$120.00 CAD
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Scarce 1922 catalog for German manufacturer of Diamant-Rad bicycles, in early post-WW1 period.
Reichenbrand is a suburb of Chemnitz in Saxony Germany.
Pictures of manufacturing plants. racing team and their wins, different models of men’s and women’s bikes, delivery bicycle, etc.
No pricing in catalog.
Hyperinflation affected the German Papiermark, the currency of the Weimar Republic, between 1921 and 1923, primarily in 1923. It caused considerable internal political instability in the country, the occupation of the Ruhr by France and Belgium as well as misery for the general populace.
Some staining, cover bleeding through to top of first few pages
28 pages + covers
14 x 20cm
The German bike manufacturer Diamant has a long and colorful history, but it’s origins have nothing to do with bicycles at all. In 1885 Friedrich Nevoigt lost his job in a factory that built machines that knit stockings. Instead of hanging his head, he took this as an opportunity make a new life for himself and started out manufacturing spare parts for knitting machines and nibs made of Diamant steel. In the 1890s, bicycles became a popular means of transport. Backed up by the huge demand and armed with his experience in processing steel, Nevoigt and his brother Wilhelm embarked on the production of steel bicycle frames.
It was not until 1911 that the Nevoigt brothers had their company name "Diamantrad" and the accompanying "Köpfchen" logo protected. After a rather gloomy period during the First World War, when Diamant, like other steel-processing companies, was forced to produce armaments, the company was quickly able to pick up where it left off, and by 1922 Diamant was back to producing 55,000 bicycles each year. Because the two Nevoigt brothers were smart tinkerers with masses of ideas to boot, the company was able to register 12 patents just a few years later, most of which in some way or other made bicycles lighter.
https://www.bike-mailorder.com/diamant-rad/
