A Brief History of the Marque
Gustav Otto Flugmaschinenwerke was founded in 1911. Gustav Otto was the son of Nikolaus August Otto, of Otto engine fame.
Manufactured Munich, 1921-1937
Trading as Otto-Werke AG, the aviation company introduced the first Flottweg at the Berlin Motor Show of 1921, a utility tricycle powered by a 119cc hilfsmotor mounted above the front wheel. The next models had 183 and 246cc ohv engines of their own construction, and one of the clients for these was the Reichspost in southern Germany.
From 1928 to 1931 they included JAP 198cc and 346cc engines in the lineup.
Production halted during the economic crisis. In 1932 Dr. Georg Bruckmayer acquired rights to the name and established Flottweg Motoren-Werke, building motorcycles and aviation components (including engines, possibly). In 1935 machines with their own 198cc engines were produced until the takeover of the company by nearby BMW in 1937.
Models include: 1924 IIIF 169cc ohv (belt drive), 1927-29 IIIFK 183cc ohv (chain drive)
Flotwegg is considered the birthplace of BMW - see Gustav Otto
Sources: Tragatsch p136, flottweg.com, Axel Oskar Mathieu Archive et al.
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