Steyr Daimler Puch

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Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG was founded in 1934 by the merger of Steyr-Werke with Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke and was an important conglomerate in the metalworking industry and one of the largest employers in Austria. The majority of the shares were owned by the nationalised Creditanstalt. From 1987 to 1998, the group was divided and sold.

History

Predecessors

Steyr-Werke

The nucleus of the company was the rifle factory opened in 1830 by Leopold Werndl in Oberletten near Steyr.

Josef Werndl, son of the company founder, founded Josef and Franz Werndl & Comp., Waffenfabrik und Sägemühle on 16 April 1864. This date was used in 1964 to celebrate 100 years of Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG. In 1869, the company became a public limited company called Österreichische Waffenfabriks-Gesellschaft (ÖWG). In 1926 the ÖWG was renamed Steyr-Werke AG.

Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke
Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke AG was founded in 1928 by the merger of Austro-Daimler, the Oesterreichische Flugzeugfabrik (Oeffag) and Puch-Werke AG.

1934 to 1938
The merger into Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG was associated with profound changes. Two-wheeled production was concentrated in Graz and automotive production in Steyr. The production of rail vehicles was discontinued and the Austro-Daimler plant in Wiener Neustadt was closed.

From 1934, the modern streamlined vehicle types Steyr 100 and 200 with four-cylinder engines were sold well. Equally successful was the small car Steyr 50/55 ("Steyr-Baby") presented in 1936. At the same time, 6-cylinder models were also produced based on the types 200, the types 120, 125 and 220. Luxurious convertibles based on the type 220 were fitted with bodies in small series at the renowned Gläser-Karosserie GmbH in Dresden. Rarely Austrian companies such as Keibl or Armbruster came to individual orders. Trucks and vans derived from individual types of passenger cars, small trucks, taxis, rescue and fire trucks were also built in small numbers.

During this time, for example, “skating shoes” or “skating shoes” were also used. Skids for professional sports (which were still mounted on normal shoes at the time) produced with the name “STYRIA OLYMPIC”. These skids are nowadays already sought-after rarities among collectors.

Components for bicycles such as back brakes, saddles and lighting systems were no longer purchased, but were produced in large numbers in our own factory.

1938 to 1945

After the annexation of Austria to the German Reich, the Steyr-Daimler-Puch-Werke under the newly appointed Director General Georg Meindl were quickly reshaped into an armaments group, achieved in the automotive sector by the Schell Plan.

During the period of National Socialism in Austria, armaments production with about 32,000 employees dominated the company affiliated to the Reichswerke Hermann Göring. New factories were created