BÜSSING / BRAUNSCHWEIG / GERMANY

 BÜSSING / BRAUNSCHWEIG  ( 1903 - 1971 )

Heinrich Büssing founded a factory especially for the production of commercial vehicles in Braunschweig / Germany in 1903.

The first model was already very successful and Heinrich Büssing was able to sell 400 Büssing chassis to London in 1904. Straker Squire commercial vehicles were also based on Büssing.

It was not until 1913 that Heinrich Büssing chose the Braunschweig lion, which is still world-famous today, as his emblem:

the famous BÜSSING  lion; here the enameled version

 The Büssing truck from the first year of the company's existence ( 1903 / 1904 ) shows only one panel with engraved letters:

1903 BÜSSING truck seen in Munich ( Deutsches Museum)

The famous BÜSSING lion appeared for the first time in advertisments in 1913 / 14.

In 1166, the German Duke Heinrich the Lion had erected a monumental statue of a lion on the Burgplatz in the city of Brunswick as a symbol of his power. It has served as a brand emblem for the Braunschweig truck manufacturer Heinrich Büssing until the end and was adopted by MAN as its emblem in 1971.

He is always looking to the right. But why ?

I have a theory about this. If you stand on the square in front of the lion in Brunswick and the lion looks to the right, you can see town houses in the background. If you stand in front of the lion looking to the left, you will see a church in the background.  I think that Heinrich Büssing preferred a secular background. What do you think?

the first lion appeared in 1914

early advertisment ( here the lion emblem is semi-circular at the bottom and not pointed as later )

As far as I know, the lion emblem in the ad shown above never existed on the vehicles. Rather, until around 1930, they only ever showed the letters BÜSSING on the radiator as you can see here:

1926 BÜSSING still with letters on the radiator only

1926 advertisment showing the first emblem very similar to the emblem used from 1930 until the end of BÜSSING in 1971

 advertisement showing a double-decker that was used in regular service in Berlin (radiator front with letters, no emblem).

1923 advertisment promoting MOTORLASTWAGEN MOTOROMNIBUSSE

BÜSSING paperweight promoting MOTORLASTWAGEN MOTOR OMNIBUSSE ( see ad above)

Size	6.5 cm x 9.0 cm
Year	1925
Estimate

In 1931 BÜSSING took over the production of commercial vehicles by NAG and an own BÜSSING - NAG emblem was patented in October and used on the vehicles:

Size	15.0 cm x 10.0 cm
Year	c. 1931 - 1937
Estimate

1932 advertisment

 

side hood emblem of the thirties

Size	15.0 cm x 10.0 cm
Year	c. 1930 - 1937
Estimate

 

 

Almost all BÜSSING NAG trucks had this script on the radiator, although it is still a difficult item to find:

Size	19.0 cm x 7.5 cm
Year	c. 1931 - 1942
Estimate

 

 

 In 1935 there was a new BÜSSING - NAG emblem, which was mainly mounted on the smaller trucks like the BÜSSING NAG  BURGLÖWE:

Size	10.0 cm x 9.0 cm
Year	c. 1935 - 1942
Estimate

1937 BÜSSING BURGLÖWE emblem showing traces of decades of use

 

As far as I know, the enameled BÜSSING front emblem was not mounted on the vehicles until about 1937 / 1938, while the enameled BÜSSING - NAG emblem was used earlier.

made of metal, chromed and enameled, mounted on an aluminium plate

Size	9.0 cm x 9.8 cm (emblem only)
Year	c. 1937 - 1960
Estimate

made of plastic since c. 1970

In 1963, the Kraus Maffei company built coaches on a BÜSSING chassis and fitted them with an extra-large round emblem in which the traditional BÜSSING emblem was integrated in the middle:

very large, very rare front emblem

Size	20.5 cm !
Year	1963
Estimate

1963 KRAUSS MAFFEI bus with emblem shown above

No more blue / orange emblem, but a chromed metal badge for the last years

last BÜSSING emblem edition made of chromed metal

Size	12.4 cm x 9.8 cm
Year	c. 1970
Estimate

c. 1970  very large chromed front emblem

Size	28.5 cm x 18.5 cm !
Year	c. 1970
Estimate

In 1969 BÜSSING started a co-operation with MAN, which led to the take-over by MAN in 1971.

On this occasion, MAN also took over all rights to the lion emblem and has used the Büssing lion as its own emblem ever since. The MAN company still exists today, but almost nobody knows where its lion came from (but now you do).

made of aluminium

Size	18.5 cm x 12.5 cm
Year	c. 1972
Estimate

At the beginning of the 1950s, close cooperation began with the Adolf Emmelmann Karrosseriefabrik company, located in Hannover / Germany.  This collaboration lasted until 1975.  In that year, the new owner of BÜSSING, the MAN company, ended it for ever.

Size	10.0 cm
Year	c. 1950 - 1970
Estimate

The "Niedersächsiche Motorenwerke" in Braunschweig was an independent subsidiary of Büssing, founded in 1935, where engines were built, especially aircraft engines.

Machine emblem on an aluminum plate

Size	4.5 cm (emblem only)
Year	1935 -
Estimate

BÜSSING awarded numerous international licenses, e.g. to Denmark and Italy:

Size	10.0  cm
Year	c. 1960
Estimate

There was also a cooperation with the Italian OM company:

BÜSSING OM without specific emblem

If you want to read more about OM emblems click here.

Attention: to my surprise, the famous BÜSSING lion is looking to the left! I think that the reason is simply that the Danish licensee wanted to show a certain independence. What do you think ?

Size	15.0 cm x 9.7 cm
Year	c. 1938
Estimate

As far as I know, the color of the emblem was changed from black to blue after WWII

Size	15.0 cm x 9.7 cm
Year	c. 1950
Estimate

 

Last not least another quite large emblem. Not a car emblem, but a beautiful emblem awarded for outstanding driving performance "FÜR BESONDERE FAHRLEISTUNGEN"  :

Size	15.2 cm x 10.0 cm !
Year
Estimate

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

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