Ley Loreley (Rud.Ley AG)

Automotive manufacturer of Arnstadt , Germany from 1905 to 1928

The Rud. Ley Automobilfabrik AG was a machine, automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer in Arnstadt Germany. The brand names as Loreley and later Ley.

History

In 1856, the company was founded as a craft business for the production of sewing and shoe machines and later purchased by journeyman Rudolf Ley . In 1901 the company was taken over by his sons Alfred , Hugo , Robert and Hermann . From 1905 there were light motor car under the brand name Loreley built, designed by Alfred Ley. With transformation of the legal form into a corporation Hermann Ley left the company in 1909. Hugo and Robert Ley joined the supervisory board, Alfred Ley became sole director.

The first Loreley was a 6/10-HP vehicle with four-cylinder in-line engine, which drew from a displacement of 1500 cc, a power of 10 hp (7.4 kW). Until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, conventional touring cars with two or four seats and engines with four or six cylinders were built. In 1910, the company was the city's largest employer with 1,200 employees.

After the First World War, the prewar models initially appeared in slightly modified form now under the brand name Ley . With the new model T6 the first streamline vehicles were tested after a patent of Paul Jaray . At the end of 1925, the 750-employee enterprise ran into such economic difficulties that a settlement had to be applied for to avert bankruptcy. In 1928 the construction of passenger cars was discontinued, in 1933 were exhausted with exhaustion of the existing parts and the last truck.

In 1935, the site was sold with the buildings of the automobile factory to fulfill all liabilities. The machines of the automobile factory were relocated to the parent plant. The Automotive Division continued to manufacture spare parts and was a supplier to other automobile factories. Shoemaking and electrical engineering continued unchanged until 1945.

In 1947 the company was deleted from the commercial register after expropriation and twice dismantling. The shoe range was further produced in 1947 in the successor VEB under the brand names SCHUMA and TEXTIMA .