1867 Nikolaus Dürkopp founded together with Schmidt Dürkopp & Schmidt in Bielefeld. After Schmidt had left the company in 1876, it was renamed to Dürkopp & Co, a company manufacturing sewing machines, bicycles, motorbikes and automobiles.
Starting in 1880 Dürkopp became the first German company that produced bicycles in series. Furtheron Dürkopp supported sports very early and formed the first Dürkopp racing team early in the 1900s.
In 1908 Willy Arend and Ivan Nedela joined the racing team and Arend became world champion this year.
Within the 30s Dürkopp joined the "Ibus" (Industrie-Ring für Berufsstraßenradrenn-Sport), an association of the five largest german bicycle companies Brennabor, Diamant, Opel, Mifa and Dürkopp.
The success list of Duerkopp racing team was unprecedented. After several stage victories the Dürkopp team with Unger, Arndt, Nitzschke, Renold, Günther, Hertwig, Geyer, Bulla, Gottwald, Sieronski, Klass, Buse, Korge, M. Kohl an Manager Dobbrack won for instance the first Deutschland Rundfahrt riding the Dürkopp model "Diana 115".
Between the thirties and the fifties heros like Max Bulla, Hermann Buse, Heinz Wengler, Karl Altenburger, Otto Weckerling, Paul Langhoff, Peter Schulte, Jean Kirchen, Henk Lakemann, Adolphe Deledda or Otto Ziege were riding in the Dürkopp team and pedaling the Tour de France and many victories and achievements followed.
In the Thirties Dürkopp joined forces partially with Polack, a german company which was well known for their Titan Tubulars.
The tremendeous success of the Duerkopp racing team led furthermore to the marketing slogan: "Wer Dürkopp nimmt, der siegt bestimmt."
Within the 20s a men named Brude finished his apprentenceship at Dürkopp and was educated to become a master craftsman.
In order to become this mastercraftman all pupils needs to step through an 3 year apprenticeship and to get approved by a commision judging a master pice build by their own without using the factory lane or help.
The lightweight show here is this unique master piece crafted by Mr. Brude in 1922. It´s build lugless with seat stays soldered to the saddle lug. At this time seat stay tubes were pressed at the end and attached by a screw to the seat lug.
Thus his design and master piece following the Diana 115 geometry very well took ahead a design feature Dürkopp and others took over for the series years later.
The pictures above show these master piece in as found condition
The Dürkopp of the Red Brude is not in the condition of discovery, I found it many years ago in Cottbus. In the original find, only the frameset with the rear wheel and cranks existed. The rest about handlebars, saddle, pedals and wooden rims are the ideas and dreams of the collectors to whom I sold the fragment. Carsten Rehbein
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