Adler 1931 - 1945

The new flat-typing Adler accounting machine – presented for the first time at the International Office Machine Fair in Berlin – is a major new development.
It is available with or without calculator and is partially electric. The accounting machine and a flat-typing endless roll machine successfully hold their own against domestic and foreign competition.

The Adler Trumpf sports cabriolet is distinguished by its timeless elegance. Line management is handled by Ambi-Budd in Berlin. The classic sports car, with its 1.7-litre engine and 38 hp, is brought onto the market in 1935 and is the crowning achievement of Adler car manufacture during its heyday. 1934, one year earlier, sees the release of the Adler Trumpf Junior, the definitive best-selling vehicle of any Frankfurt car manufacturer.

The first Adler Standard swing-arm typewriter becomes a commercial success.
500,000 Adler typewriters are manufactured in 1931. Following the Favorit 1, the Little Adler Favorit 2 is introduced as an extension to the range in 1937 and sells in large numbers. This portable typewriter incorporates technical improvements in terms of carriage operation, paper feed and vertical spacing, which together with its very reasonable price of 155,00 reichsmarks wins it many takers.

It is not merely the futuristic flowing form of the Adler 2.5-litre car that causes a furore.
This aerodynamic vehicle, packed with technical innovations, creates a stir by reaching 130 km/h on the motorway in 1938. "Motorway Adler" is the name on everyone’s lips when referring to the miraculous vehicle. The car gets a lukewarm reception from the general public, however, and by 1939, at the outbreak of the Second World War, only a little under 6,000 Adler 2.5-litre cars have been sold.

During the Second World War, production at Adler is predominantly shifted to military equipment.
In 1943, the Adler factories become the largest manufacturer of armoured tank chassis in Europe. In 1944, the Katzbach concentration camp field warehouse is erected on the site of the Adler factories. More than 1,600 people are forced to work in the factory, supervised by the SS. According to a study, 528 prisoners have died by March 1945, three days before US troops take the city.

At the end of the war, on 8 May 1945, the Adler factories lie in ruins.
85% of the factory buildings have been destroyed by bombing raids. The remainder that can still be salvaged is brought to the town of Bruchköbel, near Hanau. Adler bicycles are assembled on the premises of a kitchen furniture factory.