Rumpler-Luftfahrzeugbau GmbH, Rumpler-Werke, usually known simply as Rumpler was a German aircraft and automobile manufacturer.
History
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 ...
by Austrian engineer
Edmund Rumpler
Edmund Elias Rumpler (4 January 1872 – 7 September 1940) was an Austrian automobile and aircraft designer.
Born in Vienna, then Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Austria),Wise 1974, p.1964 he worked mainly in Germany.Lyons 1988, p.73 An autom ...
in 1909 as Rumpler Luftfahrzeugbau.
[Gunston 1993, p.259] The firm originally manufactured copies of the
Etrich Taube
The Etrich ''Taube'', also known by the names of the various later manufacturers who built versions of the type, such as the Rumpler ''Taube'', was a pre-World War I monoplane aircraft. It was the first military aeroplane to be mass-produced in ...
monoplane under the ''Rumpler Taube'' trademark, but turned to building reconnaissance biplanes of its own design through the course of the First World War, in addition to a smaller number of fighters and bombers.
[Kroschel & Stützer 1994, p.100]
The company, from the beginning a limited liability concern (
GmbH
(; ) is a type of Juridical person, legal entity in German-speaking countries. It is equivalent to a (Sàrl) in the Romandy, French-speaking region of Switzerland and to a (Sagl) in the Ticino, Italian-speaking region of Switzerland.
It is a ...
), became a
Aktiengesellschaft
(; abbreviated AG ) is a German language, German word for a corporation limited by Share (finance), share ownership (i.e., one which is owned by its shareholders) whose shares may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria ...
in the style of ''Rumpler-Werke AG'' on 21 September 1917 with a capitalization of 3,5 million Marks.
In 1918, 3300 people worked for Rumpler
[Rumpler 1919, p.63] at the Berlin headquarter and a subsidiary in
Augsburg
Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...
, the ''Bayerische Rumpler-Werke AG''.
As a consequence of the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
Germany was not allowed to manufacture aircraft. Rumpler instead attempted to secure a place in the post-war automobile market, which lead to the development of a vehicle with the first effective aerodynamic chassis, the
Rumpler Tropfenwagen
The Rumpler Tropfenwagen ("Rumpler drop car", named after its raindrop shape) was a car developed by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler.
The Tropfenwagen Aerodynamics
Rumpler, born in Vienna, was known as a designer of aircraft when at the 1921 Ber ...
, on the premises of its Augsburg subsidiary. It was shown at the 1921
Internationale Automobil Ausstellung which then took place in Berlin.
The car failed to attract sufficient sales and the ''Bayerische Rumpler-Werke AG'' went into receivership in 1923, followed by the ''Rumpler-Werke AG'' in Berlin in 1925. The assets were liquidated in 1926, with the Augsburg premises bought 30 July 1926 by the ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'', predecessor of
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...
.
Aircraft

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Rumpler 6B
The Rumpler 6B was a German floatplane fighter aircraft, fighter designed during World War I by Rumpler Flugzeugwerke for the Imperial German Navy's () Naval Air Service (). The 6B1 was a single-seat version of the Rumpler C.I Reconnaissance air ...
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Rumpler B.I
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Rumpler C.I
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Rumpler C.III
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Rumpler C.IV
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Rumpler C.V
The Rumpler C.III (factory designation 6A 5) was a biplane military reconnaissance aircraft built in Germany during World War I.Taylor 1989, p.771
Development
It was a development of the Rumpler C.I design incorporating many aerodynamic refi ...
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Rumpler C.VI
The Rumpler C.VI was a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft used by the Germans during the First World War
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 co ...
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Rumpler C.VII
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Rumpler C.VIII
The Rumpler C.VIII was a German single-engine biplane advanced trainer manufactured by Rumpler Flugzeugwerke, in Berlin Johannisthal in 1917.
Design and development
The C.VIII variant was developed with the intention of providing an operational ...
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Rumpler C.X
The Rumpler C.X, produced under the company designation Rumpler 8C 14, was a German two-seat observation aircraft. It was developed from the earlier Rumpler 8C 13 prototype by Rumpler in early 1918. The prototype
A prototype is an early sa ...
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Rumpler D.I
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Rumpler G.I
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Rumpler G.II
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Rumpler G.III
See also
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List of aircraft manufacturers
This is a list of aircraft manufacturers sorted alphabetically by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)/common name. It contains the ICAO/common name, manufacturers name(s), country and other data, with the known years of operation in pa ...
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List of Rumpler Aircraft
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Rumpler Tropfenwagen
The Rumpler Tropfenwagen ("Rumpler drop car", named after its raindrop shape) was a car developed by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler.
The Tropfenwagen Aerodynamics
Rumpler, born in Vienna, was known as a designer of aircraft when at the 1921 Ber ...
Notes
References
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{{Rumpler aircraft
Companies of Prussia
Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Germany
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Germany
Manufacturing companies based in Berlin
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