1917: Max Friz is the father of the BMW flat twin "Boxer" engine

BMW Motorrad is given its initial boost on January 2nd 1917: On this day, the 33-year-old engineer Max Friz starts working for BMW. Shortly beforehand, the Swabian had quit his job under his previous boss Paul Daimler in Stuttgart. As it turns out, this is a highly fortunate circumstance for BMW, since after the banning of aircraft and aircraft engines by the treaty of Versailles on June 28th 1919, the existence of BMW seems to be placed on an unsure footing. Max Friz, who soon becomes BMW's head designer, turns his full attention to the motorcycle. In December 1922, hardly 4 weeks after the order was issued, Friz has already put the first BMW motorcycle on the drawing board to original scale. The core is the new drive concept of the BMW flat twin "boxer" engine.