Rosemeyer, Bernd |
| RACE CAR DRIVER (GERMANY) |
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BORN 14 Oct 1909, Lingen an der Ems - DIED 28 Jan 1938 CAUSE OF DEATH car accident GRAVE LOCATION Berlin: Waldfriedhof Dahlem, Hüttenweg 47, Steglitz-Zehlendorf (Feld 015-715 (Abt. 11- 4a)) |
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Son of a garage owner. He worked on motorcycles and cars in his father's workshop. He started as a motorcycle races but in 1935 he switched to cars. He became a member of the Auto Union team and in his second Grand Prix ever he was in the lead until shortly before the end of the race. He won the Grand Prix Czechoslovakia of 1935 and on the podium he was introduced to the aviatrix Elly Beinhorn. They started a relationship that attracted much attention and he married Elly in 1936. Keen to use this celebrity couple for propaganda purposes, Heinrich Himmler asked him to become a member of the SS. Rosemeyer was't in a position to refused and agreed reluctantly. He won the Grand Prix in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. In November 1937 his son Bernd was born. On 28 Jan 1938 he was killed during an attempt to break the world speed record on the Autobahn between Frankfurt and Darmstadt. His car lost contact with the ground during the attempt, he was catapulted out of it and died at the roadside. There is a memorial near the place he died that can be reached by taking a footpath to the west into the forest near kilometer marker 508 of the A5 motoway. Family • Wife: Beinhorn, Elly (1936-1938) |
| Images |
 The grave of Bernd Rosemeyer and Elly Beinhorn at Waldfriedhof Dahlem, Berlin. Picture by Androom (18 Aug 2010) |
Sources • Aubert, Joachim, Handbuch der Grabstätten berühmten Deutscher, Österreicher und Schweizer, Deutscher Kunstverlag, München, 1973 • Baedeker Berlin, Baedeker Verlag, Stuttgart, 1994 • News & E-Mail bei t-online | Politik, Sport, Unterhaltung & Ratgeber |
