1945

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  • 20 April 1945
  • The Untertürkheim plant is shut down and occupied by French troops three days later. On 8 July it is handed over to the occupying American forces.
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  • 24/25 April 1945
  • The Berlin-Marienfelde plant is occupied by Red Army troops overnight. Any machines still in the plant are confiscated and dismantled from the beginning of May onwards.
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  • June 1945
  • Production of the L 701 3-tonne truck resumes at the Mannheim plant, where the licensed version of the Opel "Blitz" had rolled off the assembly line from August 1944 until production collapsed. By mid-1949 the plant manufactures 10,300 vehicles.
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  • August 1945
  • Production of the L 4500 4.5-tonne truck gets underway again at the Gaggenau plant. A total of 290 units of the truck roll off the assembly line by the end of the year, all with the most basic specification – a standard wooden cab with no bumpers or side markers.
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  • August 1945
  • Engineers from Daimler-Benz's former aeroengine development wing begin under the direction of Albert Friedrich to develop a motorised multi-purpose vehicle for use in agriculture. The vehicle is presented in 1948 as the "Unimog".
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  • 20 November 1945
  • The American Production Control Commission grants Albert Friedrich permission to build ten prototypes of his all-purpose tractor. Eight days later development has already begun at the firm of Erhard & Söhne in Schwäbisch Gmünd.
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  • November 1945
  • The Sindelfingen plant begins manufacturing bicycle trailers, of which 1,150 are produced by March 1946. The Sindelfingen products of the immediate post-war period also include handcarts, fruit dryers, household items made of duralumin, electric hot plates and wooden toys.
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  • November 1945
  • In Untertürkheim the testing department resumes operation in provisionally repaired buildings. The commercial vehicle design office is transferred from Gaggenau to Untertürkheim.
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  • December 1945
  • Following the first Works Council elections, the elected employee representatives assemble at the Untertürkheim, Sindelfingen, Mannheim and Gaggenau plants.
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