggio and Innocenti fitted specially designed engines mounted on one side of the rear wheel, which kept the wheelbase short and maximised urban maneuverability. A bulbous rear enclosure kept the engine enclosed, which made a scooter cleaner than most motorcycles of the period. The use of aircraft industry techniques, combined with more stylish appearance made Italian scooters commercially successful, and Innocenti and Piaggio both exported large numbers of their scooters and licensed manufacturers in the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (BRD or West Germany) and other countries to make them.
Numerous European manufacturers who were not licensed to build Italian-designed scooters, developed their own models in an attempt to compete. In 1951 the automotive manufacturer Hans Glas in Bavaria launched his own design of scooter, the Goggo, initially with a 123 cc engine but from 1953 with more powerful 147 cc and 198 cc engines. In 1953 the West German aircraft maker Heinkel launched the Tourist, initially with a 149 cc engine but from 1954 enlarged to 174 cc. However, West German designers tended to use conventional motorcycle-type engines which were not small or light enough to fit beside the rear wheel. They were therefore mounted in front of the rear wheel, which significantly lengthened the scooters' wheelbase.
East German engineers responded to the growing market and competition by developing a number of prototype scooters between 1950 and 1954. August Falz of Döbeln in Saxony had built a primitive motor scooter in 1950, and by 1954 had developed a prototype with streamlined bodywork and powered by a 174 cc ČZ engine imported from the ČSSR.
However, the DDR decided that its scooter would be made only with indigenous DDR components, so the IFA RT 125/1 unit was selected. The engine displaced 123 cc, produced 5.5 bhp and had a three-speed transmission. It was smaller and less powerful than 174 cc ČZ engine, and also than engines that were being fitted in West German scooters by 1954 that produced abetween 9 and 12 bhp. This put the DDR's scooter at a competitive disadvantage before it even entered production. The MZ factory at Zschopau would increase engine production to supply the expected scooter demand.
The DDR's established EMW, MZ and Simson motorcycle factories were already fully occupied making their own products, so if the country was to make its own scooter it would have to be in a different factory. The DDR's planned economy could be criticised for choosing the IWL factory as thousands of MZ engines would have to be transported at least from Zschopau to Ludwigsfelde. However, Ludwigsfelde was in the centre of the DDR and is on the outskirts of Berlin. The capital's radial rail and road links could distribute the finished scooters efficiently, and East Berlin could be expected to be one of the largest urban markets for them. If there was a mistake, it was to rely on expanding engine production at Zschopau when IWL had nearly twenty years' experience of making engines at Ludwigsfelde.
The prototype scooter really needed further development before being put into production. However, in the wake of the June 1953 uprising the DDR government was in a hurry to implement its Neue Kurs ("New Course") policy to improve the supply of consumer goods. This put the VEB Industriewerke Ludwigsfelde under great pressure to begin scooter production by 1955.
Pitty
IWL's first production model, named the Pitty, was launched early in 1955 at a retail price of 2,300 Marks. The Pittys front wheel had leading link suspension, while its rear wheel had hydraulically damped swingarm suspension on which the engine and gearbox unit was mounted: an arrangement that Vespa had pioneered. However, IWL followed West German practice in mounting the engine in front of the rear wheel instead of beside it, thus giving the Pitty a much longer wheelbase than its Italian counterparts.
On a scooter, a pressed-steel full enclosure under the seat encases the rear wheel, engine and gearbox. In order to remain within its operating temperature range, a cooling fan was added to the air-cooled MZ engine. Powering this fan sapped the engine's already inadequate 5 PS power output. IWL copied Glas and Heinkel by giving the Pitty a large fairing that enveloped the front wheel. This increased the scooter's weight to , which was heavy for its class and further impeded its under-powered performance. IWL claimed a top speed, but in practice this was seldom achieved.
At the beginning of 1955, reporters from the East German Der deutsche Straßenverkehr magazine tested the Pitty and gave IWL numerous suggestions to improve it. Numerous customers who bought the scooter also complained. The Pitty has a dualseat that riders complained was too hard. Unlike most scooters, the Pitty has no steering lock for security. Its only anti-theft device is a flap in the enclosure under the seat that can be closed over the fuel tap and locked. IWL reacted to criticism by quickly developing a successor model, and kept the Pitty in production for only just over a year. In this time a total of only 11,293 Pitty scooters were built.
SR 56 Wiesel
In 1956 IWL replaced the Pitty with the SR 56 Wiesel. "SR" stands for StadtRoller ("town scooter"), 56 is the year, and Wiesel is German for weasel. Instead of the Pittys huge fairing, the Wiesel has a more conventional scooter fairing behind the front wheel and a separate front mudguard. This reduced the weight to : still heavy, but lighter than the Pitty. The rear swingarm was of a new trapezoidal design, which allowed the chain's tension to remain constant as the rear wheel travelled vertically. The fuel tank was increased to , which gave the scooter a range.
Also in 1956 MZ introduced the RT 125/2 motorcycle, for which it marginally increased engine power to 6 PS. Both the weight reduction and the power increase were small, and the Wiesels power-to-weight ratio was inferior to that of numerous western competitors. IWL claimed a cruising speed, but in reality the Wiesel was only 3 or faster than the Pitty.
Despite customer complaints, the Wiesel retained its predecessor's hard upholstery, lockable fuel tap flap and lack of a steering lock. It was easy for a thief to force the flap, and Der deutsche Straßenverkehrs testers were astonished that IWL had not rectified this fault from the previous model. IWL produced the Wiesel until 1959, by which time a total of 57,400 had been built.
SR 59 Berlin
In 1959 IWL replaced the SR 56 Wiesel with the SR 59 Berlin. This shared the same bodywork as the Wiesel but had well-upholstered separate saddles for the rider and pillion passenger. Also in 1959, MZ introduced the RT 125/3 motorcycle, which had not only a slightly more powerful engine but also a four-speed transmission. IWL specially requested that the version of the RT 125/3 motor made for the scooter be bored out to 143 cc, which increased power output to 7.5 bhp. IWL credibly claimed a top speed of and a cruising speed of . The four-speed transmission improved the machine's flexibility, making hill-climbing significantly less strenuous. The Berlin at last gave riders in the DDR a scooter that was good enough for practical use. It was therefore just as well that IWL at last included a steering lock to secure the relatively desirable Berlin against theft.
The Berlin still had less power than many of its western counterparts. In common with its predecessors, its front suspension was undamped, which on roads as bumpy as the DDR's was a significant weak point. Nevertheless, the Berlin secured IWL's first export orders. IWL produced the Berlin until the end of 1962, by which time a total of 113,943 had been built.
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