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Private company

Hildebrand & Wolfmüller

Logo: CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

Type of motorcycle

The Hildebrand & Wolfmüller was the world's first production motorcycle. Heinrich and Wilhelm Hildebrand were steam-engine engineers before they teamed up with Alois Wolfmüller to produce their internal combustion Motorrad in Munich in 1894.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

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ZweiRadMuseumNSU Hildebrand Wolfmueller
Photo: Joachim Köhler, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

The Hildebrand & Wolfmüller was the world's first production motorcycle. Heinrich and Wilhelm Hildebrand were steam-engine engineers before they teamed up with Alois Wolfmüller to produce their internal combustion Motorrad in Munich in 1894.2

Products and brands

Approximately two thousand examples of the motorcycle were built, but with a high initial purchase price and increasing competition from improving designs (this model was entirely "run and jump" with neither clutch nor pedals) it is not thought to have been a great commercial success. The Hildebrand & Wolfmüller factory closed in 1919 after the First World War. The motorcycle was also built under licence in Paris by Duncan and Superbie.

From Wikipedia’s article on Hildebrand & Wolfmüller, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Sources

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

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