Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Borgward (10 November 1890 in

Altona, Hamburg Altona (), also called Hamburg-Altona, is the westernmost Boroughs and quarters of Hamburg#Boroughs, urban borough (''Bezirk'') of the Germany, German States of Germany, city state of Hamburg. Located on the right bank of the Elbe river, Alton ...

– 28 July 1963 in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

) was a German engineer and designer and the creator of the

Borgward Borgward was a car manufacturing company, based in Bremen, Germany, founded by Carl F. W. Borgward (1890–1963). It produced cars of four brands, which were sold to a diversified international customer base: Borgward, Hansa, Goliath a ...

group, based in Bremen.

Biography

He was of modest origin, the son of coal retailer Wilhelm Borgward, and had twelve brothers and sisters. He undertook mechanical engineering studies, and obtained his engineering degree from Hannover Technical University in 1913. He was wounded during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1919 he became one of the partners of ''Bremer Reifenindustrie''. The company was restructured and in 1920 became ''Bremer Kühlerfabrik Borgward & Co''. In 1924 and 1925 the company started to produce the small three-wheel trucks ''

Blitzkarren The Blitzkarren (German ) was a cab-less tricycle freight cart based on a motorcycle. It was produced in 1924 as the first complete production vehicle manufactured by the ''Bremer Kühlerfabrik Borgward & Co. GmbH''. The company, located in Sebald ...

'' and ''Goliath''. With his partner Wilhelm Tecklenborg, in 1928 he created the company ''Goliath-Werke Borgward & Co''. When the two associates took over ''Hansa-Lloyd-Werke'' in 1931, this became the

Group. On 23 September 1938 the ''Carl F. W. Borgward Automobil- und Motorenwerke'' factory was opened in Sebaldsbrück near Bremen. At that time the company had 22,000 employees. Until the end of the war the production of Borgward was primarily military vehicles. When the factory was destroyed by bombing in 1944, half of the workers were prisoners of war and forced laborers. Carl Borgward was interned until 1948. One year after being freed, he was again a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Bremen. In 1949, the first '' Lloyd LP 300'' had been designed and produced. In Germany this car was nicknamed the ''Leukoplastbomber'' (''Band-aid Bomber''). The small car with a plywood body on a wooden chassis had a

two-stroke engine A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a Thermodynamic power cycle, power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a f ...

and was in the market segment under the

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is a small family car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003. One of the most iconic cars in automotive history, the Beetle is noted for its distinctive shape. Its pr ...

, and kept this position over a decade. In 1949 Borgward had presented the large Hansa sedan, which was the first European car with a pontoon body. He had taken ideas from American magazines, which he read when under detention. The largest success came in 1954 with the

Borgward Isabella The Borgward Isabella is an automobile which was manufactured by the Bremen based auto-manufacturer Carl F. W. Borgward GmbH from 1954 to 1962. The Isabella was to have been marketed as the Borgward Hansa 1500 but the Isabella name was used on t ...

. The Borgwards met the spirit of the time: the German customers wished for American-type styling and chrome decoration with European compact dimensions. Borgward participated in detail in the design of all the car models. Increased competition on the segment of mid-sized cars, and the broad and uneconomical range of models, as well as poor financial and tactical choices by management, led the company into crisis at the end of the 1950s. The new model Borgward-Lloyd Arabella should have eased the difficulties, but was handicapped by quality problems. In 1961, Borgward underwent one of the most spectacular bankruptcies in the history of Germany. The company went to the Land of Bremen, which had it liquidated, and part of the factory went to

Hanomag Hanomag (Hannoversche Maschinenbau AG, ) was a German producer of steam locomotives, tractors, trucks and military vehicles in Hanover. Hanomag first achieved international fame by delivering numerous steam locomotives to Finland, Romania and ...

. Years after the bankruptcy was closed, it came out that it had not been reasonable: All debts had been paid to the last cent. Carl Borgward died of a heart attack at the age 72 on 28 July 1963. His life work might continue: 50 years after closing, his grandson, Christian Borgward, together with his partner Karlheinz L. Knöss and with assistance from Chinese investors unveiled the company's first new car in over 40 years, the BX7 at the 2015 International Motor Show in Frankfurt.Luxus-Automobile: Borgward drängt zurück auf die Straßen - Nachrichten Wirtschaft - WELT ONLINE
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References

External links

(German) Eggermann, Jan Oliver: Der Borgward-Mythos

(english) Eggermann, Jan Oliver: The Borgward myth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borgward, Carl F. W. 1890 births 1963 deaths Businesspeople from Hamburg German founders of automobile manufacturers Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Borgward Engineers from Hamburg People from Altona, Hamburg German industrialists 20th-century German businesspeople Nazi Party members