Rapp Motorenwerke - Rapp Motorenwerke Changes To BMW GmbH

Rapp Motorenwerke Changes To BMW GmbH

The decision by the Prussian Army Administration to order 600 units of the innovative high-altitude aeroengine (project name "BBE"), prompted reorganizing the legal structure of the company. The aeroengine developed by Friz had turned Rapp Motorenwerke into an essential contributor to the war effort virtually overnight. From the middle of 1917 onward, the business, which would probably have disappeared from history never to be heard of again, now enjoyed the undivided attention of the armed services and other governmental bodies. Large subsidies flowed in and the Munich company received well financed production orders. The recognition that Max Friz gained with his engine made it clear to all the senior managers that up to now Karl Rapp and his inadequate engine designs had held the company back from success. In Friz they now had an excellent chief designer on hand and were no longer dependent on Rapp. Therefore, on 25 July 1917 the partners in the company terminated Karl Rapp’s contract. The end of this collaboration had been coming for a long time. When Rapp’s departure was finally a certainty, another important decision had to be made. If the man who had lent his name to the company was now leaving it, a new name was naturally required. So, on 21 July 1917, Rapp Motorenwerke GmbH was renamed Bayerische Motorenwerke GmbH. It was thus the first company to bear this name and to use the abbreviation “BMW”. BMW AG acknowledges this date to be the official beginning of the company we know today. The departure of Karl Rapp enabled a fundamental restructuring of BMW GmbH. While the development side was placed under Max Friz as Chief Designer, Franz Josef Popp took over the post of Managing Director. Until the end of the war, aeroengines remained the company's only product. The BBE aeroengine project was a big success under the designation BMW IIIa.