page_title: BMW 321
section_title: Production after World War II
hierarchical_section_title: BMW 321 / Production after World War II
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. ADN-ZB/Archiv BMW-Werke Eisenach Die volkseigenen BMW-Werke Eisenach lieferten soeben die ersten 15 BMW-Personenkraftwagen an die DWK für den zivilen Bedarf.
context_page_description: The BMW 321 is a compact six-cylinder automobile produced by the Bavarian firm between 1938 and 1941. After 1945, production of the 321 resumed at the Eisenach plant and continued until 1950.
context_section_description: In 1945, Eisenach was occupied by American forces, but by then it had already been agreed between the allies that the whole of Thuringia would fall within the Soviet occupation zone: transfer of the region to the Soviets took place in July 1945. It seemed likely that BMW’s manufacturing facility would be crated up and taken by rail to the Soviet Union as part of the substantial post war reparations package. In the meantime, surviving workers returning from the war recommenced automobile production, on a very small scale, using prewar designs. Albert Seidler, the man in charge of Eisenach motor bike production, demonstrated the 321 to Marshal Zhukov and secured from him an order for five new cars. The Russians were evidently impressed, and the plant passed under the control of “Sowjetische AG Maschinenbau Awtowelo”, a Soviet directed holding company focused on vehicle production. A further 8,996 BMW 321s are thought to have been built between 1945 and 1950. Most appear to have remained to the east of the Iron Curtain, many being taken to the Soviet Union as part of a reparations package in respect of the Second World War. Evidence also exists for exports to the west: the car was advertised in Switzerland in 1949 with a retail price of CHF 10,300.
caption: In 1948 the first batch of postwar BMW 321s allocated for "civilian use" was photographed leaving the Eisenach plant. The batch was of just fifteen cars.
exif: {}