Arthur Geiss on DKW with the number 10 before the start – he was one of the most successful drivers of the 1920s and 30s and collected around 100 victories on various European circuits in his active career.

April 12th marks the birthday of Arthur Geiss

Quite a few voices claim that the popular driver with the stature of a jockey is the reason why the Hockenheimring was built. What is undisputed is at least the fact that the little man from Pforzheim in southwest Germany triggered a huge boom in terms of enthusiasm for racing. Arthur was born on April 12, 1903, in Hockenheim, the fifth son of Abraham and Margarete Geiss. The father was a mechanic and driving instructor, and he ran a repair shop there. This is how the junior came to this profession and thus came into contact with motorcycles at an early age. Some time later he switched to his brother Wilhelm’s company, who also ran a workshop in Pforzheim that specialized in motorcycles.

An old postcard from the Hockenheimring (at that time still Hockenheim triangle race) from 1933. The permanent racetrack was completely rebuilt 32 years later and without Arthur Geiss it might have never been built.
MercedesFactory driver Manfred von Brauchitsch at the Schauinsland Mountain Prize in 1927 in the famous “Holzschlägermatte” curve. Arthur Geiss should win this race near Freiburg im Breisgau very often in his career.
A photo of the Opel racetrack from the mid-1920s – here Arthur Geiss won one of his first career races on a DKW on May 31, 1925.

The first steps in racing
Initially he took part in smaller events in his area and at the age of 20 he is said to have won his first race in Karlsruhe. We searched our huge archive and compared everything with the information that could be found on the Internet. There were promptly contradicting data, which is why we only included in our statistics for which there are several consistent sources. As is so often the case, information from the Wiki was sometimes clearly wrong and refutable. But the first race win in 1923, respectively two, are so far as undisputed. Arthur didn’t last long in Pforzheim. Only a short time after his first success on the racetrack, he was supported by DKW, one of the leading companies in small motorcycle construction in Zschopau, Saxony. After numerous victories and podium finishes, he was hired as a factory driver.

The DKW works in the 1930s in Zschopau were huge for the times and because military vehicles were naturally produced there during the war, they were almost completely destroyed by bombing towards the end of the war. In 1929, it was read that the company was proud to call itself the world’s largest motorcycle factory.
A report from 1927 with the report on the 175cc race with the mention of Geiss as the superior winner and the result on the right. The program on the Solitude racetrack near Stuttgart began shortly after 7 a.m. with the first run, definitely not for late risers and was absolutely common at the time.
Advertising for motorcycle brands that hardly anyone knows today. The young man from Hockenheim drove the first races in A.J.S., Garelli, NSU and Wimmer.

The young DKW works driver
By the way, DKW is the abbreviation for Dampf Kraft-Wagen (Steam force car). Now it was time for Arthur to prove the performance of their products on the routes in Germany and later all over Europe. The competition was very strong even in his own camp, especially in Chemnitz Walfried Winkler the young Swabian had found an equal opponent, but also a good friend. Between all the races, trips and successes, Arthur made the acquaintance of his future wife. His wife Rosa married in 1926 and over the next few years had three children (Edith, Günther and Arthur junior).

The cover picture of the program booklet from 1928 from the Schleizer Dreieck race cost one Reichsmark at the time.
Above with start number 3 Arthur Geiss and below with 10 Walfried Winkler, the two should be among the most important protagonists in all of Europe in the smaller and middle classes for many years.
Start of the Eifel race in 1929 on the Nürburgring, of course quite blurred with regard to the drivers, at least clearly recognizable in the background the Nürburg and the relatively sparsely occupied grandstand. Most of them could not afford a place there back then, it was the times of the Great Depression.
Development of the average speeds of the different classes on the Nürburgring from 1927 to 1930. Such jumps in performance are of course completely unthinkable nowadays, but at that time the technology began to develop by leaps and bounds.

Geiss’ successes became increasingly international
Arthur had already made a name for himself in Germany at the Solitude race, the 24-hour race on the Opelbahn and the Nürburgring opening race. There were also successes abroad, for example at the Klausen Pass race, at the kilometer in Basel (both in Switzerland) and in Maribor in what is now Slovenia. Of the tracks that are still known today, there were victories in Schleiz, the Nürburgring, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and also in the royal park of Monza. Geiss was also successful in Budapest and at the Great Mountain Prize of Schauinsland near Freiburg im Breisgau the audience celebrated him like a little king. Even in the Netherlands on the Circuit van Drenthe, the so-called Dutch TT in Assen, the little Swabian won for the Zschopau plant.

The spectators march off after a race – in the early post-war years there were said to have been numbers between 200 and 400 thousand visitors to the most popular events.
Title page of the Solitude race near Stuttgart in 1929. Arthur Geiss won the 250cc class run in 1931 ahead of DKW teammate Walfried Winkler. Incidentally, this year’s program booklet was almost identical, only next to the driver with the number 1 an identically grim-looking comrade with an 8 on the front of the handlebars was drawn.
Arthur Geiss and his DKW – often enough an absolutely unbeatable combination.

The years 1923 to 1931 in numbers – over 60 victories within 9 years

Of course, there were also numerous podium places and top 5 placements. But even without this, he was considered the most successful driver in Germany before the Second World War.
Start to the Hohensyburg race – here the 500cc class. In the small category, the “Jockey from Pforzheim” born in Hockenheim was the winner. He won again in 1930 and a year later.
Result of the Hohensyburg race of 1931 with Geiss as the winner of the 250 cm³ class ahead of permanent rivals and DKW team-mates Walfried Winkler and Doevel-Hagen on P3.
Arthur Geiss shortly before the start – whether mountain or circuit races, the little German was always one of the top favorites.

The problem with reliability in the 1920s and 30s

Even factory drivers dropped out countless times and so it caught the Swabian often enough on his DKW, who mostly competed in the 175cc class and up to 250cc for the company of Zschopau. Much more often than from falls, it was usually the technology that played a trick on the drivers. With the typical evidence of German thoroughness, there were even evaluations at that time, such as the example shown below from an engine magazine, which was distributed throughout the country. Many drivers should have similar experiences in the first decades after World War II, see also examples such as in the career of Bill Ivy in our history.

Failure statistics for the GP of Germany on July 5, 1931, at the Nürburgring with many drivers who had not reached the destination. Most of them not from falls, but from technical problems, including Arthur Geiss. Like Bauhofer (both DKW), the man from Hockenheim had failed with a tank breakdown. Of 16 pilots who started, only 5 saw the checkered flag, those were the days!
Ranking list for the Schauinsland race near Freiburg im Breisgau in 1930 with Arthur Geiss as the winner of the 250cc class in a DKW ahead of Kohfink (Montgomery), Frentzen and Thomann (both UT).
Start to the race at the Schleizer Dreieck – while the rear drivers are still pushing desperately, someone in front is already driving up and away. Often enough the opponents only saw the little “Jockey of Pforzheim” from behind during the race.
Schleizer Dreieck on August 23, 1931 – unsurprisingly the winner up to 250cc again in one of the most popular races in Germany, before and even after World War II.
An autograph card from the star of the 1930s on his supercharged DKW, of course with the 4 rings, which would later become the symbol of the successor company Audi.
Schauinsland-Bergrennen (hill climb race) from 1931 with DKW ace Arthur Geiss as the winner, as in the previous year in the 250cc class.

The home race and the move to Saxony

In 1935 Arthur Geiss moved to Adelsberg near Chemnitz, where his colleagues and friends Walfried Winkler and Ewald Kluge also lived. The suburb of the third largest city in Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden was soon referred to as the “racing driver village” because of its famous residents. But he was not forgotten at home either, and in 1932 the Hockenheim triangle race had already been launched. On May 29, 1932, the first race was held for the first time on what was then a 12-kilometer route, laid out on unpaved forest trails. Around 60 thousand spectators are said to have lined the route at that time. To frenetic applause, the local hero won his home race in the 250 cm³ class. It was to be the beginning of an event that has become more and more well-known for decades, for which a permanent racetrack was later created.

The Chemnitz man Walfried Winkler (right in the picture) with Siegfried “Sissi” Wünsche – two of the most important, fastest and of course also best known drivers of their time together with Geiss.
More and more images of this kind were to be seen in motor magazines. They were dark harbingers, which most of the contemporaries probably did not perceive at the time as threatening as they really were. Motorsport organizers still known today, such as ADAC, were politically infiltrated as early as 1931 and began to print party slogans from the Nazi leadership.
The current organizer of the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring had already shown politically questionable sentiments from the early 1930s, as this photo shows. At the time, this opportunism seemed to pay off for a traffic club, motorsports event and breakdown service organization.
From 1933 onwards, nothing went in the award ceremony in Germany without such pictures. In the middle two Englishmen who seem irritated with their arms outstretched. Shortly before the Second World War, the drivers from Germany without party affiliation had no chance to start.
Little man, big – the man from Hockenheim was a racing driver with body and soul and, as a trained mechanic, of course also a man who understood a lot of the technology that he mastered so masterfully on the racetracks of Europe. He was something like the Bill Ivy of Germany in the years between the two world wars.

The numerous championships for Arthur Geiss

In addition to a runner-up European championship in 1927, the Swabian collected a total of 6 titles as German champion in the two smaller classes. When the European Championship even followed in 1935, the city of Hockenheim made its famous son an honorary citizen. With regard to the sporting value of the European championship title, it should be borne in mind that world championships were not held until 1949. In the first 3 years, however, German drivers should not be admitted. In addition, only 3 and 1951 four races were held in the small class during this time. That’s why pre-war European titles like Geiss’s were worth even more.

At the Avus racetrack in Berlin with the typical steep wall curve in the background – the man from Baden-Württemberg was also successful here.
Badge for the Würgauer hill climb in 1933 – one of the countless races that the DKW ace was able to win in his career.
Swiss GP in Bremgarten near Bern – one of the few races that Geiss never won in his career. But a 2nd place on May 3, 1936, on his DKW in the 250 cm³ class is of course still worthy of all honor.

Other highlights in the career of the Baden-Württemberg man
As mentioned at the beginning of our summary of his career, Arthur Geiss had already set a speed record for DKW on the Opel railway in 1927. In 1933, he set a new world record in the 250 cm³ class for the people of Zschopau in Tat (Hungary) with 161.46 km / h. By 1935, he and Walfried Winkler set several new records for DKW. With his small body size and low weight, the man with the stature of a jockey was naturally made for it. His stance on the bike was described as unique and anyone who, like him, won more than half of the races he contested was beyond any criticism. In his time there were very few who could hold a candle to him. It is not clear how far he had an influence on the further development at DKW. Due to his success, however, one can assume that the little man from Hockenheim, with his technical understanding as well as his driving skills, contributed a great deal to the countless victories that he had achieved for the Zschopauer.

The poster for the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring – another race that was won by the DKW works driver not far from Zschopau. Geiss won here a year later.
Preparation of the DKW team with Geiss, Josef Klein and Ernst Zündorf for the start at the famous Targa Florio in Sicily in 1929. According to statistics available to us, Arthur Geiss took the excellent 2nd place with the 175 cm³ DKW, but according to another document he fell out of the race and was eliminated.
Geiss also took part in the Tourist Trophy and finished 7th in the lightweight class on the Isle of Man in 1935. Things went better at the European GP at the Ulster Grand Prix in Belfast on August 24th with 3rd place for the German in the up category 250 cc. On June 18, a year later, he returned to the TT and was third in the lightweight class. The picture shows Ewald Kluge before the start, from another year.
Wherever he appeared, the man with the number 10 in the center of the picture made people look up. Arthur Geiss was an exceptional talent who succeeded in almost everything. Here, before the start, followed closely by its competitors.
At the Sachsenring in the mid-1960s – after Geiss had won the 250 cc race here in 1935, he did not see the checkered flag a year later. After that, however, the Hockenheimer put down a series with 6 victories in a row. First he won the Dutch TT, then in Schotten, at the Belgian GP in Floreffe, in his hometown of Hockenheim, at the Munich triangle race and the mountain prize of the Schauinsland hill climb route near Freiburg im Breisgau.
Schleizer Dreieck – one of the most traditional street courses in Germany in motorsport history with over 90 years of racing. After Geiss had not won here for the first time in 1935, the engine of his 250 cc DKW went on strike a year later while fighting for victory with Ewald Kluge in the middle of the race. Otherwise, it would have been victory number 7 in a row. His friend Walfried Winkler had similar bad luck and failed with a gearbox failure.

The abrupt end of his career was not due to a racing accident
For one of the most daring and fastest drivers in his country and from all of Europe, it was an irony of fate that the DKW factory driver did not end on the racetrack. Rather, he was injured in a traffic accident that happened while driving to the award ceremony in autumn 1936. On November 6, 1936, the DKW team’s racing drivers drove their machines from Zschopau to Chemnitz to an award ceremony. Geiss knew the route very well and the road was dry, so they were traveling at quite a speed. At Geiss, the water drain screw on the radiator loosened, the rear wheel slipped away, Arthur first intercepted the machine again, but could not prevent the crash in the end.

Arthur Geiss and his wife Rosa gardening at his place of residence during active times, in front of his own house east of Chemnitz, where the two of them lived a comfortable life until the outbreak of World War II. At least during the time when he was not on the road from spring to autumn, as was the case until 1936.

The consequences prevented his return to the racetracks
A serious injury to his left arm, a broken knee and a lot of flesh wounds were the result of his accident. His injuries sustained in the process made it necessary to stay in hospital for 15 months in a clinic near Berlin. After that, his left arm was so limited in its function prevented him from continuing to race. This was extremely hard for the fast man from Hockenheim and, according to his own statement, he had to nibble on it for a long time. The little man, who measured only 163 cm (64.17 in), was never to take part in a competition afterwards. Below are the results of the second half of his racing career.

The years after racing for Arthur Geiss

After retiring as a racing driver, the “Jockey from Pforzheim” passed on his knowledge for some time as a supervisor for younger drivers. Used by the DKW owner Auto-Union as a supervisor for the young drivers in the racing service and back office, he was an important reference person for many young talents. At the end of the war, Geiss left Adelsberg again and moved first to Brake (Unterweser, south of Bremerhaven) and later to Zaisersweiher (northeast of Pforzheim), where he opened a repair shop for DKW motorcycles. As a result, he and his family fled the Soviet-occupied zone to the West in good time. He ran his business on the Schützinger Strasse and remained loyal to his former employer by selling and repairing DKW motorcycles from then on. He died on February 5, 1982, at the age of just 79. Arthur-Geiss-Straße in Hockenheim was named after him.

Arthur Geiss (on the right in the picture) and his friend Walfried Winkler at a meeting in the late 1970s.
Ewald Kluge – Arthur Geiss’s successor in the DKW works team continued to drive after the war and only resigned when, like his predecessor, he was forced to do so due to an injury. For him, however, it was a fall in the Eifel race that ended his career (@ Audi Mediacenter).