- Adam Opel
Adam Opel (
May 9 ,1837 -September 8 ,1895 ) was the founder of the German car-makerOpel .Born in the town of
Rüsselsheim nearFrankfurt , he began his career in alocksmith apprenticeship. He traveled across Europe as a teenager, and became fascinated bysewing machines . In 1863 he opened a factory in Rüsselsheim to mass-produce these machines.In 1868, Opel married
Sophie Marie Scheller . They would have five sons: Carl, Wilhelm, Heinrich, Friedrich and Ludwig. All five would eventually become involved in the growing family business.In 1885, Opel expanded into building pre-assembled
bicycle s.He died in 1895, with his company the leader in European sewing machines sales and producing over 2,000 bicycles yearly.
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