“The Extraordinary Life of Josef Ganz” tells the astonishing story of Josef Ganz, a Jewish engineer from Frankfurt, who in May 1931 created a revolutionary small car: the Maikäfer (German for May Bug). Seven years later Hitler introduced the Volkswagen. The Nazis not only “took” the concept of Ganz’s family car—their production model even ended up bearing the same nickname. In this biography, which reads like a thriller, Schilperoord tells how Ganz was arrested by the Gestapo, then fled Germany, and was hunted by the Nazis beyond Germany’s borders, narrowly escaping assassination.
We are going to highlight a few examples from the book. Most of the hundreds of stunning photos in the book have never been published before and come from Ganz’s original photo archive, which Schilperoord discovered from sources in Canada and Australia.
Volkswagen Josef Ganz was born in Budapest in the summer of 1898 and grew up in Vienna. Already as a child Josef Ganz displayed his engineering abilities. By the age of 12 he was granted his first patent for a safety device for electric streetcars. After serving in WWI Ganz moved to Germany, where he studied Mechanical Engineering.In 1923, as a student, Ganz started development of an innovative little car with a mid-mounted engine, independent wheel suspension, and a streamlined body. After a terrible motorcycle accident, in which Ganz almost list his right leg, developments of this Ganz-Klein-Wagen came to a temporary halt.
Motor-KritikJosef Ganz was a heavy critic of the old-fashioned cars produced in the 1920s, which he considered to be ‘devil’s carts’ with their solid axles, high centres of gravity, and inefficient drive trains. As a freelance journalist he started contributing articles to motoring magazines in which he urged the automotive industry to employ more state-of-the-art technology.This resulted into the appointment of Ganz as editor-in-chief of motoring magazine Klein-Motor-Sport. Ganz used this publication as a platform to promote innovative car design and the Volkswagen in particular. Because of his critical writing Ganz made no friends with the conservative car builders, but his magazine became highly influential. In 1929 Ganz changed the title into the more appropriate Motor-Kritik.
Porsche test-drives the May BugJust as had happened at Ardie, industrial forces blocked further development of the May Bug at Adler, but Ganz was allowed to keep the prototype. He used the May Bug as a technology demonstrator and took countless engineers and journalists on test-drives, proving the worth of his Volkswagen concept. This included such people as Ferdinand Porsche, who tested the May Bug before designing a similar vehicle for the Zündapp motorcycle company.In the summer of 1931 the May Bug was transported by truck to Stuttgart, where it was severely tested by the board of directors and engineers of Mercedes-Benz. This resulted in the development of a Beetle-like car with a rear-mounted 4-cylinder boxer engine, designed with the assistance of Josef Ganz. He had by then been employed as a consultant engineer by both Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
May Bug becomes SuperiorThe May Bug had set off a bomb in the industry. Manufacturers that had previously fought Ganz and his Motor-Kritik to silence this critical voice now started adopting his revolutionary ideas. The race was one for who would be the first to create a successful rear-engined, lightweight, streamlined Volkswagen.Ganz, however, was the first to market a Volkswagen, backed by the motorcycle manufacturer Standard Fahrzeugfabrik from Ludwigsburg. Using Ganz’s many patents they developed the Standard Superior, a production version of the May Bug with enclosed Beetle-like bodywork, which was introduced at the Berlin motor show in February 1933.
HitlerHitler had been appointed as Chancellor of Germany less than two weeks prior, and in this new capacity opened the motor show. He praised the work of the German engineers and during his tour of the exhibits expressed serious interest in the Standard Superior and the idea of a Volkswagen to motorize the German people. One of the first new laws introduced by his office was that holders of a motorcycle-driving license could operate small cars like the Standard Superior. A Standard Superior was even tested by the National Socialist Motor Corps and a favourable report appeared in the official army magazine.
Hitler assigns PorscheHitler by then was determined to support the development of a Volkswagen for the German people. Having found no cooperation amongst the big car manufacturers, an independent development consortium was created, led by Ferdinand Porsche. As a Jew, Josef Ganz was an impossible choice. Porsche was now set the task to design a people’s car for 1,000 Reichsmark – a maximum selling price propagated by Ganz in Motor-Kritik.The Nazis made sure that any Jewish connections to the Volkswagen were erased from history. They banned Ganz from publishing, as well as the entire German press from publishing anything about him. Overnight the name Josef Ganz disappeared from the German motoring scene.
Just three months later, during the frightful Night of the Long Knives, the Gestapo appeared at Ganz’s home in Frankfurt to arrest and most probably assassinate him. Ganz was saved from this horrific fate by extraordinary luck: he was on holiday in Switzerland to calm his nerves. He was later warned by a friend not to return to Germany. He only made one daring secret trip to salvage his archives from Frankfurt.
After wondering around Europe for almost a year, Josef Ganz settled in Zurich in Switzerland. There he demonstrated the May Bug prototype and a Standard Superior before Swiss government officials and landed a contract to develop a ‘Swiss Volkswagen’ with state funding – exactly as Porsche was doing in Germany. The first prototypes of the Swiss Volkswagen were finished in 1937 and closely resembled Ganz’s original sketches from 1923. Production plans in Switzerland, France, and Poland came to an abrupt halt after the German army invaded Poland in 1939. Europe was at war.
Sanctuary in Australia Josef Ganz survived the war in Switzerland, but faced many problems with a Swiss company trying to lay claims to his Volkswagen design, and Gestapo officers after his blood. These and other events resulted in lengthy court cases after the war. The Swiss Volkswagen was only produced in small numbers, as was a French variation called the Julien MM5.Leaving all of his problems in Europe behind, Josef Ganz emigrated to Australia in 1951. He found employment as an engineer at General Motors – Holden until health problems forced him into retirement. He suffered multiple heart attacks and practically became an invalid, spending his days at home working on his memoirs. Josef Ganz died in obscurity on July 26, 1967.