1927 DKW Produktion in Zschopau. Video edited, enhanced.

From 1922 to 2016, motorized two-wheelers were primarily produced under the brands DKW (from 1922 to 1951, with an interruption due to the war) and MZ (from 1956 to 2008). The history of regional motorcycle construction primarily contributes to the popularity of Zschopau, which has officially been able to call itself a motorcycle city since 2021. From 1907 onwards, the Zschopauer Maschinenfabrik J. S. Rasmussen primarily manufactured fittings and assemblies for steam generators in Zschopau. Steam engines developed during World War I remained prototypes; What remained permanent, however, was the acronym DKW derived from it. In 1918, the production of combustion engines based on the two-stroke principle began with a toy engine. Its further development into an auxiliary bicycle motor helped the company achieve a breakthrough and led to the start of series production of motorcycles in 1922. In addition to product quality, product advertising under sales manager Carl Hahn and numerous racing successes played a decisive role in the rapid rise that followed: the world's first motorcycle assembly line was in Zschopau in 1926 and in 1928 DKW was the world's largest motorcycle factory for the first time, measured in terms of the number of units produced . Video edited, enhanced, sound, titles added.