August Wilhelm Maybach (1846 - 1929)

Biography

Wilhelm Maybach is Notable.

German engine designer and industrialist who, together with Gottlieb Daimler, invented the first gasoline-powered motorcycle named the Reitwagen (1885), power-engine boat named the Neckar (1887) and later the Mercedes car model (1900). He was considered the "King of Designers" in 1890s France.

August Wilhelm Maybach was born on 9 February 1846 in Heilbronn, Württemberg, Deutscher Bund, son of cabinet maker Christian Karl Maybach (1813–1856) from Löwenstein and Luise Barbara Dannwolf (1814–1854) from Böblingen.^[1]

His siblings were:

• Carl Gottlob Dannwolf (1842-1842)
• Carl Friedrich Maybach (1844–1897 )
• Christian Heinrich Maybach (1848– )
• Jakob Ferdinand Maybach (1849– )
• Franz Adolf Maybach (1851-1895)
• Paul Hermann Maybach (1853-1854)

Wilhelm (32) married Bertha Wilhelmine Habermaas (27) (born on 8 August 1851 in Maulbronn, Württemberg; daughter of Karl Gottfried Habermaas and Rosine Gottliebin (Weegmer) Habermaas) on 5 September 1878 in Maulbronn, Württemberg. She was a friend of Emma Pauline (Kurz) Daimler (1843-1889), the first wife of Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (1834-1900).^[2] Their known children were:

• Karl Maybach (1879–1960)
• Adolf Maybach (1884–1940)
• Emma Maybach (1892–1974)

Wilhelm died on 29 December 1929 in Stuttgart-Cannstatt, aged 83. He was buried in Uff-Kirchhof, Stutgart-Cannstatt.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Baptism: Church book Heilbronn, Württemberg: Landeskirchliches Archiv Stuttgart > Dekanat Heilbronn > Heilbronn > Taufregister 1846-1850 Band 15, 1846 #36 Archion image 9
2. ↑ https://www.dhm.de/lemo/biografie/wilhelm-maybach
3. ↑ Burial: Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28248872/august_wilhelm-maybach: accessed January 28, 2025), memorial page for August Wilhelm Maybach (9 Feb 1846–29 Dec 1929), Find A Grave: Memorial #28248872, citing Uff-Kirchhof, Bad Cannstatt, Stadtkreis Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany; Maintained by Find a Grave.

See also:

• Wilhelm Maybach on Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
• Wikidata: Item Q77125, en:Wikipedia
• Kirchenbücher der ev. Kirchengemeinde Heilbronn, Familienregister Bd. 22 (Nichtbürger), p. 55, Archion Image 33
• Obituary: Schwäbischer Merkur ; [...] ; Wochenausgabe für das Ausland, 3 January 1930, p. 5 (Deutsches Zeitungsportal via Württembergische Landesbibliothek  : accessed 17 November 2025)
• Obituary: Stuttgarter neues Tagblatt : südwestdeutsche Handels- und Wirtschafts-Zeitung, 30 December 1929, p. 3 (Deutsches Zeitungsportal via Württembergische Landesbibliothek  : accessed 17 November 2025)
• Ahnenliste Wilhelm Maybach #1
• Niemann, Maybach
• Seherr-Thoß, Hans Christoph Graf von, "Maybach, Wilhelm" in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 16 (1990), S. 523-525 [Online-Version]; URL: https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd118579517.html#ndbcontent
• https://www.wissensstadt.hn/very-impressive-peop/wilhelm-maybach-ein-pionier-der-automobilgeschichte-vom-schreinerssohn-zum-konstrukteurskoenig/
• Irene Meichsner: Wilhelm Maybach - Namenspatron der Luxuslimousinen