page_title: Landau (carriage)
section_title: History of landau carriages
hierarchical_section_title: Landau (carriage) / History of landau carriages
context_page_description: A landau is a coachbuilding term for a type of four-wheeled, convertible carriage. It was a city carriage of luxury type. The low shell of the landau provides maximal visibility of the occupants and their clothing, a feature that makes a landau still a popular choice for the Lord Mayors of certain cities in the United Kingdom on ceremonial occasions.
context_section_description: A landau is lightweight and suspended on elliptical springs. It was invented in the 18th century; landau in this sense is first noted in English in 1743. It was named after the German city of Landau in the Rhenish Palatinate where they were first produced. Lord, Hopkinson, coachmakers of Holborn, London, produced the first English landaus in the 1830s.
caption: 1849 daguerreotype of a landau carriage ready for a family outing.
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