A Brief History of the Marque
Neander fue una marca de motocicletas creación de Ernst Neumann, uno de los mayores genios creativos de la historia del motociclismo nacido en la ciudad prusiana de Kassel en 1871. Sus diseños hicieron historia tanto en automóviles como en motocicletas, por ser inusuales y proponer soluciones alternativas que fueron capaces de pasar del tablero de dibujo a la realidad.
A finales del siglo XIX Neumann construyó triciclos prototipos propulsados por motores de vapor y ya entrado el siglo XX con motores De Dion Bouton antes de embarcarse en una carrera como artista comercial en Munich y luego en París, donde en 1904 diseñó su primera motocicleta para la empresa Griffon utilizando un motor V twin fabricado por la suiza Zedel.
De regreso a Alemania, Neumann adoptó el nombre 'Neander' y funda en 1924 en la ciudad de Euskirchen la compañía Neander Motorfahrzeug GmbH donde inicialmente construye modelos para Alright-Werke. En 1926 la empresa se traslada a Düren-Rölsdorf.
En 1927, Neander estandariza su inconformista ciclística: una de duraluminio, para los modelos pequeños con motores Villiers de 122 y 175 cm3 y otra de acero estampado para los más grandes de 350 a 1000 cm3, con motores Küchen (de 350, 500 y 600 cc,), los británicos JAP (monocilíndricos de 500 y 600 y bicilindricos de válvulas laterales de 750 y 1000 cc) para los modelos de serie mientras que para la versión deportiva utiliza los MAG suizos monocilíndricos de 500 OHV (válvulas a la cabeza), 500 y 600 IOE (inlet over exhaust: admisión sobre escape) y V -Twin 750 y 1000 IOE.
Todas las motocicletas diseñadas por E. Neumann tenían en común que los cuadros no eran pintados sino cadmiados, tanto los hechos de chapa de acero prensado como los de duraluminio. En sus diseños establecía que debían ser cómodos, livianos, confiables y accesibles para toda la población. La producción oficial de Neander se detiene en 1929, pero en 1928, Opel compra la licencia y hace construir por la fábrica Elite-Diamond el modelo Opel Motoclub en los que monta su propio monocilíndrico. Después de la absorción de Opel por General Motors en 1930, solo una media docena de las últimas Neander salen bajo el nombre EO (Elite-Opel) puesto que los estadounidenses decidieron abandonar la producción de motocicletas. Después de perder su negocio, Ernst Neumann regresó a la industria del motor donde diseñó coches pequeños y livianos propulsados por motores de motocicleta. La llegada del Volkswagen hizo que este tipo de vehículos fuera inviable, Neumann retornó a la pintura artística en sus últimos años, muriendo en 1954 a la edad de 83 años.
En las fotos comento mas detalles de sus creaciones. (1)
Manufactured by Neander of Düren from 1923 to 1929.
Ernst Neumann-Neander was famed as a talented artist in the fields of painting, sculpture, graphic arts and even poetry. His attention to yachting and automobiles was notable, but his true passion was the motorcycle.
In the 1920s he built over 2000 motorcycles around his unique alloy frame, the licence for which was sold in 1928 to Opel
The son of a landscape painter born in the Prussian city of Kassel in 1871, Ernst Neumann is remembered as one of the greatest creative geniuses in the history of the motorcycle. His unusual design solutions for motorcycles and automobiles were brought to fruition in the workshops and factories of Europe resulting in some truly remarkable machines, among them Rolls Royce.
In the 1890s Neumann built prototype steam tricycles and by the turn of the century was building machines with De Dion engines before embarking on a career as a commercial artist, first in Munich and then in Paris where in 1904 he designed his first motorcycle for Griffon, who built his machine using a Swiss V-twin engine. After several years in France he returned to Germany, and in Berlin ran a company which created advertising posters for the automobile industry (and others) in the Art Nouveau style, for which he was justly famed. His works were strongly represented at the Werkbundausstellung exhibition of 1914 in Cologne, a huge event of World Fair proportions which opened in May to great fanfare. Come August the music died.
In 1924 Neumann founded Neander Motorfahrzeug GmbH near the city of Euskirchen where he initially built models for Allright Fahrradwerke. In 1926 the company moved to Düren-Rölsdorf. (1)
In 1927, Neander optimised its range by adopting two basic frame solutions: one of duralumin (aluminium alloy) for small models with Villiers 122 and 175cc engines, and the other of pressed metal for the larger 350 to 1000cc machines. These larger motorcycles used JAP engines - OHV 500 and 600cc singles, and SV 750 and 1000cc twins - and MAG engines in considerable variety. Küchen units were also employed.
Many of the motorcycles built by Ernst Neumann were cadmium plated and were designed to be comfortable, light, reliable and accessible to the entire population.
Production of Neander ceased in 1929, but in 1928 Opel had licenced a design and had machines built at the Elite-Diamant factory which became the Opel Motoclub. Only a handful of these magnificent machines were built before GM, which owned Opel, ceased building motorcycles.
After losing his business due to the financial crisis in Germany, Ernst Neumann built sidecars in the early 1930s (Neander-Beiwagen-Bau)(2) and later designed very sophisticated tricycles and quadricycles powered by motorcycle engines. The arrival of the Volkswagen made further production untenable and Neumann focused on artistic endeavours in his later years. He died in 1954 at the age of 83.
A fine exhibition of his motorcycles was presented at the TMK-Kassel Museum
Notes
Sources: Sergio Scalerandi, Tragatsch p225, Henshaw, Wikipedia.de, motosdoseculoxx.blogspot.com, et al.
