The Own Drive Fine Bicycles

Over the course of its more than three centuries long development history, the bicycle became the world’s most widespread form of transportation. Furthermore, societal, political, social and economic conditions have shaped the significance of this mode of transport and the visions of the future associated with it. At the same time, the bicycle has always been more than just a means of transportation: it also represents sport, health, lifestyle and the unique interplay of design and sophisticated functional technology that makes it an almost cultishly charged design object.

The fact that the design of bicycles is closely linked to the history of technical innovations and manufacturing processes can be seen in the propulsion system, suspension and wheels, but especially in the frame and its materials – design and technology are increasingly merging and the limits of what is feasible are continuously being explored.

One focus of the exhibition lies on local companies and institutions that played a central role in the development and distribution of bicycles in the German Empire and the Weimar Republic, such as the Adlerwerke (formerly Heinrich Kleyer AG), which were once based in Frankfurt am Main, the Arbeiter-Radfahrerbund Solidarität, which was founded in Offenbach am Main in 1889, and the Offenbach based bicycle shop Frischauf, which began producing low-cost bicycles in 1922.

The exhibition presents treasures of a mobility that is characterised by physical movement – we are talking about fine bicycles – which demonstrate how design has revolutionized cycling and thus our way of life.

A cooperation of the Museum Angewandte Kunst with the Deutsches Fahrradmuseum, Bad Brückenau and Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum, Munich.