ADAC - History

History

The ADAC was founded on 24 May 1903 in Stuttgart's Hotel Silber (Silver Hotel), as the „Deutsche Motorradfahrer-Vereinigung“ (German Motorbikers' Association), with an annual membership fee of six Marks. Following a name change in 1911 it became the „Allgemeinen Deutschen Automobil-Club“ The Prussian Eagle, which for many years was the main feature of the ADAC badge was chosen as the organisation's symbol in appreciation of the support received from the German Kaiser who was also Prussia's hereditary king.

The ADAC break-down assistance service was launched in Germany in 1927.

During the Nazi period, starting in 1934, all motorists' organisations and clubs were replaced by „Der Deutsche Automobil-Club e.V.“ (the German Car Club) which was closely associated with the National Socialist Motor Corps. After the Second World War the ADAC was re-established in Bavaria in 1946, and from 1948 it was also permitted to operate in the other western occupied zones which in 1949 would become the Federal Republic of West Germany.

At the end of 1962 ADAC announced the retirement of their motor-bike-sidecar combinations which would be replaced by 40 appropriately equipped Volkswagen Beetles. Equipment on the new cars included a flashing roof-light, repair tools, a radio-based communication device, compressed air canisters, a spade and broom set, and a basic "doctor-kit" incorporating blood-plasma.

In 1974 the organisation had 3.8 million members at a time when there were 19.0 million passenger cars registered in Germany: by 1990 membership had risen to 10.2 million, with 35.5 million passenger cars registered in the country, so that ADAC membership has grown more than twice as fast as national car ownership. Growth rates during the ensuing twenty years were greatly boosted by German reunification.

May 2012 was when the organisation welcomed its 18 millionth member.