Jorge Rasmussen at 75

Jorgen Skafte Rasmussen was born on July 30, 1878 in Nakskov, Denmark. He came to Germany as a young man. Here he graduated from the well-known engineering school in Mittweida, Saxony, where so many other pioneers in the automotive industry also received their basic training.

The urge to become self-sufficient led Rasmussen to found the company Rasmussen & Ernst, a company specializing in steam fittings, etc., in Chemnitz, at the age of just 25.

In 1907, Rasmussen bought a former weaving mill in the Zschopau valley, where he initially worked on the manufacture of fittings. The First World War demanded a switch to armaments. During this time, in 1916, Rasmussen began to work on his long-held plans to develop a steam power car. That was the first time that the world-famous term ‘D.K.W.’ came to the public.

The unfortunate outcome of the war in 1918 forced Rasmussen to switch to new manufacturing ideas. Again he devoted himself to the construction of a power plant, this time a small two-stroke petrol engine, which was initially intended as an toy engine, but eventually, when further developed, was so stunned by its performance that it found use as the ideal drive unit for a bicycle. This small auxiliary bicycle engine was sold in 1920 in considerable numbers. No wonder that Rasmussen very quickly went from the auxiliary motor for bicycles to the development of a real motorcycle. This was in 1922. The Avus race victory in the same year made the name of the Zschopauer Motorenwerke and the name DKW, which now meant “The Little Miracle” truly popular. The first four places in this race were taken by DKW’s small motorcycles.

A stormy era began. New and larger types of motorcycles were developed and the production facilities in Zschopau were considerably expanded. In 1927 the Zschopauer Motorenwerke was undisputedly the largest motorcycle factory in Europe, and in 1928 the largest motorcycle factory in the world.

The leap from DKW motorcycle to the first DKW automobile followed inevitably. From the collaboration of Rasmussen's with the recently deceased Dr. lng. Rudolf Slaby created the first DKW automobile in 1928, from which, after a very short development time, the world-famous DKW car with its many technical pioneering features, such as front drive, suspension axis and the like, as we know it today.

Here a word of explanation about the subsequent further development of the DKW car, or even a word of recognition for this vehicle, seems to be superfluous. There is hardly a country in the whole world where the DKW car has not conquered the market. Rasmussen has also dealt with many other technical developments. The DKW refrigerator, which was mass-produced at the Scharfenstein plant, should be mentioned.

This deserved man, whose industrial personality is still widely known at home and abroad and who, with daring entrepreneurial spirit, wrote a considerable piece of German economic history, celebrated his 75th birthday on July 30, 1953.

From the DKW Nachrichten Vol 24 1953 https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2019/03/1953-dkw-nachrichten-vol-24.html