19/3/1899 - 0/0/1992
Record updated
One of the pioneer in racing aerodynamics.
In his youth Reinhard was already interested in aerodynamics. And, after a very successful career as a racing driver (1924 German motorcycling champion) this interest became a profession.
Inspired by Zeppelin`s airships, Reinhard worked at reducing the wind resistance faced by road cars. Already by 1929 the last owner of Fachsenfeld castle had started the idea of reducing fuel consumption by better aerodynamics.
Nowadays aerodynamic car bodies are perfectly normal in the automobile industry. But it took pioneering spirit and a lot of persistence to awake any interest in this subject. Reinhard von Koenig attracted the public's attention with record-breaking drives and victories achieved by racing drivers such as Kurt May and von Brauchitsch on the Berlin AVUS circuit with cars equipped with his aerodynamic bodies.