It remains with the four-cylinder

Hair, 2. April 2016

Architecture lovers and BMW fans can breathe a sigh: the Group building will remain in the future a "four-cylinder". The demolition of a tract, indicate the three-cylinder engines of the company, was just an April Fool's joke of our editors.

A Bavarian speciality

Therefore, there is also no press officer named Klaus Gschaftlhuber. "Busybodies" refers to someone who pretends to put, in many matters but won't end in the Bavarian language area. His hochdeutsches counterpart is "Hans steam of all trades". And of course there will be, also no secret plans by Alfred Scherz, short A. joke in the BMW archive for a three-cylinder building.

Launched in 1968

But the real story of nationally known BMW headquarters is exciting: in 1966 the Group was bent back on the road to success, but lacked offices for the administration. Criss-cross rented building in Munich. The "decentralised agencies" of our April joke at that time were reality. In December 1968, the Viennese architect Karl Schwanzer got the order for the construction of the building. Curiosity on the edge: to decision makers by BMW for Schwanzer design to convince sales Chief Paul Hahnemann left on one of the clover-shaped floors on a scale of 1:1 build the grounds of the Bavaria film studios.

The logo controversy

The building is 99.5 metres high, because at that time no building in Munich was allowed to be more than 100 metres. The four cylinders of the BMW building hanging on a cross-shaped steel structure on the roof. The weight of the structure is 16,800 tons. The cylinder-shaped parts on the ground and were assembled only top segments. Very theoretically a cylinder could be removed so actually, not the monument would be there. The official inauguration of the expensive DM 109 million complex was in May 1973. A few months before the Olympic Games took place in the vicinity of the BMW building. For advertising purposes, brand emblems from canvas fabric were attached on the East and West side of the building. The result: The attention of the visitors and a penalty for the city of Munich, about 110,000 DM. at all the city: they felt the company logo on the roof planned "too bold". Only after long negotiations, BMW was allowed to mount a trade mark in the fall of 1973, in every direction. (rh)

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