Defense bicycle or Waffenrad
A defense bicycle? A rare find these days! Waffenrad (from the German "Waffen" meaning literally "weapon" + "Rad" meaning "wheel") is a bicycle brand with nearly 100 years of history. Despite its name, it never had any military use (the bicycles we remember from photos from World War II are called Militärfahrräder). For those interested in learning foreign languages, in the very logical and systematic German language, the word "bicycle" is Fahrrad, a combination of the words "Fahr(en)" (to ride) and the aforementioned "Rad." At the end of this post, I've added a few more interesting facts about how other languages handle naming bicycles.
The Waffenrad was a military vehicle because of its manufacturer, the Austrian company ÖWG (Österreichischen Waffenfabriks-Gesellschaft), which, as its name suggests, produced armaments. The bicycle itself was originally manufactured under license from the British Swift Motor Company. Its popularity stemmed from its simple design and high-quality workmanship, which is why these bicycles are still in use today (after maintenance, of course). In Vienna, there is a company that specializes in such work. They also regularly offer restored bicycles . When visiting, it's worth adding this place to your itinerary. We also recommend the Vienna cycling guide from our blog!
Bicycle production in Austria
Looking at the history of Waffenrad manufacturers, we can trace the formation of the industrial corporations that remain powerful today. In 1934, the aforementioned ÖWG merged with Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke AG to form Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG. One of the corporation's factories produced the bicycles we've described until 1987. The two-wheeler portion of the corporation was transferred to the Italian company Piaggio, ending bicycle production. This company, let's add, is widely known primarily for its Vespa scooters. A side note regarding the aforementioned Austrian and Italian companies. Both corporations grew significantly before and during the last war, thanks, of course, to supplies for the Axis Powers. In recent years, the rights to the brand have returned to Austria. Puch Wieser offers them in a modernized version, with prices ranging from around €500 to €800.
Supplement - bicycle in different languages
When it comes to names for two-wheelers, our native language follows the example of "electrolux." This is how vacuum cleaners were commonly referred to some time ago. "Bicycle" is a relic of the times when the British brand Rover actually manufactured such means of transport. The origin of the Polish word "row" is quite unusual, if you look at the map of Europe. But the native "bicykle" fits well into the tradition of languages originating from our Indo-European family of languages. Bicycles were quite common even before World War II. And to this day, this (or a very similar) term is used for "bicycle" after:- English - "bicycle"
- Catalan - "bicicleta"
- French - "bicyclette"
- Romanian - "bicicleta"
- Maltese - "bajsikil"
- Portuguese - "bicicleta"
- Italian - "bicicletta"
- Spanish - ”bicicleta”
- Slovak – "bicykel"
Bicycle in even more different languages
The Russian language retains the archaic term for a bicycle, a velocipede (велосипед), which is now used in Polish. It's interesting that the language preserves the history of technical development in this way – a "velocipede" is nothing more than a device for rapid travel...by moving one's feet along the way. The French word "vélocipède" comes from the Latin velox (a declension of velocis, meaning "fast, speed") and the word "pedem" ("pes" - "foot"). Finally, two interesting facts. Some languages consider a bicycle to be a single wheel, even without the German drive (Czech "kolo," Danish and Swedish "cykel"). Others emphasize speed—the German (in Switzerland) "velo." And it's probably hard to guess that...אופניים
...read from right to left but still Hebrew... two wheels! The material uses a photo from Wikipedia.
:)
wow!
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