August Horch

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/08/2004 (7935 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HE is the first of four interlocked rings that sit on every grille of every vehicle that rolls off those ultra-modern, ultra-efficient German assembly lines, the gleaming example of inspiration and dedication.

What makes an Audi truly an Audi?

Listen to the man. He will tell you his idea for the perfect automobile was the one designed to enhance the driving experience, “an extension of the person,” he once theorized.

Listen to him. You’ll know engineering was every bit as important as ergonomics.

Listen to his name and literally you have the name Audi, a Latin translation for August Horch’s last name, a Saxon expression that means “listen to me” in Horch’s native Germany.

“Listen to my methods,” he used to tell his workers, “and we will always make great automobiles.”

It is all-too fitting.

There would have been much gained by bending an ear to a legend such as Horch.

A pioneering entrepreneur who founded not one, but two automobile companies, Horch was one of the earliest engineers who rolled his efforts into the Horseless Carriage. He was devoted to developing the automobile into a truly efficient form of transportation.

His lifeline pursuit of advancements and insights would lead Audi to global prominence and set the standard for the vehicles that exist today.

Born in Germany on Oct. 12, 1868 to a winegrower, Horch was trained as a machine and engine engineer at technical schools and eventually worked on ship engines in Serbia and Bulgaria as well as car engines for Carl Benz in Mannheim, Germany.

Horch would spend three years as a plant manager for Benz, a legend in European manufacturing. And Benz would be the inspiration for Horch’s own company, formed in November 1899, with the help of a few investors.

Bursting with ambition, A. Horch & Cie’s first automobile was built near Cologne, Germany just two years later. With a two-cylinder engine, it had a maximum speed of 30 km-h and amazing technical advantages such as a friction clutch and rear-wheel drive.

After some financial difficulty, the company moved to Reichenback in March of 1902 and again two years later to Zwickau in the eastern German region of Saxony. Horch also had to convert his business into a joint-stock company, a move he would later regret.

By the summer of that year, the first car Horch built in Zwickau had left the factory, representing the beginning of 100 years of uninterrupted car manufacturing tradition in that town.

Mostly, though, it was engineering excellence. Horch built his first four-cylinder car in 1903 and introduced a six-cylinder model four years later. With light-weight alloy metals, rear-mounted gearboxes and front-mounted engines, Horch’s cars were so good they were considered advanced alternatives to the models produced by Benz.

The visor of every Horch car said as much: “Horch creates only strong and good cars!”

Horch left the company in 1909 after a dispute with the executive committee, but within 72 hours he would have the right amount of capital established for a competing company in Zwickau. His new company was initially called Horch Automobil-Werke GmbH, but a legal dispute erupted over the Horch name.

Horch came up with a new name during a dinner party when a friend suggested he refer to his Latin education.

Horch changed his company to Audi Automobilwerke GmbH in 1910, with Audi being the Latin translation of his surname.

“One of my life’s dreams has come true,” Horch said.

As an Audi, the innovation wouldn’t let up.

The first Audis were successful in racing and rallying events and Horch’s new company would create the sporty Audi type D in 1914, a vehicle that became the preferred method of transportation for the King of Saxony.

In 1921, Audi became the first German manufacturer to produce a car with left-hand drive. Before that, cars had been right-hand drive, a configuration that dated back to the age of the horse and carriage when the coachman sat on the right.

But the demands of the times meant Horch had to supply the military with armored vehicles, thus slowing development within the company. After the First World War, Horch became involved with government boards regulating the automobile industry.

Eventually he would leave Audi, but not before earning a permanent mark that resides on every Audi to this day.

In August 1928, the Danish engineer Jorgen Skafte Rasmussen of DKW acquired a majority holding in Audiwerke. In June 1932 Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer merged to form Auto Union AG, the new company’s logo was four interlinked rings, one for each of the founding companies.

Horch would die in 1951, but today the legend lives on in every four-ringed Audi.

The Audi name is linked to many decisive advances in automotive engineering: aerodynamics; front-wheel drive; all-wheel drive; the rotary piston engine and the five-cylinder engine. The name is synonymous with the German expression “vorsprung durch technik,” which means advantage through technology.

August Horch’s words still ring true. A company still listens.

Jason Stein is a feature writer with Wheelbase Communications. He can be reached at jstein@wheelbase.ws. Wheelbase Communications supplies automotive news and features to newspapers across North America.