History
NSU originated as a knitting machine manufacturer established in 1873 by Christian Schmidt, a technically astute entrepreneur, in the town of Riedlingen on the Danube. The business relocated in 1880 to Neckarsulm, where the river Sulm flows into the Neckar. There followed a period of rapid growth and in 1886 the company began to produce bicycles, the first of them branded as the "Germania", and by 1892, bicycle manufacturing had completely replaced knitting machine production. At about this time, the name NSU (from Neckar and Sulm) appeared as a brand name.
The first NSU motorcycle appeared in 1901, followed by the first NSU car in 1905. In 1932, the car factory in Heilbronn was sold to Fiat.
During World War II NSU designed and produced the Kettenkrad, the NSU HK101, a half-tracked motorcycle with the engine of the Opel Olympia.
Read more about this topic: NSU Motorenwerke
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“I cannot be much pleased without an appearance of truth; at least of possibility—I wish the history to be natural though the sentiments are refined; and the characters to be probable, though their behaviour is excelling.”
—Frances Burney (1752–1840)
“If you look at history you’ll find that no state has been so plagued by its rulers as when power has fallen into the hands of some dabbler in philosophy or literary addict.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)
“If man is reduced to being nothing but a character in history, he has no other choice but to subside into the sound and fury of a completely irrational history or to endow history with the form of human reason.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)