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| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Rail transport |
| Founded | 1880 |
| Defunct | 1997 |
| Headquarters | Berlin, Germany |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Parent | Orenstein & Koppel  |
Gothaer Waggonfabrik (Gotha, GWF) was a German manufacturer of rolling stock established in the late nineteenth century at Gotha. During the two world wars, the company expanded into aircraft building.
In World War I, Gotha was the manufacturer of a highly successful series of bombers based on a 1914 design by Oskar Ursinus and developed by Hans Burkhard. From 1917, the Burkhard-designed twin pusher biplane bomber aircraft were capable of carrying out strategic bombing missions over England, the first heavier-than-air aircraft used in this role. Several dozen of these bombers were built in a number of subtypes - the Ursinus-based Gotha G.I, and the succeeding Burkhard-designed G.II, G.III, G.IV, and G.V. This last variant was the most prolific, with thirty-six in squadron service at one point.
Whilst Germany was prohibited from military aircraft manufacture by the Treaty of Versailles, Gotha returned to its railway endeavours, but returned to aviation with the rise of the Nazi government and the abandonment of the Treaty's restrictions.
In 1921 the company purchased Automobilwerk Eisenach, thereby entering automobile production and, with the Dixi 3/15 DA-1 playing an important part in expanding the German auto-market to buyers who hitherto would have ridden motorcycles, if at all. The company encountered a cash crisis in 1928 and the Dixi branded auto-business was sold to BMW: the Dixi 3/15 DA-1 was rebadged in 1928 as the BMW 3/15 DA-2, the name by which today the little car is better remembered.
In 1924 the Cyklon Maschinenfabrik, a manufacturer that had concentrated on motor-bikes and cycle cars came to be merged into the larger Gothaer Waggonfabrik business, through a rather indirect route of company purchases and sales. This gave Cyklon access to the viable sales and distribution network of Dixi and aspirations to become a serious auto-producer. Between 1927 and 1929 the company produced the Cyklon 9/40 which at the time was the most inexpensive six cylinder powered car sold in Germany. The conservative looking car featured a modern all-steel body produced by Germany's leading producer of steel car bodies, Ambi-Budd's Berlin based business. [1] It was, in fact, the first all-steel standard car body produced by Ambi-Budd in Berlin and, incongruously to some modern readers, was shared with the Adler Standard 6, a more powerful and higher priced six cylinder car from one of Germany's mainstream auto-makers of the 1930s. The sale by Gothaer Waggonfabrik of the cash-strapped Dixi business to BMW meant an end to Cyklon's access to a sales network, and highlighted the lack of cash for running the auto-business which rapidly fizzled out after 1928, although Cyklon was not formally wound up until 1931. [2]
Gotha's main contribution to the new Luftwaffe was the Gotha Go 145 trainer, of which 1,182 were built. The firm also produced the Gotha Go 242 assault glider and licence-built Messerschmitt Bf 110. Perhaps the most famous Gotha product of World War II, however, was an aircraft that never entered service, the Horten Ho 229. This was an exotic jet-powered, flying wing fighter aircraft designed by the Horten brothers, who lacked the facilities to mass-produce it. Two prototypes flew, the second (powered) version lost in an accident on its third flight. The third prototype- built to a modified design - was almost complete and four more were in various stages of manufacture before the end of the war. The Ho 229 V3 ended up in American hands, and is currently at the NASM's Udvar-Hazy Center, under evaluation for restoration.
On 22 February 1944, a squadron of American bombers was sent from Britain to bomb the factory, but due to bad weather, the mission was cancelled before they reached Gotha. On the way back, the Dutch border city of Nijmegen was bombed instead as a 'target of opportunity', killing hundreds of civilians.
On 24 February 1944, 239 American B-24s are dispatched to the primary target at Gotha, Germany (169 bomb Gotha); the lead bombardier from 2AD suffered from anoxia due to a faulty oxygen mask and mistook Eisenach as the primary target, 43 other B-24s released on his mistake (44 bomb Eisenach); they claim 50-10-20 Luftwaffe aircraft; 34 B-24s are lost and 29 are damaged; casualties are: 3 KIA, 6 WIA and 324 MIA. [3]
Following the war, Gotha once again returned to its original purpose, building trams and light rail vehicles in the former East Germany. The tram production ended in 1967, after East Germany started importing ČKD-Tatra trams from Czechoslovakia.
From 1983 on, parts for the Wartburg 535/1.3 were produced. After the end of the Wartburg production in Eisenach after 1991 the production concentrated on truck trailers. In 1997 the company was split and privatized by the Treuhandanstalt.
Today the Schmitz Cargobull Gotha GmbH (production site of Schmitz Cargobull AG) produces around 4000 truck trailers per year. The second successor is the Gothaer Fahrzeugtechnik GmbH, which produces lattice mast elements for mobile cranes and welded components.
Gotha aircraft included:
The Horten H.IX, RLM designation Ho 229 was a German prototype fighter/bomber designed by Reimar and Walter Horten to be built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik. Developed at a late stage of the Second World War, it was one of the first flying wing aircraft to be powered by jet engines.
Gotha is a town in Thuringia, Germany.
Dixi was a brand name of cars made by originally by Automobilwerk Eisenach, later by BMW. The first Dixi car was produced in 1904. In the difficult economic climate of the 1920s the company found it hard to sell its 6/24 and 9/40 models. So the manufacturer decided to enter the small car market, and in 1927 signed a licensing agreement with the Austin Motor Company to build a variant of the Austin 7. A production level of 2000 cars a year was agreed upon, and Dixi paid Austin a royalty on each vehicle produced.
Walter Horten and Reimar Horten, sometimes credited as the Horten Brothers, were German aircraft pilots. Walter was a fighter pilot on the Western Front, flying a Bf 109 for Jagdgeschwader 26 in the first six months of World War II; he eventually became the unit's technical officer. Reimar was also trained as a Messerschmitt Bf 109 pilot; however, later in August 1940, he was transferred to the glider pilot school in Braunschweig. He earned his PhD in mathematics from the University of Göttingen, having resumed his studies in 1946 with help from Ludwig Prandtl. The Hortens designed the world's first jet-powered flying wing, the Horten Ho 229.
The Gotha G.V was a heavy bomber used by the Luftstreitkräfte during World War I. Designed for long-range service and built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik AG, the Gotha G.V was used principally as a night bomber.
The Gotha G.I was a bomber aircraft used by the Luftstreitkräfte during the First World War.
The BMW 3/15 was BMW's first car, produced in its first version as a "Dixi" between 1927 and 1929 and then, following BMW's acquisition of the Dixi business in October 1928, in three subsequent versions as BMWs from July 1929 till March 1932, when BMW gave up the licence under which the Austin designed cars were produced.
The Automobilwerk Eisenach (AWE) was an automobile manufacturer in Eisenach, Germany.
The Gotha G.II series was a heavy bomber used by the Luftstreitkräfte during World War I.
The Gotha G.IV was a heavy bomber used by the Luftstreitkräfte during World War I. It was the first mass-produced relatively large airplane.
The official founding date of the German motor vehicle manufacturer BMW is 7 March 1916, when an aircraft producer called Bayerische Flugzeugwerke was established. This company was renamed to Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) in 1922. However, the BMW name dates back to 1917, when Rapp Motorenwerke changed its name to Bayerische Motoren Werke. BMW's first product was a straight-six aircraft engine called the BMW IIIa. Following the end of World War I, BMW remained in business by producing motorcycle engines, farm equipment, household items and railway brakes.
The Gotha WD.3 was a prototype maritime reconnaissance floatplane developed during World War I by Gothaer Waggonfabrik (Gotha) for the Imperial German Navy's Naval Air Service. The three-seat aircraft used the pusher configuration with the engine behind the crew. It was lacking in performance compared to aircraft with the more common tractor configuration with the engine in the nose and was not approved for production. The single prototype completed was used as a training aircraft; its ultimate fate is unknown.
The Gotha WD.7 was a twin-engine maritime patrol and torpedo-bomber training floatplane developed during World War I by Gothaer Waggonfabrik for the Imperial German Navy's Naval Air Service. The WD.8 was a single-engine version of the WD.7 developed for comparative purposes. The single aircraft built was deemed "totally unsuitable" by the Naval Air Service and was later sold to the Ottoman Empire.
The Gotha WD.11 was a three-seat floatplane torpedo-bomber developed during World War I by Gothaer Waggonfabrik for the Imperial German Navy's Naval Air Service. The company's earlier Gotha WD.7 had been moderately successful as a training aircraft for torpedo tactics and it designed a larger and more powerful aircraft along the same general lines. The prototype was completed in 1916 and the aircraft entered service the following year. 17 examples were built and enjoyed limited success, sinking two British freighters in the North Sea. One squadron participated in Operation Albion in 1917 with limited effectiveness. Torpedo shortages and durability issues forced the WD.11s removal from active service in 1918. Fewer than half survived to be inventoried by the Allies after the war.
The Gotha G.VI was an experimental bomber aircraft designed and built in Germany during World War I.
The Gotha Go 147 was a German experimental two-seat tailless aircraft designed in 1936 by Gothaer Waggonfabrik and Dr. A. Kupper. Two examples were built and flown. Development was abandoned before the start of World War II.
The Gotha Go 150 was a light aircraft designed at the German company Gothaer Waggonfabrik in the late 1930s. It was intended for civilian use, but ended up being used as a military trainer.
The Gotha Go P.60 was a jet-powered flying wing fighter proposed during World War II by Gothaer Waggonfabrik (Gotha). It was conceived as an improved derivative of the single-seat Horten Ho 229, which Gotha had begun to manufacture as the Go 229. The initial concept a two-seat multi-role fighter that was subsequently developed into a three-seat night and all-weather fighter, but no variant was ever built.
The Gotha Go 241 was a low-wing twin-engined four-seat transport aircraft manufactured by Gothaer Waggonfabrik in the early 1940s and intended for the general aviation market.
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