The photo of the Wehrmacht motorcycle recovered in Budapest is going around the world: from “Times of India” and “Vietnam.VN” via British media such as the “Daily Mirror” to US platforms like Yahoo Autos, outlets are reporting on the spectacular find.
According to the Hungarian Institute and Museum of Military History, the recovered motorcycle is a DKW NZ 350-1.
The DKW NZ 250 and NZ 350 models were regarded by motorcyclists at the time as particularly robust and reliable. In 1944, DKW therefore introduced the NZ 350-1, a version developed specifically for wartime use.
The Hungarian museum recovered the machine on 2 August at Batthyány Square, opposite the parliament. The motorcycle is almost completely intact. Saturated with water and mud when it was lifted out, it weighed more than 200 kilogrammes. The machine is currently being cleaned and preserved in the museum’s hangar in Budapest.
The DKW NZ 350-1 was produced between 1944 and 1945; by the end of the war, just under 12,000 units had been built.
One of the interesting features is a small detail that is easy to overlook today: on the rear frame there was a kind of “fin”, a mud and snow scraper. Its purpose was to stop mud and snow from sticking to the tyre and then getting into the chain drive. This modification apparently drew on experience from the Russian winter.
Another distinctive feature was the engine block made of grey cast iron, an iron casting alloy with a high graphite content. This was due in part to wartime shortages of aluminium. Based on the information published so far, however, it is not yet possible to date this particular find to a specific day or month of production.
DKW, the manufacturer of the NZ 350-1
The DKW company traces its roots back to Danish engineer Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen. In 1907 he first set up a firm for mechanical and steam engineering in Zschopau in Saxony. The brand name DKW was coined later and originally stood for “Dampfkraftwagen”, or “steam-powered vehicle”. In 1922 the first DKW two-stroke engine was produced in Zschopau. Over the following years the company grew into one of Germany’s most important motorcycle manufacturers.
In 1932 DKW joined forces with Audi, Horch and Wanderer to form Auto Union AG. Within the new group, the DKW plant in Zschopau remained the centre of motorcycle and engine production.
In the 1930s DKW was increasingly drawn into Germany’s rearmament. The NZ 350 was also produced in large numbers for the Wehrmacht.
The significance of the Zschopau plant is reflected in its production figures: as early as 1934 the 350,000th DKW motorcycle rolled off the line, followed in 1939 by the 500,000th. With the outbreak of the Second World War, civilian motorcycle production was increasingly cut back and manufacturing shifted more towards military needs.
The DKW NZ 350-1 now recovered from the Danube dates from this late phase of the war.
After the end of the Second World War, the DKW plant in Zschopau was dismantled by the Soviet occupation forces. Machinery and equipment were transported to the Soviet Union. DKW engineers from Zschopau were also taken to Izhevsk to help rebuild motorcycle production there. The story of the NZ 350 did not end there: from 1946 the IZh-350 was manufactured in the Soviet Union, largely based technically on the DKW NZ 350. More than 127,000 of these machines were built by 1951.
In recent days, parts of the original equipment have been found alongside the Wehrmacht motorcycle in the dried-out bed of the Danube, including a petrol can, a Y-strap and a bayonet frog.
A Y-strap was a leather carrying harness worn over the shoulders and connected at the front and back with additional straps. Its purpose was to attach equipment to the body, such as bread bags, ammunition pouches or a field bottle. The designation “Y” comes from the shape of the shoulder straps.
A bayonet frog is the holder for a bayonet that is attached to the belt or equipment. It is used to carry the bayonet when it is not fixed to the rifle.
The mortal remains of two German soldiers were discovered beneath the motorcycle. Their fully preserved identity tags could, for the first time in more than 80 years, shed light on who they were and what happened to them. A so-called “Kuban” sleeve shield was also found.
This insignia may indicate that its former wearer had previously been deployed at the Kuban bridgehead in the Caucasus.
At present it is assumed that the remains of the two men are those of the motorcycle’s driver and passenger. However, there is also a possible alternative explanation: the Hungarian Military History Institute (source in German) (source in Hungarian) believes that this spot may have become a wartime rubble or refuse pit after the end of the siege. Apparently ammunition and pieces of equipment, among other things, were dumped there.
The finds alone therefore do not yet allow a definitive conclusion to be drawn that the two men were on the DKW at the time of their deaths.