10 Facts About Rapp Motorenwerke

Rapp Motorenwerke GmbH was a German aircraft engine manufacturer based in Munich, Bavaria.

Rapp Motorenwerke later became known as Suddeutsche Bremsen-AG after its engine-production assets and the BMW name were transferred in 1922 to Bayerische Flugzeugwerke, which was then renamed to Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and subsequently evolved into the automotive manufacturer known today as BMW.

Rapp Motorenwerke was established in Milbertshofen on the former site of the Munich branch of Flugwerk Deutschland GmbH, a firm at which Karl Rapp had held a leading position and that had gone into liquidation in the summer of 1913.

Rapp Motorenwerke's stated purpose was to build and sell "engines of all types, in particular internal combustion engines for aircraft and motor vehicles".

However, the first deliveries of Rapp Motorenwerke engines were rejected by the Prussian Army Administration as unsuitable, and they refrained from further orders.

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Later in 1916, Rapp Motorenwerke introduced a completely redesigned six-cylinder engine with four valves per cylinder, operated by a novel arrangement of pushrods and rocker arms from a single camshaft in the engine block.

Meanwhile, Franz Josef Popp had noted the facilities of Rapp Motorenwerke were ideal for engine production, having the necessary workforce and equipment.

On 20 May 1917, Rapp Motorenwerke registered the documentation for the construction design for the new engine, dubbed "type III".

When Karl Rapp Motorenwerke's departure was finally a certainty, another important decision had to be made.

Departure of Karl Rapp Motorenwerke enabled a fundamental restructuring of the company.