The German automobile company "Horch" was founded at the beginning of the 20th century in Zwickau (Saxony). In the twenties and thirties, Horch succeeded in capturing large market shares in the luxury upper-end segment of the automotive market. Along with this, the "Horch" brand gained worldwide recognition through its high-end cars.
In 1933, the luxury sedan "Horch 830" appeared on the market, which immediately achieved high sales figures. By the end of the thirties developed at Horch new variants of the 830th The produced from 1935 "830 B" had a stronger engine, in parallel appeared the "830 BL" with an extended body. The "830 BL" was in the late thirties with two engines. Originally an engine with 3.5 liters of displacement and a maximum power of 82 hp was installed, later a 92-hp 3.8-liter engine should power the over two-ton limousine.
Like many other companies Horch supplied motor vehicles for the upgrade of the Wehrmacht. Since 1933, the National Socialist rulers have massively upgraded. When the German Reich finally started the Second World War in 1939, several military and civilian "Horch" cars were present. The civilian variants were mostly driven by high-ranking public officials.
An example of this is "Horch 830 BL Charles de Gaulle" (IL119). He belonged to the motor pool of the German city commander of Paris, General Dietrich von Choltitz. Among the opponents of Germany, the "Horchs" coveted loot and were often used for their own purposes. When Choltitz surrendered Paris to the Allies in August 1944 and went into captivity, the "Horch 830 BL" became the property of the victorious Frenchmen.
The next user was none other than the French general and first French post-war government chief Charles de Gaulle. In 1946 de Gaulle left French politics. But he used his Horch especially on festive occasions. When the French postwar republic, not least because of the Algerian War (1954 - 1962), entered a serious political crisis, de Gaulle applied for the office of President. For his election campaign tours through France, the Horch was used intensively.
When de Gaulle was elected President in 1959, he was aware that a change in Franco-German relations was necessary, which ended the eternal rivalry between the two countries. For this reason, German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle, French President, signed the "Elysée Treaty" in 1963, agreeing to work together on many important policy areas, such as defense, culture and the economy in the future. This policy is still the basis of German-French relations today. The German coach De Gaulles is a unique legacy from the era of this new policy.
