A Long Gone Legend.

At the time of his death, not even the local newspaper wrote more than a few lines about a man who had once been an automobile pioneer in Germany. Historian Martin Walter now commemorates a long-gone legend:

Karl Kappler.
By Martin Walter.



In 1891, a child is born in the small German town of Gernsbach. He is to write automobile history - but in the year of his birth the automobile is not even invented yet.

Karl Kappler's story, however, has an interesting beginning: Karl's parents August and Karoline have had some experiences few others have. The couple had just returned from America by the time of their son's birth. In the USA they had found a good life, but returned to Germany because of August Kappler's bad health condition. He dies only two years later, and so it's his widow Karoline who is forced to make money, first by working for the local railroad. Later she opens a grocery shop and earns a good living, so that Karl can attend a good school.

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Having finished at this school, Karl Kappler decides to become a mechanic and is trained at the "Süddeutsche Automobilfabrik Gaggenau" until 1910. It is but a few years before that he first finds his passion for the automobile; at the age of 13 he drives a car for the first time, and in 1906 he applies for a driver's license. He is one of the first Germans ever to get one - and certainly he is the youngest among the few. "I deeply wanted to have this license", he later says, "but the car broke
down several times during the exam. I had to fix it every time. But after only three days of training, I passed the exam."

The license officially allows him to drive - a fact that surprises the policemen when he first enters the capital city of Berlin. They stop him, yell at him, "How dare he drive a car in the city?" they say. He then just hands them his license, and everyone is quiet. But Karl Kappler himself is not quiet; on the contrary, he's challenging the other drivers, piloting an SAP car in competition for the first time in 1907. The automobile is constructed by the company he is trained at.

But a lot more than the car, the driver is a good one. In 1907, Kappler drives from Berlin to Stuttgart in only 13 days, winning twelve out of a rally's thirteen legs. There are no street maps at that time, so Kappler has to ask for the best way to drive in almost every village he enters. When he needs to refuel, he has to ask for gas at local pharmacies - because, of course, there is not a single filling station outside the big cities. It's hardly imaginable for most of the pharmacists that a young guy like Kappler really drives an automobile, and so sometimes they offer him peppermint pastilles instead of gas. Driving through the mountains, the motor is often not strong enough. Kappler then stops the car, steps out of it and starts to talk to the motor. Most of the time he's cajoling it, but sometimes he gets angry and shouts at the vehicle - a spectacle for people walking by, some of whom have never seen a car before.



In 1911 Kappler becomes a trained worker at the »Benzwerke Gaggenau«.

He draws engineering drawings and gets promoted in 1915 - he is finally regarded as a fulltime engineer. Soon he becomes engaged with the construction of early airplanes. He earns unfettered praise for his work and he is hired by the airplane company "Automobil und Aviatik AG" in Leipzig in 1917, where he immediately becomes head of the "giant airplanes" branch. In Leipzig, Kappler is among those who build the airplanes most feared by the enemies in World War I. The Versailles Treaty and its conditions force Germany to give up its aircraft production after the war, and so Kappler loses his job. He returns to his hometown Gernsbach where he finds a new job selling Daimler Benz cars and opens a shop for high quality tires: "Reifen Kappler".

It is in 1922, when he becomes known: he wins a car race in Baden-Baden and earns his public first reputation. Piloting Benz cars, he can win many other races in the following months and years. He is praised by newspapers that now call him "one of the oldest, most experienced and most successful pilots".

In the 1920's he's piloting "Simson Supra" cars, and by 1927 he wins 200(!) races. His huge number of victories can be explained with a simple fact: Karl Kappler often challenges the other drivers in two different categories by starting in both racing and sporting championships.



Sometimes he even pilots the same car in both categories, only with a changed auto body.

Piloting a Bugatti, he survives two terrible accidents in 1927. Once, the spectators even believe he's dead - but he's not. On the contrary, he keeps on challenging his competitors. Still a winner, he puts an end to his racing career in 1930 at the age of 40. That however doesn't mean a farewell to automobiles: Kappler finds a new passion in long distance rallies. Only three years later, he drives from Berlin to Monte Carlo in 25 hours. Newspaper articles tell the news about Kappler's trip all around the world. Karl Kappler is finally a star.

During the war of course, his celebrity fades, and by the time of his death most people don't remember his name anymore. Karl Kappler dies in 1962, aged 71.




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Copyright: Martin Walter