The Beginning

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Karl Friedrich Rapp founded his company Rapp-Motorenwerke in October of 1913. With tensions running high throughout Europe, it was only a matter of time before WW1 would begin. As a result, Rapp sold aircraft engines to meet the high demand at the time. Despite the great need for his services, Rapp’s aircraft engines had an inherent flaw that caused the engine to experience unwanted vibrations and his business began to struggle. His competition, Gustav Otto, owner of an aircraft engine plant, was able to flourish during this time.

Rapp-Motorwerke was able to hang on by a thread for several years until 1916. Karl Rapp was nearly forced to give way to the financial burdens that pressed down upon his company during that harrowing period. Thankfully, the Prussian army ordered 600 airplane engines from Rapp-Motorwerke, giving Rapp the boost he needed to save his business from going under. He eventually formed a partnership with business owner Fran-Josef Popp and his financing partner Camillo Castiglioni, giving birth to the Bayerische Flugzeug-Werke (BFW).  It wasn’t long before BFW transitioned into BMW.

In 1917, the first BMW logo was created. It included blue and white, a reflection of the Bavarian state colors. Over the years, the logo underwent several changes, but it still stayed true to its roots – maintaining its original blue and white colors.

During 1922, BMW relocated their production facility to the iconic Oberwiesenfeld airfield near Munich. This production facility would eventually become the headquarters for the entire BMW group. To this day, the headquarters located in Munich manufacturers over 200,000 cars every year and employs over 9,000 employees.

In 1923, BMW began its first metamorphosis when it expanded from manufacturing airplane engines to motorcycles. This change was a big step for the company. Before the transition, BMW had only produced engines as a standalone part. Now, they were manufacturing an entire vehicle. They announced that their first motorcycle would be called the R32. The design was considered to be so efficient that the original 1923 concept is still used to this day in modern day BMW motorcycles.

After their purchase of Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach, the third largest automobile manufacturer located in Germany at the time, BMW began working on their first car. Instead of producing vehicles at their plant in Munich, BMW decided to use the former Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach plant in Central Germany. BMW found the inspiration for their first manufactured automobile from a borrowed design from the Austin Motor Company. BMW would rely on such methods until 1932, where they used their own models to build a vehicle unique to their brand.