Dekra (stylised as DEKRA in its logo) is a vehicle testing and inspecting organisation founded in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1925, although the company is currently headquartered in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. Dekra operates 480 branches throughout Germany and carries out regular vehicle inspections at 38,500 inspection sites). The Dekra Academy, which is responsible for initial and in-service training, is represented at 150 locations. According to Dekra's own reports, it achieved sales of €3.8 billion. At the end of 2022, Dekra employed 48,646 people across the company. On November 1, 2017, Dekra acquired the

EuroSpeedway Lausitz The Lausitzring (formally known as the Dekra Lausitzring for ownership reasons) is a race track located near Klettwitz (a civil parish of Schipkau, Oberspreewald-Lausitz district) in the state of Brandenburg in northeast Germany, near the ...

as a test site, especially for

autonomous driving Vehicular automation is using technology to assist or replace the operator of a vehicle such as a car, truck, aircraft, rocket, military vehicle, or boat. Assisted vehicles are ''semi-autonomous'', whereas vehicles that can travel without a ...

History

Dekra was founded in Berlin in 1925 as ''Deutscher Kraftfahrzeug-Überwachungs-Verein'' (German Motor Vehicle Inspection Association). In World War II, the majority of Dekra engineers were drafted into the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

(German Armed Forces). Fw 61 V

After World War II, former Dekra engineers resumed the company's work in 1946, with Stuttgart becoming the new location of the head office. The introduction of the main vehicle inspection in 1951. In 1961, Dekra was recognised as an official inspection association. The first Dekra training centre was opened in Wart in 1974. ''DEKRA AG'' was founded in 1990 and took over the work of the association. ''DEKRA ETS'' was founded in 1991 and took on technical safety, materials testing and construction tasks. ''DEKRA Umwelt'' was founded in 1993 in cooperation with the ''Kölnische Rückversicherung'' reinsurance company. Further partnerships followed in Eastern Europe beginning in 1993. On 13 July 2010, ''DEKRA AG'' was renamed ''DEKRA SE'' (

Societas Europaea A (, ; "European society" or "company"; plural: ; abbr. SE) is a public company registered in accordance with the European corporate law, corporate law of the European Union (EU), introduced in 2004 with the Council Regulation on the Statute ...

), becoming a European Company.

Sponsoring

Dekra has been a technical partner and sponsor of the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft The Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) was a touring car racing series held from 1984 to 1996. Originally based in Germany, it held additional rounds elsewhere in Europe and later worldwide. The original DTM had resumed racing with produc ...

Championship from 1989 to 1995, and again from its revival as

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, commonly abbreviated as the DTM, is a sports car racing series sanctioned by ADAC. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The series currently races a modified version of Group GT3 gra ...

in 2000. Since 2022, Dekra has also been an official partner of the German Women's Volleyball League. In 1993 Dekra sponsored

Formula 1 Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

driver

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Schumacher won a record-setting seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, tied by Lewis Hamilton in ...

. Dekra was the official sponsor of the DFB (German Football Association) football referees from 2003 to 2021.

References

External links

DEKRA International website
{{Coord, 48, 43, 13, N, 9, 07, 48, E, region:DE-BW_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title German companies established in 1925 1925 establishments in Germany Product certification Companies based in Stuttgart Automotive safety Road transport in Germany Temporary employment agencies Societas Europaea companies