Private company

Gotha

Logo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

German aircraft and rolling stock manufacturer

Gothaer Waggonfabrik (German pronunciation: lit. 'Gotha Wagon Factory') was a German manufacturer of rolling stock established in the late nineteenth century at Gotha. During the two world wars, the company expanded into aircraft building.2 It is part of Orenstein & Koppel.1 It ceased to exist in 1990.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1883Founded1
  • Industryindustrial manufacturing, manufacture of air and spacecraft and related machinery, manufacture of railway locomotives and rolling stock (NACE 30.2), vehicle construction1
  • HeadquartersGotha1
  • Founded inGotha1
  • Legal formjoint-stock company1

Gothaer Waggonfabrik (German pronunciation: [ˈɡoːtaɐ̯ vaˈɡɔ̃faˌbʁiːk], lit. 'Gotha Wagon Factory') was a German manufacturer of rolling stock established in the late nineteenth century at Gotha. During the two world wars, the company expanded into aircraft building.2

Corporate structure

Gotha is part of a group headed by Orenstein & Koppel. 5 entities, 2 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

In 1921 the company purchased Automobilwerk Eisenach, thereby entering automobile production and, with the Dixi 3/15 DA-1 playing an important part in expanding the German auto-market to buyers who hitherto would have ridden motorcycles, if at all. The company encountered a cash crisis in 1928 and the Dixi branded auto-business was sold to BMW: the Dixi 3/15 DA-1 was rebadged in 1928 as the BMW 3/15 DA-2, the name by which today the little car is better remembered.

In 1924 the Cyklon Maschinenfabrik, a manufacturer that had concentrated on motor-bikes and cycle cars came to be merged into the larger Gothaer Waggonfabrik business, through a rather indirect route of company purchases and sales. This gave Cyklon access to the viable sales and distribution network of Dixi and aspirations to become a serious auto-producer. Between 1927 and 1929 the company produced the Cyklon 9/40 which at the time was the most inexpensive six cylinder powered car sold in Germany. The conservative looking car featured a modern all-steel body produced by Germany's leading producer of steel car bodies, Ambi-Budd's Berlin based business. It was, in fact, the first all-steel standard car body produced by Ambi-Budd in Berlin and, incongruously to some modern readers, was shared with the Adler Standard 6, a more powerful and higher priced six cylinder car from one of Germany's mainstream auto-makers of the 1930s. The sale by Gothaer Waggonfabrik of the cash-strapped Dixi business to BMW meant an end to Cyklon's access to a sales network, and highlighted the lack of cash for running the auto-business which rapidly fizzled out after 1928, although Cyklon was not formally wound up until 1931.

From Wikipedia’s article on Gothaer Waggonfabrik, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

Gotha aircraft included:

Gotha B.I/II

Gotha G.I

Gotha G.II

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Gotha G.III

Gotha G.IV

Gotha G.V

Gotha G.VI

Gotha G.VII

Gotha G.IX

Gotha G.X

Gotha LD.1

Gotha WD.2

Gotha WD.3

Gotha WD.7, seaplane trainer, 1916

Gotha WD.11,

Gotha WD.14,

Gotha WD.27,

Gotha Go 145, trainer

Gotha Go 146, small transport (twin-engine), 1935

Gotha Go 147, STOL reconnaissance (prototype)

Gotha Go 149, military trainer, two built

Gotha Go 150, light aircraft

Horten Ho 229, fighter (flying-wing), Gotha was selected for mass-production

Gotha Go 242, transport glider

Gotha Go 244, transport

Gotha Go 345, assault glider

Gotha Ka 430, transport glider

Gotha Taube a variation of the Etrich Taube

From Wikipedia’s article on Gothaer Waggonfabrik, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1990Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1883Founded Founded in Gotha1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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