As the nineteenth century drew to a close, signs of technical progress emerged in a continuous flow from laboratories and academics’ studies, from workshops and universities, and began to influence daily life. Methods of work in factories changed, domestic life at home too – and progress also meant greater mobility on the roads, by rail or by water. All of society was caught up in these changes, of which the development of the motor vehicle was one.
From the very outset, the motor car had something special to offer its users: a means of multiplying their effective mobility. What could have been more in accord with the pioneering spirit that was to be sensed everywhere? The railway had given people a foretaste of what mobility could mean, and the bicycle too had started out on its all-conquering journey before the end of the 19th century. The freedom that mobility offered developed into a personal desire, and every year tens of thousands of people
joined those who were prepared to spend their money to satisfy it. Early traffic surveys tell us that by 1899 there were more bicycles on the roads than any other form of passenger vehicle. If it were only possible to create a reliable form of motorised transport, this too would add an entirely new dimension to the quality of life. This was the demand which the automobile industry was created to satisfy.
Even before the end of the 19th century, more than three dozen companies were building motor cars in Germany. One of them was August Horch & Cie, established on 14 November 1899 with head offices in Cologne. Its founder was one of the pioneering engineers in the motor-vehicle field. Even as an apprentice and journeyman, Horch had demonstrated his practical skill and ingenuity when there were complex problems to be solved. In the mid-1890s, as a graduate in engine construction, he began to take an increasing interest in the motor vehicle, and was
offered a job in 1896 by Karl Benz in Mannheim, where he was soon promoted to manager of the motor vehicle construction department. He held this key position at the epicentre of the still-young automobile industry for three years, and in that time acquired an excellent picture of the motor vehicle’s growing pains and development problems. With this knowledge and experience at his disposal, Horch set up his own business in 1899, initially repairing motor vehicles that were already in use and replacing Bosch trembler ignition systems by a linkage he had himself developed and patented.
Horch was soon hard at work on the design of his first automobile, which was ready to test-drive by the beginning of January 1901. Its engine was at the front, a concept for which Horch had fought in vain while working for Benz. To eliminate the drawbacks of the hammer-blow caused by a cylinder arranged horizontally along the vehicle’s direction of
travel, but also of the still-unsatisfactory horizontally opposed engine, Horch’s new design had two cylinders with a shared combustion chamber. He referred to it as an “impact-free” engine. Remarkably for that time, the crankcase was a light-alloy casting.
Horch next sold his small company to a businessman with a moderate-sized company in Saxony, and at the beginning of 1902 moved to Reichenbach, complete with all his machines. From that time on, he was able to work systematically on putting his ideas into practice.
August Horch was one of the first engineers in Germany to adopt shaft drive to the vehicle’s wheels. Another of his innovative ideas was to adopt chrome nickel steel for highly stressed gearwheels. He was also convinced of the merits of light alloys, and now used them for gearboxes and differential housings as
well as for crankcases. In 1904 the young engineer moved his business to Zwickau and converted it into a joint-stock company. Its output of automobiles rose relatively quickly, from 18 in 1903 to 94 in 1907, and exceeded the magic figure of 100 units a year later. Whereas only cars with twin-cylinder engines had been built in Reichenbach, the Horch factory in Zwickau produced only four-cylinder vehicles.
August Horch gave his company a clearly defined brand policy from the very outset: in all circumstances, to build only strong, good-quality cars. He was convinced that his cars should prove their merits and obtain the necessary publicity by means of success in motor sport. The four-cylinder models from Zwickau had 22 horsepower engines initially, later 40 horsepower. To yield these power outputs, displacements of 2.6 and 5.8 litres were necessary! The cars were lavishly equipped, with technical features notable for their great strength.
In 1906, driving one of these 22 hp cars, the Zwickau resident Dr. Stöss was the outright winner of the Herkomer Run, one of the toughest motor sport events of that time.
Despite this successful progress, Horch had adversaries on his company’s Board of Management and its Supervisory Board – people who objected to his tendency to run the company like an oldstyle patriarch. Squabbles and intrigues were rife, and Horch was reproached when his decisions proved to be incorrect. When these disputes reached their peak, Horch withdrew abruptly from his own company on 16 June 1909. Following Horch’s departure, Fritz Seidel took over as Chief Designer and Heinrich Paulmann as Technical Director, and were able for a long time to utilise the legacy left to them by the company’s founder. One of their very first moves was to protect the Horch name, after its owner’s sudden departure, by means of no fewer than 13 trademark registrations. By 10 January 1910 the figure
had risen to 26, covering every possible combination of the name with potential technical products of some kind: Original Horch Car, Autohorch, Horch Original, Horchuk, Horchol, Horcher! Even the name “A. Horch” was protected as a final precaution, something that the actual bearer of the name had failed to do, thus ruining his chances of operating another company under his own name. Horch’s fundamental development principles were upheld by Seidel and Paulmann: strength and quality. They launched a new 28 hp car, with an engine that was later uprated to 35 and finally 40 horsepower. German automobile engineers still regarded the valve gear of Horch’s engines from the early years of the company as unsurpassed, even in 1913. In the 10 hp tax category, there were only six cars with overhead inlet valves at that time: they were above the pistons in the Mercedes, Horch and Windhoff, and over the side-mounted exhaust valves in the Audi, Komnick and Nacke.
Design progress was the most important precondition for cost-effective production. In engine construction, this called above all for a change to a single-piece cylinder block instead of cylinders cast in pairs. The new designs had side valves. Smaller cars for newcomers to motoring also began to take shape. In 1911, for instance, 6/18 and 8/24 hp models were introduced. They possessed a number of modern design features, with a smooth engine block and very satisfactory road behaviour. An even smaller car was to be launched in the summer of 1914, to be known as the “Pony” and to have a 1.3-litre, four-cylinder engine developing 14 horsepower. The Horch company also had plans to build cars with sleeve-valve engines. These were considered to be particularly smoothrunning, but were also more complex to manufacture and needed very careful attention to the design of the sleeve valves. To avoid possible problems, Horch decided not to undertake engine development itself but to import Daimler engines from Great Britain for these cars, with the valve
gear manufactured in accordance with the American engineer Knight’s patents. Both these projects – small cars and sleeve-valve engines – came to nothing, due to the outbreak of the First World War.
In 1914, the Horch product programme consisted of four basic types, with 30, 40, 50 and 60 hp single-block four-cylinder engines. There were also older models still in production and more modern intermediate types obtained by varying the engines’ bore and stroke. Vehicles for commercial purposes were also becoming increasingly important.
The first Horch commercial vehicle was an ambulance dating from about 1910. It is interesting to note that the company also supplied various items of machinery, for example silage choppers, on a passenger-car chassis. The 8/24 chassis was available with a wide variety of delivery van bodies, which
were very popular. The 40 and 50 hp engines were suitable for light buses and small trucks; the 55 hp engine was capable of propelling a 3-tonne truck, with a trailer if necessary. Just before war broke out, a 33/80 hp car was introduced: its four-cylinder engine still had the cylinders cast in pairs and boasted an impressive displacement of eight litres.
Company chronicle
- 1899
- August Horch & Cie established on 14 November in Cologne
- 1902
- August Horch & Cie Motor- und Motorwagenbau established in Reichenbach on 3 March
- 1904
- August Horch Motorwagenwerke AG established in Zwickau on 10 May
- 1918
- Company name changed to Horchwerke AG Zwickau on 16 February; capital 3 million marks
The first Horch took to the road in January 1901. By 31 December 1918 about 9,100 Horch vehicles had been produced. Only chassis were supplied: the bodies had to be obtained from coachbuilders. Turnover rose to 5.8 million marks by 1914 and reached 30 million marks in 1918. In 1904, its first business year, the company employed about 100 people; in 1918 the total was 1,800. During the company’s first ten-year production period, a Horch chassis cost between 9,400 and 16,300 marks, depending on engine size.
August Horch on his experiences with cars in the early years
“Below the ring on the steering column were two handles, which were used to transfer the drive belt from the engine to the layshaft. Below the steering tiller, on the left, was a lever to vary the strength of the fuel-air mixture. Another lever
was connected to a rod that led to the throttle butterfly. This rod was used to open and close the throttle and thus vary the speed of the engine. Also to the driver’s left was the handbrake, which acted on the rear tyres. To start the engine, the flywheel had to be turned; in those days even the starting handle was a thing of the future. The flywheel was turned until the mixture ignited; the whole task was not only exciting but strenuous too. If ignition failed to take place, the next step was to hurry round to the front of the vehicle and turn the mixture control lever. But even if one was fortunate and the mixture did ignite, one still had to rush forward to the controls and adjust the throttle lever until the engine began to run regularly. Then, with God’s blessing, the journey could begin.
One climbed on to the driver’s seat and selected low gear at the lever under the steering tiller. This moved the belt from the smallest diameter of the stepped pulley slowly on to the fixed
layshaft pulley. The vehicle then began to move at its lowest speed of three to five kilometres an hour. On reaching a speed of eight kilometres an hour, the belt had to be shifted to the second, larger pulley, after which the vehicle could be driven up to its maximum speed of eighteen kilometres an hour.”