1898-1905 Cudell & Co., engine and vehicle plants, Aachen
1906~1945 Cudell-Motoren GmbH - Reinickendorfer Strasse, Wedding, Berlin
Max Cudell, one of the oldest vehicle manufacturers in Germany, built tricycles, quadricycles and motorcycles under licence from De Dion & Bouton from 1898 to 1905. Martin Stolle of BMW fame worked with Cudell from 1903. Wilhelm Wenske, later of Adler, Opel and Horch, also worked with Cudell, as did Karl Slevogt.
Their licence was for Germany, and when they began shipping vehicles to Britain and Austria the De Dion-Bouton company took them to task in 1899 and sales slowed considerably as a result.
In June 1904 fire broke out at the factory, destroying much of it along with a significant number of motorcycles and automobiles.
Cudell partially recovered from the disaster (which would no doubt have been abetted by the financial slump), but in May 1905 bankruptcy ensued.
The company was re-established in Berlin, and in 1906 they produced a bicycle auxiliary engine, and this appears to be their last product in the realm of motorcyling. They then built what is believed to be the forerunner of the outboard motor, along with carburettors, stationary engines and more. Cudell was still in business in 1945.
It appears that the firm also built Argus engines under licence. Cudell engines were used by Christiansen of Denmark, Riley of Britain, Victoria of Nuremburg, Leutner (Leitner) of Riga (and later Ukraine), and Phoenix of Budapest.
Sources:
Tragatsch p110
GTU Oldtimerservice
Axel Oskar Mathieu Archive
de.wikipedia.org
Rudolph, W. Bootsmotorenbau in Berlin (bis 1945).
Motopedia
