Family - Setra

06 | The year 1911
1911
The first bus line in Ulm
is inaugurated
The year 1911 | 07
I
n 1911, all around the globe
– on the road, in the skies
and on water – speeds and
distances travelled are escalating,
and technological progress is
changing the world. Karl Kässbohrer
strongly believes that there
are advances citizens should also
be able to take advantage of, as
he builds the public bus serving
transit between the Ulm Münsterplatz
and Wiblingen, located a
distance of 10 km away.
Ulm, February 1911. Ulm and
Wiblingen are all decked up, the
sidewalks are swept and everyone
is wearing their Sunday best. The
cities’ digni-taries are gathered in
the stands. Many visitors from the
areas surround-ing Ulm have also
come to attend this memorable
celebration. With its over 50,000
citizens, Ulm ranks among the
country’s largest cities. Heinrich
Wagner, Ulm’s most important
mayor in the 19 th century, is beaming.
Advancing industrialisation is
creating the best platform to bring
his visionary ideas to life. The laying
down of the city’s ramparts, which
he initiated, enables Ulm’s expansion
and the building of a road
network – representing the cornerstone
for this historic moment.
The inauguration of the first ever
bus line is a big day for Ulm and
Wiblingen – and of course, for the
Kässbohrer family. Their seven-yearold
son Otto beams with pride, as
he and his schoolmates are the first
honoured guests to be driven in the
ceremoniously decked out “Wiblinger
Auto” – an 18,000-mark,
entirely closed bus destined for the
Wiblingen-Ulm line, with room for
18 seated and ten standing passengers.
During the half-hour ride, the
excited pupils can hardly contain
their excitement. “Our bus reached
a speed of 45 km per hour – 15
more than permitted. The Royal
Württemberg Traffic Regulation
allowed only 30 outside of the city
and 12 km per hour within the city”,
raves Otto many years later.
Upon their arrival at the “Zum
Adler” inn, the school kids are
treated with sausages and pretzels.
The inn is the last stop on the bus
line, and it is counting on many
visitors and increased business. For
this reason, the Graf family who
runs the inn took part in financing
the bus line along with many other
committed citizens and business
people.
Karl Kässbohrer’s contribution is
the new bus, which represents the
culmination of all his work to date.
His father Georg, an institution in
the Ulm shipping business, had
already recognised the signs of
dawning industrialisation and the
increasing need for transportation.
Following his father’s suggestion,
Karl learns the trade of carriage
builder in Vienna, the stronghold
of coach building at the time. His
coaches, hunting carriages and
Landau vehicles soon gain a
reputation for offering the utmost in
precision, reaching their technological
peak in 1911 with the motorised
“Wiblinger Auto”.
The “First Karl Kässbohrer Ulm Coachworks” in the
Kantstrasse (now called Hartmannstrasse). Son
Otto took over the operation in 1922, after his
father’s early death.