Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft

Aero-Daimler filings in Hungary both German and Austrian as culled from HU V/h hitlist

Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) was founded in 1890 by Gottlieb Daimler, a German engineer considered one of the main inventors of the modern internal combustion engine and the motorcycle.

Daimler's workshop began at Bad Cannstatt in Stuttgart; the company relocated in 1903 to nearby Unterturkheim. Patent filings usually give its location as Stuttgart-Untertürkheim. In 1915 it opened an additional plant, mainly for the purpose of producing aircraft, in Sindelfingen (also in Württemberg, 27km from Untertürheim, located convenient to an airfield).

International licensing

DMG licensed the right to produce Daimler engines abroad.

In France, Daimler engines were used in early automobiles made by Panhard et Levassor and Peugeot.

Piano-maker William Steinway bought this right in the United States but never used it. Frederick Simms bought the Daimler license for the United Kingdom in 1893; he formed the Daimler Motor Syndicate then sold his rights in 1895 to Harry J. Lawson. Lawson went on to form the British Motor Syndicate with the Daimler Motor Company as a subsidiary. Its first automobiles used Daimler engines made by Panhard et Levassor.

Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft plant in Stuttgart

Relative to international use of "Daimler" engines, the plant in Stuttgart remained small in the 1890s. After Daimler's death in 1900, the company purchased a larger area of land in Untertürkheim, 2km from the original factory.

Österreichische Daimler Motoren A. G.

There was also an Austrian subsidiary, Österreichische Daimler Motoren A. G.. In the case of the German and Austrian divisions, we do know that they had enough separate corporate distinction to file separately, with particular national patent offices, such as that of Hungary.

This subsidiary existed by 1902, when businessman Ernst Berge was appointed its chief business executive.

Aircraft Division

Both the German and Austrian corporate entities did engage in some work with aircraft before 1915, though an aircraft division, per se, may noy have been deemed necessary, early on.

During World War I, the company fell under national efforts to unify and coordinate production. Airplane production was prioritized and DMG produced 19,876 airplane engines, 46% of the total in Germany. According to history professor Bernard P. Bellon, the factory did not have to make enormous changes to switch over to aircraft engines from automobile engines:

"The production of airplane motors was possible without drastically altering the production processes at Daimler. Simply put, the Daimler airplane motors resembled the Daimler auto and truck motors in their fundamental designs and components. Thus, metal workers in the foundry and smith fabricated the basic components from iron, steel, and copper. The workers on the banks of machines—both those skilled and those only "trained"—formed and honed them to a multiplicity of exact specifications, while fitters and mechanics assembled and adjusted the motors. During the whole process, day laborers provided critical support and moved parts and materials around the large (and ever-growing) plant.

The language in Daimler's patents suggests that they did experience some engineering challenges related specifically to aircraft engines. In particular because airplanes take off, land, and travel in lower pressure atmospheres, Daimler filed patents related to special methods for lubrication and testing.

Aircraft division established July 1915; made biplane fighters

Starting in October 1915, a new plant was built at Sindelfingen, specifically for the purpose of building airplane fuselages. During the war, 271 of these were produced. Additionally, in 1917, the War Ministry instructed DMG to start producing engines and Sindelfingen, as well. The effort to produce these engines was apparently not successful.

With the German military as a guaranteed purchaser with high demand, Daimler expanded its operations to new economies of scale. During the war it went from 3,376 workers to more than 20,000 in Württemberg.

1919 designer Hanns Klemm

Mercedes

DMG used the trademark Mercedes for motors and automobiles; they later used it for aircraft as well, as can be seen in the following trade-mark registration in Luxembourg, and, later, this 1917 advertisement for the Mercedes-Daimler-Flugmotor.

Sources

• Gunston, 1993, p89
• Gunston, 2005, p119
• Dir1920 p27

Dir1920

• Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft on English Wikipedia

Patent Report

Patents associated with organizations named Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, or Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft

• Patent HU-1912-61742 (English title: Gassing regulator, main image for aircraft, Filing date: 1912-05-17, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1911-06-15 Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft)
• Patent DE-1913-290120 (English title: Propeller-driven aircraft with hollow propeller-shaft, Filing date: 1913-01-10)
• Patent DE-1913-279366 (English title: Lubricating oil system for combustion engines, by which drained oil is sucked into a a chamber separate from the crank case and brought to the grease points, Filing date: 1913-04-20)
• Patent FR-1913-461454 (English title: Propeller-powered aerial vehicle, Filing date: 1913-08-18, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1913-290120)
• Patent HU-1913-67745 (English title: Equipment on aircraft, Filing date: 1913-09-06, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1913-290120)
• Patent GB-1913-20921 (English title: Aerial Craft, Filing date: 1913-09-16, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1913-290120)
• Patent DE-1913-293131 (English title: Propeller-driven aircraft with hollow propeller-shaft, Filing date: 1913-12-20, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1913-290120)
• Patent DE-1913-297938 (English title: Carburetor for combustion engine with primary and secondary air inlets, Filing date: 1913-12-23)
• Patent DE-1914-303434 (English title: Combustion engine controlled by internal sliding tubes, Filing date: 1914-01-20)
• Patent US-1914-1098785 (English title: Armored Aerial Machine, Filing date: 1914-02-20, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1913-293131)
• Patent AT-1914-67460 (English title: Aircraft, Filing date: 1914-03-20, Supplementary to patent: Patent AT-1913-67459 • Patent DE-1913-293131)
• Patent HU-1914-75504 (English title: Equipment for enabling the shooting of aircraft in the direction of travel and laterally, Filing date: 1914-03-24, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1913-293131 • Patent HU-1913-67745)
• Patent FR-1914-461454.19200 (English title: aerial vehicle moved by a propeller, Filing date: 1914-04-17, Supplementary to patent: Patent FR-1913-461454 • Patent DE-1913-293131)
• Patent GB-1914-10517 (English title: Aerial Craft, Filing date: 1914-04-28, Supplementary to patent: Patent GB-1913-20921 • Patent DE-1913-293131)
• Patent BE-1915-270346 (English title: Control regulating apparatus composed of several separate motors or groups of motors (German patent 9 Feb. 1915), Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1915-Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft 18 August)
• Patent BE-1915-271544 (English title: Airplane, constituting the object of a patent filed in Germany, filed 20 July 1915, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1915-07-20 Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft)
• Patent BE-1915-271542 (English title: Regulating apparatus for vehicles with several propellers arrayed on a vertical plane, constituting the object of a submitted German patent, filed 31 May 1915, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1915-05-31 Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft)
• Patent IT-1915-148711 (English title: Cyclical cooling system for combustion motors, Filing date: 1915-05-05, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1914-06-18 Daimler)
• Patent DE-1915-339218 (English title: Airplane with multiple fuselages, Filing date: 1915-10-12)
• Patent HU-1916-86090 (English title: Process for the production of bodies from non-metallic materials (likely pertinent to the biplane), Filing date: 1916-07-11, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1915-11-24 Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft)
• Patent HU-1916-80003 (English title: Control device for multi-propeller vehicles outside the suspended midbows, Filing date: 1916-07-12, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1915-05-31 Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft)
• Patent HU-1916-80960 (English title: Aircraft equipped with a gun, Filing date: 1916-10-27, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1913-01-31 Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft)
• Patent AT-1918-85481 (English title: Improved arrangement of compressor for aircraft and motor vehicle engines, Filing date: 1918-10-03, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1917-11-26 Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft)
• Patent GB-1920-148360 (English title: Aircraft Engine Control, Filing date: 1920-07-09, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1915-05-31 Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft)

Related publications on this database

Publications referring to Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft or Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft or Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft or Daimler or Mercedes

• Publication 8344, 1901, Der Mercédes-Motor (Simple title: The Mercedes engine, Journal: Ill. Aër. Mitt.)
• Publication B2p0335e09, 1914, Aero engine in De Palma's auto racer (Simple title: Aero engine in De Palma's auto racer, Journal: Aero and Hydro)
• Flink, 1988, The Automobile Age (Simple title: The Automobile Age)
• Bellon, 1990, Mercedes in peace and war (Simple title: Mercedes in peace and war)

Standardized organizational data

Names	Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft
Country	Germany
City	Stuttgart; Sindelfingen
Affiliations	Oesterreichische Daimler Motoren A. G., Österreichische Daimler Motoren A. G., Daimler Motor Company
Keywords	biplane, construction, airplane, design, military, Mercedes, motor, engine
Started aero	1915
Ended aero	1919 or later
Key people	Gottlieb Daimler, Ernst Berge, Alfred von Kaulla, Hanns Klemm, Paul Daimler
Wikidata id