1950s bike races in Germany

Hi there,
i am looking for information about motorcycle racing in Germany between 1955-1968 (single and sidecar)
It seems there is not much info available on the internet...a bit of a forgotten aera.
I am mainly interested in the private drivers of the 125 and 250 classes.
Does anybody know homepages about that topic....or somebody who was driving for example at the Fischereihafen Rennen in Bremerhaven....very interested in pictures of the races....also at the Nuerburgring.
thanks....regards Marty

Hello, Marty,

Unfortunately I cannot help you, but this is a most interesting question and I hope some other people can contribute.


Muzza
(a Kreidler fan)

I agree that susrprisingly little is to be found on the Internet about this period. I have a specific interest in Horst Kassner who was German champion 3 times in the 250cc class (in 1956, -59 and -61 I think it was..) with his NSU Sportmax. My father owns this very bike today, hence my interest. In the search for information about Kassner and his Sportmax, a few pictures from this period have been collected throughout the years, but unfortunately I'm unable to post any of them at the moment..

Jonas

What information do you have about Kassner...where does he come from?
I know about a Gassner from Ingelheim/Germany who was racing during that period and i am pretty sure he was driving a Sportmax too. Maybe we are talking abot the same person.

I have a couple of pictures as well...most of them taken at the Nuerburgring and some pics of Sportfotographers with date and track written on the bottom of the pics.
Unfortunately all my documents are still in Germany

Unfortunately my father who was a privateer between 1956-1959 didn't keep his 125 ccm bikes.

I am also trying to find details about the fatal accident of sidecar driver Alex Ludwig,Ingelheim who died at Hockenheim in 1968,pretty much at the same spot Jim Clark crashed.
I only have a newspaper article about that sad accident.

Does anybody know Erwin Eimermann,Ingelheim who started on Kreidler 50ccm and used to race sidecars in the (60's ?) and 70's. He used to buy chinese champignon cans from Aldi and was using them as exhaust parts....i was visiting him in his workshop in the late 90's...he still had a sidecarbike....unbelievable mess but a nice personality...

Next year i want to make a homepage about that topic....

cheers Marty

Hello, Marty,


I am very curious about Alex Ludwig Ingelheim - I have to confess that I had never heard his name.

I am coordinating a website called Motorsport Memorial that aims to pay a tribute to fallen racers, and we will be very appreciative if you could post some information on Ingelheim.

All contributions will be properly credited (to you).

Thanks,


Muzza

Muzza

I don't know much about the accident....must have been during a practice session.
My father (RIP) who was his best friend at the time and who was racing with him told me that Alex always used to fiddle around the engine while driving...and as far as i know the reason that caused the crash was never found. My father presumed that he was trying to fix something...not concentrating on the track.

regards Marty

Originally posted by Martin Roessler
I know about a Gassner from Ingelheim/Germany who was racing during that period and i am pretty sure he was driving a Sportmax too. Maybe we are talking abot the same person.

Martin, Unfortunatley I don't have access to the information I have about Kassner at the moment. But I will hopefully get back home soon, and then I'll post some more..

But there is absolutely no doubt that I'm talking about a person named Horst Kassner from Schwabhausen, Germany. He was one of very few who bought his Sportmax new from the NSU factory. Most Sportmaxes were leased out to privateers. Kassner kept the bike until 1962 or -63 when it was sold via a dealer in the Netherlands to Sweden.
Kassner had a brother (Helmut, I think..) who also did a bit of racing, but on a slighter level. Kassner's son Bernd has been racing bikes in more recent time. I don't know if he is still racing.

ive only been able find 2 pics of bernd rosemeyer's motorcycle career....i d love to learn more about this time period too.

The book Die Solitude-Rennen by F.A. Illg and Thomas Mehne, Weissach 2003, ISBN 3-932563-22-0, contains quite extensive reports and results of the bike races on the Solitude-circuit (don`t try the other Solitude-book T.Aichele published in 2003 - it`s not worth the money!)