Early 1942 and Germany is sliding into a total war economy. This edition features an obituary for Dr Fritz Todt, the Nazi industry minister. Todt was responsible for the construction of the autobahns, which was a significant boost to the motoring industry. He died in an aircraft crash. This edition also reviews the new Auto-Union 1500 truck. Like other auto makers, Auto-Union was banned from building cars during the war so it initiated a truck and tractor program. Neither project actually came to fruition. By 1943 the war was going badly for Germany so the introduction of a new vehicle type, regardless of its utility, was not desired. Auto-Union were instead instructed to manufacture the standard Steyr 1.5 ton truck instead.
For more information about Auto-Union's truck program: https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/10/horch-trucks-1909-to-1948.html
Reich Minister Dr. Todt on Sunday, February 8th, at the age of 50 years, was torn from his responsible work by death. The news of mourning caused pain everywhere and caused the Führer, who was also deeply affected by it, to arrange a state funeral for his paladin, a final high honor that he has earned in every respect.
Fritz Todt was born on September 4, 1891 in Pforzheim, the son of a jewellery manufacturer. After the high school years and then after his service as a one-year volunteer, he studied civil engineering at the technical universities in Munich and Karlsruhe. Not yet finished with his studies, the world war broke out. Fritz Todt moved out at the start of the crisis and was promoted to lieutenant in the reserve in October 1914. In 1916 he joined the aviators and led an independent formation until the end of the war.
In 1919 Todt brought his interrupted studies to a close and received his doctorate. His doctoral thesis already dealt with the problems of road construction. As a site manager on large construction sites with huge earth movements, he acquired the technical practice for the plan of the construction of a huge road (initially only from north to south), which had long been nurtured in Germany. He found in Adolf Hitler, with whom he conspired in 1923, the far-sighted man who did not mock this plan as "madness" like other people in government (at that time), but rather a great future project that had to be developed further and that absolutely had to be realized.
Just eleven days after taking power, the Führer entrusted Dr. Todt with the construction of the Reichsautobahn and thus made the executor of one of the greatest works in human history, a task that Dr Todt did not only masterfully, but also artistically in a way that earned him the astonishment and recognition of the whole of world. In 1938 the Fuhrer appointed him General Plenipotentiary for the regulation of the building industry. When the Siegfried Line stood dead, the Fuhrer gave the ingenious builder the rank of major-general with serious and long running projects. On March 17, 1940, the Führer appointed him Reich Minister for Armaments and Munitions in order to maximize their production. Here too, Todt showed himself to be the master. At the height of his fame, death took him away from us. We stand by his casket mourning with sincere sadness. Editor.
English translation here: https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-new-auto-union-truck-motor-und.html
