Wartburg (marque)

Wartburg was a marque of automobiles manufactured by VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach (AWE) in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1956 to 1991. It was the second best-selling car brand in East Germany after Trabant, with around 1.6 million vehicles produced in Eisenach.

Wartburg's origins date back to 1898, named the Wartburg overlooking Eisenach, with AWE re-introducing the brand in 1956. Wartburgs were considered to be a middle class car, a step up from the common Trabant, reserved for those deemed more integral to the East German state. From the 1950s until the late 1980s, Wartburgs featured a three-cylinder two-stroke engine with only seven major moving parts: three pistons, three connecting rods and one crankshaft. The Wartburg 1.3 featured a four-stroke, four-cylinder engine licensed from Volkswagen from 1989 to 1991. Wartburg production ended when VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach was dissolved in April 1991 after German reunification, and the Eisenach factory was acquired by Opel.