Skoda racing 1909 Alexander Kolowrat

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Skoda is currently running a advertising campaign here in Croatia, this one has a few interesting snippets we thought maybe of interest. The translation of the ad is as follows :-
Translation of Skoda advert, "Night before the hill race in Gallion 1909, count Alexander Kolowrat's racing car had not arrived . Just before the actual race he decided to quickly convert his own Skoda car (with 18.000 km on the clock) to a racing car, he entered the race and he won ". From a classic car site we found this also-. "The Czechoslovakian company wisely hired Otto Hieronimus, a renowned race car designer and driver, and over the following years Hieronimus , Count Kolowrat and other drivers made the Laurin & Klement brand world-famous.

Section of photo used in advert.






Seems that there was even a Croatian driver taking honours in those days.

From another website, what is also interesting is Count Paul Draskovich de Trakostjan
Born 6 April 1846 Veliki-Bukovec Croatia
Died 22 December 1889 Veliki-Bukovec Croatia. His son born also Paul / Pa'l Draskovich 23.3.1884 +22.10.1959 b:in Vienna
Laurin & Klement vehicles celebrated their first racing achievements in the Zbraslav-Jíloviště hillclimb race in March 1908, where the brand won six categories and finished second in five other classes and third in yet another one. Later that year in Bosnia, Laurin & Klement won the Grand Plague for regularity, Count Paul Draskovich won the 2-litre category of the Ivanpass hillclimb race, and Count Alexander Kolowrat won the 1.5 litre category of the Ries hillclimb.

Hieronimus was successful also in the St. Petersburg to Moscow competition. He won his category and although this category was the smallest of the four categories in that race, he managed to finish fifth overall. The brand then triumphed in the Semmering hillcimb, where Laurin & Klement vehicles won in all three categories it entered and also achieved two second-place and two third-place finishes.

After that, Hieronimus beat the unofficial speed record in a flying kilometre race in Neukirchner-Alle (31.2 s, average speed 115.385km/h). In December 1908, Václav Klement decided to go to England, and the mission was again a success - with 118.72km/h in one lap, Hieronimus set a new official speed record on the Brooklands race circuit.

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More about Alexander Kolowrat.
Driver/ daredevil for Laurin and Klement .
Producer. Nationality: Austrian. Born: Count Alexander Joseph Kolowrat-Krakowsky in Glenridge, New York, 29 January 1886; son of Count Leopold Kolowrat and Nadine Baroness von Huppmann-Valbella. Education: Attended the Kalksburg Gymnasium, near Vienna, 1896–1906. Military Service: One year voluntary service in the exclusive feudal Thirteenth Dragoons, 1907–08. Family: Married the Russian émigré Sophia Nikolajewna Princess Troubetzkoy, 30 April 1923 in Vienna. Career: Inherited the vast Bohemian family estates, including a palace in Prague and one in Vienna, as well as 21 churches, 1910; began Sascha film company at his castle in Pfraumberg, Bohemia, 1910; opened Sascha film company in Vienna, 1914; served as officer in the imperial automobile corps, 1914; head of the film branch of the imperial War Press Service; 1915; film company becomes Sascha-Messter film company, and began construction of new studio in Sievering, 1916; Sascha film becomes a stock company, 1918; president of film company until his death, 1918–1927. Constructed with Porsche sen. in Wiener Neustadt, Lower Austria, the Sascha Daimler car, after war ended in 1918. Award: Award of the Internationale Kino-Ausstellung, Vienna, 1912. Died: Of Cancer, in Sanatorim Loew, Vienna, on 4 December 1927.
Kolowrat was born in the United States in Glenridge, New York where his father spent a few years in exile for killing Prince Auersperg in a duel of honor. The family soon returned to the monarchy. From early youth on Sascha was fascinated by technical matters, even working at the Laurin and Klement car factory. He was a daredevil, who won motorcycle races as a student and was a regular participant in the Semmering mountain race car competition. He was one of the earliest Austrian pilots and the first balloonist. His parties at the Viennese Sacher hotel were legendary, and in spite of his corpulence the young count was a dashing and charming man with an eye for beautiful women.

Upon seeing his first film in 1909 at the Pathé Brothers in Paris, he knew he had found his mission in life, to be a producer
Data from:
Count "Sascha" Alexander Kolowrat-Krakowsky - Films as producer:

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Octy 2, 1.9 TDI PD Ambiente 4x4 Combi and Nissan Sunny 2.0 DLX, Company Octy 1.9 TDI Tour Combi.

[soldatov]

For the Briskoda history buffs.
Some of Alexander Kolowrat's and Otto Hieronimus races and others for Laurin-Klement.

Course de cфte de Gaillon/4 October 1908

four cylinder 75 to 85 mm bore :
1) Donald (Laurin-Klement) in 1' 2" 2
2) Ouzou (Grйgoire) in 1' 2" 3
3) Levиre-Portal (Levиre-Portal) in 1' 3" 2
4) Goujon (Prunel) in 1' 4" 2
5) Meaux Saint-Marc (Ariиs) in 1' 18"
6) Montigny (Grйgoire) in 1' 22"
7) Haubourdin (Le Mйtais) in 1' 22" 4
8) P. Roy (P. Roy) in 1' 51" 3

Course de cфte de Chвteau-Thierry/18 October 1908
organised by the newspaper "Les Sports"
60 starters

four cylinder 86 to 90 mm bore :
1) Docteur Hildesheimer (Laurin-Klement) in 55"
2) Morane (Impйria) in 1' 9" 3
3) Mademoiselle Jeanne Herveu (Werner) in 1' 26"
4) Martin (SCAR) in 1' 26" 1

Hill climbs
Gaillon (SE of Rouen), 12th (1.000 km) - f/s


1911, Apr 15 Zbraslav-Jнloviště (Prague), 2nd (5.600 km) A Hieronimus, Otto Laurin-Klement 3m45.2s R


1911, Jun 4 Trieste-Opicina, 1st (7.400 km) A Hieronimus, Otto Laurin-Klement 6m07.4s R


Troppau - Mдhrisch-Ostrau
date: June 25, 1911
Organisator: Ostrauer Automobilklub
20 km, Internationales Strassenrennen Troppau - M.-Ostrau
23 starters

cat 3, 1500 cc
1- Alexander Graf Kolowrat (Mдhrich-Ostrau), Laurin & Klement, 18' 20" => to be confirmed !
2- Leo Baron Haan, Laurin & Klement, 18' 32" 3/5
3- Oberingenieur Karl Slevogt, Apollo, 18' 43" 1/5 (lost 4' before starting)
4- Strassila, Kolibri, 24' 20"

Troppau - Mдhrisch-Ostrau
date: June 25, 1911

Cat 6, 4 L
1- Wolf (Graz), Puch, 13' 37" 3/5, entered by Puch-Werke
2- Knopp (Mдhrich-Ostrau), Laurin & Klement, 15' 53", entered by Alois Fuchs


The June 25, 1911 event between Troppau and Ostrau was a road race [not a hill climb!] of about 20 km. This road section was by no means an ideal stretch of road; it was more a gigantic up-and-down section with inclines of 17% and a 2 km long decline. The Hrabiner Mountain and Josefs Mountain were on this route, which was leading also through several villages. The start was in Komorau, near Troppau, the finish in Schцnbrunn near Mдhrisch-Ostrau.

some times:
Lanner (Puch) 11m44.6s
Wilhem Ripper (Austro-Daimler) 12m17.4s
Retinger (Mercedes) 12m56.2s
Alexander Kolowrat (1.5-liter Laurin & Klement) 18m32.4s

HILL CLIMB WINNERS 1897-1949
Data from Atlas F1 Bulletin Board - Hillclimb winners list 1897-1949 is up on the 'net


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[soldatov]

Laurin & Klement participation in hill trials of 1910 and 1914
One of the clubs involved in the early 1900s was the Austrian Auto club. It had several smaller events, but in 1910 the first Alpenfahrt or Alpine trial was staged. As its start date was only 2 weeks after the Prince Henry event and coinciding with the Czar Nicholas touring trials held in Russia the turn out was poor. Laurin & Klement factory, then under Austrian rule competed, but most of the other teams preferred the German trials. It was a 535 mile event starting and finishing in Vienna. As reported by Martin Pfundner in his book Alpine Trials and Rallies 1910 to 1973 " Only six cars arrived without penalty points and not unexpectedly, Laurin & Klement won the team prize with three cars of Counts Paul Draskovich and Alexander Kolowrat, as well as the 1903 Turbie winner Otto Hieronimus ". In 1911 the second trial was held this time Laurin & Klements with drivers Otto Hieronimus and Count Draskovich and Kolowrat came in second.


Pic
Laurin & Klement design chief Otto Hieronimus at the wheel of his car , having a rest at the top of Katechberg in 1910 Alpine.Sitting on the running board inside the spare wheel is Ferdinand Porshe, more data in Martin Pfunders book.

All historical data, written or rewritten in this thread was found online, and in the book by Martin Pfundner in his book Alpine Trials and Rallies 1910 to 1973 . My only interest in this book is the research of Laurin & Klement history, and drivers/ owners Counts Paul Draskovich and Count Alexander Kolowrat. Count Paul Draskovich was a Croatian, who has a street named after his family " Draškovićeva" in Zagreb. Our family own a apartment in that street, and the building was built in the days of the Austrian/ Hungarian Empire, as were many buildings in Croatia.
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Austrian challenge trophy.

In brief 5 drivers finished the 1912 1913 and 1914 Alpine without loss of points. So all shared in the Trophy.

Hermann Lange (Audi) Alexander Graumuller (Audi) Sylvain de Jong ( Minerva) and Louis Obruba ( Mathis and Audi) and Count Alexander Kolowrat ( Laurin& Klement)

1914 was to be the last race held, as the World was turned into turmoil on the 28th June when Gavrilo Princip one of a few assassins shot both Archduke France Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his wife Sophia , Duchess of Hohenberg. They were shot while traveling in their open topped car in Sarajevo Bosnia. It would be 1923 before the next Alpine race would be held.

For Count Alexander Kolowrat the first World war marked the turning point in his Shasha film company.

"The exclusion of competitors, mainly the French, propelled the Sascha company into a thriving business. Kolowrat's influential contacts made possible his appointment as director of the film section of the military press service"

"October 1914 the Sascha company received permission to produce a weekly war newsreel, Sascha-Kriegswoche. An even bigger coup was his gaining the exclusive right to film the funeral of Emperor Franz Joseph in November 1916 who died aged 86 during the middle of the war. By working around the clock, Kolowrat and his staff produced 255 copies within three days and nights, to be distributed to every corner of the monarchy. By the end of the war, the Sascha company had turned out approximately 300 films. " The satirist Karl Kraus attacked Kolowrat in his monumental play Die letzten Tage der Menschheit as a war profiteer."

Kolowrat produced costly spectaculars for the world market: Sodom and Gomorrha in 1922, the bizarre climax of Austrian silent film, and Die Sklavenkönigin in 1924, both directed by Michael Kertész, a Hungarian who worked for Kolowrat for several years. In 1926, under the name Michael Curtiz, he began an extremely successful career in Hollywood, directing Casablanca in 1942.

Having since 1908 sat on the board of directors of Laurin and Klement, and while racing touring cars provided valuable feedback to the factory, he resumed his interest after the First World War.

"After the First World War, he wanted to build a "people's car", a "Volkswagen", and he wanted Austro-Daimler and Ferdinand Porsche to build it for him. To publicise the car, four prototypes were built and entered in the 1922 Targa Florio. The result was the "Sascha", a nimble 1.1-litre four-cylinder "voiturette".

"It was Alfred Neubauer’s first race and he tells in his biography how he was selected as one of the drivers. Kolowrat announced that the first car was to be raced by Lambert Pöcher and the second by Fritz Kuhn. And then Neubauer's nervous question: "And the third car will be raced by you, Count Kolowrat?" "No, my dear Neubauer", came the answer. "You will of course race the third car." Neubauer had slightly exagerated the story as there were alwayd four cars in the team with the Count driving the fourth entry."

"Kuhn and Pöcher came 22nd and 24th respectively and won the sports car class. Neubauer won the racing car class and came 19th overall. Only Count Kolowrat retired. The overall winner Masetti in a 4.5-liter Mercedes averaged 59 km/h, while Neubauer in the 1.1-liter Sascha had averaged 52 km/h, only slightly slower."

"Further victories came in 1922 at the Armanguez-Trophy race in Spain. That race ended in tragedy when a French car went in the crowd, killing over 20 spectators. Pöcher won at the August Spa meeting and at the Rießbergrennen, Semmering and Riedbergrennen, while Neubauer, Kuhn and Pöcher all took wins in the 1098 cc car.

1920, Sep 19 Semmering (nr. Vienna) closed event (10.000 km) A Kolowrat, Alexander Wanderer 5/15 hp 11m13.9s S


1922, Jun 11 Riederberg (Vienna), 12th (4.000 km) A Kolowrat, Alexander Austro-Daimler Sascha 3m32.8s R


data from HILL CLIMB WINNERS 1897-1949

Martin Pfundner in his book Alpine Trials and Rallies 1910 to 1973

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The final days.
"The Sascha project was killed off at the end of 1922. Porsche resigned and walked out of Austro-Daimler and went to Mercedes in Stuttgart to become their Chief Designer. Neubauer followed Porsche to Germany to work for Mercedes, first as a driver then as the team manager in 1926. He remained in that position until 1955. Ferdinand Porsche often compared Neubauer to Count Kolowrat in character and body size".

"In 1923 he married the Russian émigré Sophia Nikolajewna Princess Troubetzkoy."

"In 1927 he made his last film,"

Top 100

More on the movie side of Count Kolowrat .


"By the middle of the 1920s the economic crisis had put an end to lavish spectaculars in Austria. A less expensive production, but a film depicting the effects of the depression and similar in style to G.W. Pabst's Die freudlose Gasse (1925), was Café Elektric (1927), which introduced the future stars Willi Forst and Marlene Dietrich. Kolowrat became seriously ill during this production which proved to be his last film. He died of cancer on 4 December 1927 at the age of 42 in Vienna. With his energy, charisma, contacts, and money he had brought Austrian film to international recognition. In the years after his death, his film company fell on hard times, but the legacy of this remarkable film pioneer—with his 140 feature films of various lengths between 1911 and 1927—and his company have endured."


Many more details given of Count Alexander Kolowrat's film career on this site mentioned.


Copyright 2001, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

Kolowrat-Krakowsky, Count "Sascha" Alexander ? Dictionary Definition of Kolowrat-Krakowsky, Count "Sascha" Alexander | Encyclopedia.com: FREE Online Dictionary


So ends the remarkable story of Count Alexander Joseph Kolowrat-Krakowsky and his association with Laurin and Klement .
Producer. Nationality: Austrian. Born: Count Alexander Joseph Kolowrat-Krakowsky in Glenridge, New York, 29 January 1886; son of Count Leopold Kolowrat and Nadine Baroness von Huppmann-Valbella. Died of Cancer on 4 Dec 1927 at the age of 42 in Vienna.


† 1922 - Otto Hieronimus (D) in a Steyr died during training at the Riesberg Climb (A) on May 8. He was born 1879 in Cologne/Rhine.


Grand father of Paul Draskovich= Karolyi Draskovich, b.MAY 19 1807 & d.1855. He m.1841 to Erszebet Batthyany (b.1820) and had issue:

His son served in Croat army.
Count Paul Draskovich, b.APR 6 1846 & d.1889. He m.1874 to Maria Festetics and had issue:

Count Paul Maria Johann Nep. Graf Draskovic de Trakostjan[,] k.k. Reserve Ober-Lieutenant im König von Sachsen 3. Dragoner Regimente, von Bukowec in Croatien gebürtig, ehel. Sohn des Herrn Karl Grafen Draskovic de Trakostjan

Married to :
Maria Felicitas Festetics, b. Vienna (St.Michael born 12. Nov. 1850), :

Son , This I believe was the owner/ driver or driver of the car that won the 2-litre category in Ivanpass hillclimb race in Bosnia 1908 giving Laurin & Klement the Grand Trophy. "Count Paul Draskovich won the 2-litre category of the Ivanpass hillclimb race, and Count Alexander Kolowrat won the 1.5 litre category of the Ries hillclimb".


Genealogy;

Paul Johannes Maria Draskovich, b. Vienna (St.Augustin, Taufprotokoll,
tomus XIV, f. 121, Reihenzahl 23, rectification of the name into
“Draskovich” as of decree 18 Jun. 1903 annotated, as well as death 22.
Oct. 1959 according Standesamt Güssing N.°37 /1959, X) 23, bapt. 27
March 1884, + … [for a brother’s ancestors, see Burke’s Royal Families
of the World, I (London 1977), 565 [British Library, shelfmark X.
0800/1531].


Count Paul DRASKOVICH married into family of Salm-Reifferscheid-Raitz

1c) Elisabeth Luise Franziska Henriette Leopoldine Marie (Blansko 10 Aug 1892-Vienna 18 Nov 1964); m.Vienna 14 Oct 1920 Paul Gf Draskovich v.Trakostjan ( Born Vienna 23 Mar 1884- Died Güssing 22 Oct 1959)

I have written to Lucie.Munzarova@skoda-auto.cz requesting for more data on Count Paul Draskovich / Count Pál Draškovic von Trakostyán/ Trakošćan, they have referred my mail to their Archive dept, so maybe we have more to tell or at least confirm.

Genealogy was also one of our personal passions see another website of ours, www.recyclegen.com

Koháry (From) - via Keglevich, Limbourg, Esterházy, Batthyány, Draskovich - to Bavaria (Royal House)

Worldroots.com


Great pics of Castle.

Fotografija - Dvorac Trakošæan / Dvorac Draškoviæ / Dvor Trakošæan

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[soldatov]

Update concerning Count Pál Draškovic von Trakostyán/ Trakošćan Castle
On the 8th of October we paid a visit to the Castle Trakošćan, where we joined hundreds of the daily visitors walking the very fine grounds with its lake and forests. We had taken both our dogs so the walking within the estate for a hour or so was required before, we left the dogs in the Octy, and headed for a tour of the inside of the Castle. The whole place is a museum to the family that have lived there for hundreds of years, with high timber ceilings, amour, guns, fine paintings, and of course the turrets overlooking the estate. On one of the walls we came across the family tree, and the photo is the section concerning Paul Draškovic / Pál also known as Pavao in Croatian 1884- 1959 married to Elizabeta Salm 1892- 1946, as I have mentioned in the thread earlier. We were hoping for pics in the photo section of Paul Draškovic, or even of his car racing days, but alas, there didn't seem to be a car in site, mostly early photo's of the estate, and the coming together of family members. However if you are ever in that area it is worth a visit, and just to imagine that possibly back in the early 1900s one of the early Skoda may have driven around that estate just as we were doing. All pic's taken with mobile.




Walking up to castle



Section of family tree concerning Pavao / Paul


All shots with mobile



Super condition.



Our Octy ( bad shot as into the sun)
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