The Framo Motorwerkes at Frankenberg was one of the auto factories that found itself in the Russian Occupation Zone of Germany. Framo started life manufacturing fittings for DKW motorcycles. In the 1920s they began building three-wheeled commercial vehicles, powered by DKW stationary engines. Although part of DKW founder, Jorge Rasmussen's diverse empire, Framo was not incorporated into the Auto-Union conglomerate in 1932. This meant that when Rasmussen was fired from the Auto-Union board in 1934 he was able to use Framo as an outlet for his personal projects. Despite producing a range of interesting prototype vehicles, Framo was never large enough to compete against DKW in the budget car market. The company remained primarily a light commercial manufacturer, a niche it proved successful at.
After the war the company was completely stripped of all assets and equipment by the Russians. However, by the mid-1950s the factory was finally up and running again as part of the East German VEB group and began manufacturing its prewar range of light trucks. In 1961 Framo completely revised its product range and released their new Barkas light van, which would remain in production until 1991. This prospect shows the new Framo-Barkas range, including stationary and diesel engines.
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