{{Short description|German manufacturer of small motorcycles and mopeds}} {{otheruses}} {{More citations needed|date=February 2013}} {{Infobox company | name = Kreidler | logo = | type = Private | industry = Bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles | founded = 1903 | founder = Anton Kreidler | defunct = 1982 (original company) | area_served = Europe | key_people = | products = Bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles | revenue = | owner = Prophete / Cycle Union GmbH (current brand owner) | num_employees = | website = | headquarters = Kornwestheim, Germany }}thumb|upright=1.35|1950s and '70s examples of the 50 cc Kreidler Florett '''Kreidler''' was a German manufacturer of bicycles, mopeds and motorcycles.
Kreidler was originally based in Kornwestheim, between Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart. It was founded in 1903 as "Kreidlers Metall- und Drahtwerke" (Kreidlers metal and wire factory) by Anton Kreidler and started to build motorcycles in 1951. In 1959 one third of all German motorcycles were Kreidler. In the 1970s Kreidler had very great success in motorsport. Especially in the Netherlands the riders Jan de Vries and Henk van Kessel were successful.
Kreidler went out of business in 1982 and the rights to the trade mark were sold to the businessman Rudolf Scheidt who had Italian manufacturer Garelli Motorcycles make mopeds under the Kreidler name until 1988. The rights to the Kreidler brand were subsequently acquired by bicycle manufacturer Prophete. Today the brand is used by Prophete's subsidiary Cycle Union GmbH based in Oldenburg, Germany, where bikes are built and distributed to dealers mainly throughout Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kreidlerreg.dk/historie/kronmod4.html|publisher=Kreidler Register Danmark|title=Kreidler Florett - history and Model development|access-date=5 February 2014|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090706/http://www.kreidlerreg.dk/historie/kronmod4.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Kreidler was active in Grand Prix motorcycle with great success in the 1970s and 1980s, scoring seven world champion titles in 50 cc class: *1971 Jan de Vries *1973 Jan de Vries *1974 Henk van Kessel *1975 Ángel Nieto *1979 Eugenio Lazzarini *1980 Eugenio Lazzarini *1982 Stefan Dörflinger
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Kreidler 50ccm Jan de Vries.jpg|Van Veen Racing Kreidler of Jan de Vries (1971) File:ZweiRadMuseumNSU Kreidler Rennmaschine.JPG|"Kreidler Racing Florett" (1963) File:ZweiRadMuseumNSU Kreidler VanVeen.JPG|"Kreidler Van Veen GP" (1977) File:ZweiRadMuseumNSU Kreidler Zigarre.JPG|"Kreidler Zigarre" (50 cm<sup>3</sup>, record: 210.634 km/h 23 October 1965, Utah, USA) </gallery>
==See also== * Kreidler Florett RS
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Commons category}} {{Major German motorcycle manufacturers}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Defunct motorcycle manufacturers of Germany Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1903
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