Freibahn was a German steam engine manufacturer, based in Spandau, Germany. The company name Freibahn means 'free railway' or 'not track-bound'.
History
The company was founded by Arthur Koppel, who had previously co-founded the company Orenstein & Koppel (O&K for short) together with Benno Orenstein. It was originally a purely trading company for narrow-gauge railways, selling railway tracks and tipper wagons. In 1876, Benno Orenstein contributed 3,000 marks as a loan from an uncle. Arthur Koppel, a former authorized officer of the G. E. Dellschau iron trading company, contributed 15,000 marks. The company initially developed relatively slowly, and in 1885 the two partners amicably parted ways. They divided their market into foreign and domestic regions for five years, and Koppel founded the company Arthur Koppel GmbH, which remained more successful abroad. At the end of 1905, the separately run sales operations were merged again.
The Imperial German Army had decided very late to motorize the troops. For a long time, they relied on horses. The decisive breakthrough came from the observations of the French, who in the autumn of 1903 tested a road truck from the company Société Française des Trains Renard. This truck was capable of moving heavy artillery and equipment on roads as well as off-road. German generals promoted the rapid construction of a comparable motorized train. Corresponding tenders were sent to the industry. Arthur Koppel was very interested in such a military contract and hoped to convince the Prussian Artillery Testing Commission with his design. [2]