Audi Museum – The Fifth Ring

The brand logo of today’s Audi brand shows four intertwined rings. Many brand fans know the origin and meaning of this symbol. It stands for the four brands of Auto Union, which was founded in 1932 at the insistence of some German banks. The Horch, Wanderer, DKW and Audi companies were merged into one group. Originally, there were even negotiations with the Brennabor and Hanomag brands, but these ultimately failed. So it could even have become six rings. After World War 2, most of the manufacturing plants were located in the Soviet occupation zone, which meant that Auto Union no longer had any influence there. Only the DKW sites in Berlin-Spandau (West Berlin), Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg and Freiburg (Breisgau) remained. In order to ensure the supply of spare parts, a new Auto Union central depot was established in Ingolstadt in 1945. The new Auto Union GmbH was founded there in 1949. However, at first only DKW vehicles were sold.

In 1958, Daimler-Benz AG took over 88 percent of the company shares. From 1962 onwards, Volkswagen had intentions to buy Auto Union. Two years later, Daimler and VW reached a commercial agreement. Mercedes-Benz retained the plants in Düsseldorf and Spain. In 1969, Neckarsulmer Motorenwerke AG (NSU) was added to Auto Union, creating Audi NSU Auto Union AG. The brand name Audi had been used again since 1966. At the moment, the special exhibition “The Fifth Ring” at the company’s headquarters in Ingolstadt in the Audi Museum Mobile commemorates the brand history of NSU, which goes back to 1873. In addition to a knitting maching and a bicycle, this exhibition also shows 23 motorcycles and 11 cars from NSU all the way to the legendary Ro 80. Parallel to the launch of this special exhibition, Audi released their new Audi Tradition app, which can also be used as a virtual museum guide from home. It is available free of charge for iOS and Android devices.

Images: Audi