A fantastic collection of 143 original photographs of post-WWII motorcycle racing in Germany and East Germany from about 1949 to about 1954. These are all original darkroom photographs from negatives, vintage to the period.

Print dimensions range from 5" x 7" down to about 4" x 2 1/2" (with the majority being about 5 1/2" x 3 1/2"). A majority have stamping from several different professional photographers to the backsides and each one is dated and identified with place, date, rider, bike, etc... hand-written to the verso in German.

Identified tracks / places include West German places like Stuttgart, but the majority are of isolated East German locales like Leipzig, Chemnitz, and most often Hohenstein and its famed Sachsenring Circuit.

The 1950's motorcycle scene in East Germany is the stuff of legend, literally, as it was incredibly competitive and shaped the international scene at large from behind the Iron Curtain but has not been accurately documented because of the oppressive policies of the GDR (Mat Oxley's STEALING SPEED is a must-read on the subject, if you can get your hands on a copy). Surviving photographs like this, particularly in any kind of large collection, are very hard to find. All photos are pictured here. I've shown the backsides of about 1/3, but just the fronts of the rest.