MAJA / GERMANY

 

 MAJA WERK AG  MÜNCHEN - HAMBURG  ( 1923 - 1924 )

The company "MAJA" from Munich is certainly one of the most unsuccessful and therefore unknown vehicle manufacturers from the twenties in Germany. I had never heard of this brand before I found the  emblem. In Wikipedia you can find two lines about this brand, but no pictures. Also in the "Georgano Encyclopaedia" only two skinny lines and no photo. Anyway, everywhere it is claimed that the company existed  from 1923 to 1924 only.

To my knowledge, the name "MAJA" for an automobile was used for the first time in 1907. The Austrian DAIMLER subsidiary named its model so and also used an emblem with the imprint "MAJA". It is known that Mercedes was the daughter of Emil Jellinek. But there was also a sister and her name was Maja and after her the Austrian Daimler was named ! So in 1907 this name had nothing to do with a bee.

1907 / 1908 Austrian radiator emblem

 

 

1907 advertisment of the first automobile called MAJA

The Bavarian manufacturer MAJA advertised that he is offering a complete vehicle, but that it costs only the cost of a motorcycle. Surely that was the reason why a motorcycle 2-cylinder engine from BMW was installed.

The emblem was a kind of radiator mascot. It consists of two emblems soldered on each other.

 

Size	5.3 cm  x 5.9 cm ( with base)
Year	1923- 1924
Estimate

backside of the emblem

The new MAJA vehicle was reviewed in a magazine in August 1923.

emblem in the side view

If you look closely, you can even see the radiator emblem in the side view ( blue arrow )

As early as 1912, the book "The adventures of Maja the bee" by Waldemar Bonsels. was published.   It became a bestseller and the bee became a symbol of a lovely and hardworking animal. That is why the vehicle is not only called "MAJA", but the emblem also shows the famous bee in the middle surrounded by the three letters: M W M

M W M = MAJA WERK MÜNCHEN

A very, very rare contemporary photo ( collection Thomas Ulrich). The emblem is missing but the car was identified as a MAJA by a licence plate register.

1923 advertisment for the new automobile

For more emblems see older posts or top right ( list of car makers ).

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