Class A restored; delivered to the Kriegsmarine in Rudolstadt in 1944 – a genuine WW-II survivor

The Saurer SGS 4500 (4×2) resp. SGA 4500 (4×4) arose of a joined development of Henschel, Magirus and Saurer. About 240 trucks were made from 1942 to 1943. This Saurer SGS 4500 was used by a unit of the Kriegsmarine.

This specific truck was delivered to the Kriegsmarine in Rudolstadt as the Torpedo Arsenal was moved from Kiel to Rudolstadt for the underground production of torpedoes for the Kriegsmarine in early 1943. The base was named Torpedo Arsenal Mitte in Rudolstadt / Thüringen (TAM).

Werner, Dr. Klaus W, a local researcher from Rudolstadt published an 80-page monograph on the TAM in the early 2000s “The torpedo arsenal center (TAM) in Rudolstadt (Saale) 1942-1945”. (See picture on the right).

Approximately 2,500 employees were employed. This was a combination of forced laborers, a number of marines, and Germans.

Below you find some pictures of base the Torpedo Arsenal Mitte in Rudolstadt / Thüringen (TAM) during WW-II. Next to it a picture of Rudolstadt located on the map. Remarkably, the Kriegsmarine in Rudolstadt is located far offshore. The American troops liberated the TAM on 04/12/45.

On September 1st 1945, after its service for the Kriegsmarine it was sold by the Landesradt to a local transport company named Albert Krappe (See document below). The truck was used by the company for many decades until the end of the 1980s.

Early 2000 it was purchased by Christoph Gebhardt who completely restored it in the period 2020-2021. During this Class A restoration, the original materials where largely reused. Even the wood has largely remained original!

Result is a unique, pristine very original restored vehicle!

© Tracks & Trade BV, the Netherlands, February 2023

In 1906, engineer Alfred von Radio-Radiis joined the company Kfz Ges.m.b.H., which had been founded shortly before by engineers Franz Probst, Moritz Schwarzl and Adolf Maschl. in Vienna-Alsergrund and acquired the license to manufacture trucks from the Swiss Adolph Saurer AG in Arbon, with the Swiss founding company remaining the main shareholder until 1937.

In 1910 Radio-Radiis, who came from an old aristocratic family from Gorizia, took over the management of the company and a short time later took his brother Gaston – also a trained engineer – on as an additional managing director of the company, which was founded in 1914 as Österreichische Saurerwerke, Kfz Ges. m.b.H. was entered in the Vienna commercial register. As early as 1909, the first year-round postal bus route in Austria, from Linz to Eferding, began operating with Saurer buses.

Initially, the vehicles were assembled from components manufactured in Switzerland using the assembly process, but the company soon switched to independent design and production (partly under Swiss licenses).

Additional demand was created by acquiring bus line concessions. In 1916, as a result of the increase in production caused by the First World War, a new plant was built on the Simmerhinger Haide in Vienna-Simmering. In 1923, with the help of the Swiss licensor, the company was converted into a public limited company, but the majority of the shares were in the hands of the Radio-Radiis family. 

At the beginning of the 1930s, a sales company was founded in the German Reich. In 1934, the body construction company J. Rohrbacher was taken over as a subsidiary, and in 1937 the Swiss parent company sold all of its shares. Shortly before Austria was annexed to the German Reich, an artillery tractor, the Saurer RR-7, was constructed for the army.

Saurer in the WW-II

During the Second World War, the Saurer works operated a branch of the Mauthausen camp on their premises in Vienna-Simmering.
Also, factories were set up and forced laborers used in the former imperial Neugebäude Palace. In the basement and ground floor of the main building an armaments factory of Saurer-Werke was set up to manufacture tank engines, tracked vehicles and trucks. The production of trucks was concentrated on the 5-ton type.

After the Second World War, the range was focused on large trucks with diesel engines of our own design, such as the Saurer BT 4500. As a result, the 5-tonne Saurer 5 GF with the up to 180 hp Saurer “Komet” six-cylinder in-line diesel engine with a displacement of 8 liters developed into one of the most popular types. 

This Truck

This specific truck was built in Vienna-Simmering in delivered in 1944. Below a picture of the original identification plate before restoration. In this picture also the original colors can be identified. Color used was the late war camouflage pattern based on a red primer with on top of this a  dunkelgelb base. Camouflage pattern was normally finished with stripes of rotbraun and olivgrün.

It was delivered to the Kriegsmarine in Rudolstadt where it was used for transportation purposes for the Torpedo Arsenal Mitte in Rudolstadt / Thüringen (TAM) where underground production of torpedoes was facilitated for the German Kriegsmarine since 1943.

Approximately 2,500 employees were employed in this facility. This was a combination of forced laborers, a number of Kriegsmarine members and local civilian personnel.

Most probably this truck was used for all kinds of logistics activities that a factory of this size entails on a daily basis.

At the end of the war the situation in Rudolstadt became very critical. In the last days of the Second World War, the district of Volkstedt was bombed by American planes on April 10, 1945. 35 people fell victim and 165 houses, including the church.

With the Russians coming from the east and the US 89^th Infantry Division, a unit of the US Third Army, commanded by General Patton from the west the Americans troops liberated the TAM on April 12^th 1945.

After the war, Rudolstadt-Schwarza developed into a center of the chemical industry in the GDR. More than 6,000 people found work in what was then the chemical fiber combine “Wilhelm Pieck” and several thousand more in the supplier industry. After the war the truck was sold to a private company. Below you can find a picture of the original transfer document, the original text, and the US Translation.

Bescheinigung 

Die Firma Albert Krappe – Rudolstadt, Mittelweg 15 war berechtigt, aus der ehemaligen bestanden des Marine Arsenals

1 Lastkraftwagen Saurer Motor GMD 1118 Fahrgestell GSD 1118 Tragfähigkeit 4640 kg 4 Fach bereift, ohne Differential, Kardanwelle und Batterie

Laut Genehmigung des Landrates v. 16.7. 45 zum Preise von RM 3 800,– abzuholen.

Nachträglich wurde der Maschine von Herrn Oberländer getaxt

Der Sonderbeauftragte

Rudolstadt, den 1.9.45

Certification

The company Albert Krappe – Rudolstadt, Mittelweg 15 was entitled to consist of the former marine arsenal

• truck Saurer Motor GMD 1118 chassis GSD 1118 load capacity 4640 kg 4 tires, without differential, cardan shaft and battery

According to the approval of the district administrator v. 16.7. 45 for the price of RM 3,800.00.

The machine was subsequently taxed by Mr. Oberländer

The Special Representative

Rudolstadt, September 1, 1945

The truck was used by the company for many decades until the end of the 1980s.

Early 2000 it was purchased by Christoph Gebhardt from the Polish company Marco Pablo Spólka z o.o. in Tarnowo Podgorne near Poznań who completely restored it with his team in the period 2020-2021. During this Class A restoration, the original materials where largely reused. Even the wood has largely remained original! In the next chapter you will find an impression of the restoration.

Result is a unique, pristine very original restored vehicle!

Other documentation

With the Truck will come an extensive file of documentation from the previous owner who kept a file since 1946.

This makes the vehicle even more attractive!

Another Saurer SGS4500 in British service of the RCAF No. 403 Squadron

Towards the end of the war, British 403 Squadron operated out of 127 Airfield near Soldau Germany. This was known as Base 154 or B154. They remained there from April 26 until July 7, 1945.

B 154 was an abandoned German airbase known as Reinsehlen. It was about 45 km from Hamburg. It was quite near the Concentration Camp at Bergen Belsen and the swimming pool at Lüneburg Germany. The 403 squadron captured a SGS4500 at B154 in July of 1945. This truck was painted in RAF colors and used by the troops for local tours in the area.

Lot-0220-02-TT-GE-Saurer-SGS4500-Rev-3.0

Brochure: Lot 0220-02 T&T GE Saurer SGS4500 Rev 3.0