Buhne

In 1919, Heinrich Buhne (1889-1968) founded a coachbuilding company in Berlin. He specialised in building taxis on standard commercial chassis such as Adler, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Dixie, Ford, Opel, Pluto, Presto and Steyr. Hundreds of Buhne taxis were in operation in Berlin. In 1931, however, the business became unprofitable due to the banking crisis. Buhne therefore concentrated on building fine, sports convertibles, sports coupés and special bodies. These included the Adler 2.5 litre Sport, Mercedes Benz 540K, Maybach SW38, Austro Daimler ADR, Rolls Royce Phantom II, but also vehicles from Bugatti, BMW, Fiat, Hispano Suiza and for Opel. Well-known customers included the heavyweight boxing world champion Max Schmeling and the actors Victor de Kowa and La Jana. On the night of the bombing on 22/23 November 1943, the company was completely destroyed. After the war, Heinrich Buhne re-established his business in Berlin. This company, with around 50 employees (as of 1996), only manufactured special bodies for commercial vehicles and special bodies, as well as advertising and large-capacity bodies. However, as the market for such vehicles became too small, the Buhne company was dissolved in 2005.