The Wartburg 353 – A mid-range car in the GDR
When it was introduced, the Wartburg 353 featured a modern design and was regarded as one of the most contemporary-looking cars produced in the Eastern Bloc. As a spacious four-door saloon, it was highly desirable in a country where most people drove the two-door Trabant. What set it apart from the outset, however, was its three-cylinder two-stroke engine, inherited from the IFA F9 and progressively refined over the years. While it delivered respectable performance, it also produced the characteristic blue exhaust smoke and distinctive smell associated with two-stroke engines.
By the mid-1960s, two-stroke engines had largely fallen out of favour in the international mid-range car market. Increasing traffic volumes demanded cleaner air, particularly in towns and cities, and stricter international emissions regulations made exports to Western countries increasingly difficult from the mid-1970s onwards.
The Wartburg 353 in the GDR Planned Economy
Although the Wartburg 353 was modern and forward-looking when it was introduced, its exterior design had become outdated after more than 22 years of production. There was no shortage of ideas, concepts or internationally competitive proposals for new models and further developments in Eisenach. However, under the GDR’s planned economy, passenger cars primarily served to absorb the growing purchasing power reflected in citizens’ steadily increasing savings from the 1970s onwards. At the same time, the domestic market was far too small to support economically viable production volumes. Exports were essential, yet without a modern car, exporting became increasingly difficult. It was a classic catch-22.
Our collection includes a Wartburg 353 de Luxe produced by VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach. It is equipped with the popular sliding roof and a tow bar. This blue saloon, built in 1969 and priced at 18,095.50 marks, was still fitted with the earlier 45 hp engine, which was replaced just a few months later by an improved 50 hp version. The car was first registered on 6 January 1970 in Bad Dürrenberg near Leipzig under the registration number VB 25-33. Over the following years, it remained with several owners in the Leipzig area before being taken off the road there in 1991. After a complete restoration, it was transported by trailer into our collection.
The Wartburg 1.3 – The Last Wartburg Built in Eisenach
The GDR also had supporters in the West. In the early 1980s, Carl Hahn, the newly appointed Chairman of Volkswagen and a native of Zschopau in the Ore Mountains, offered the GDR leadership a production line for Volkswagen four-stroke engines at a favourable price. Following a major industrial effort, production of the new engines was established near Karl-Marx-Stadt by the summer of 1988, allowing Volkswagen to hand over the assembly line to the IFA combine.
In the end, however, the investment in the passenger car supply industry cost the state many times more than originally planned. As a result, the new engines had to be installed in the existing Trabant 601 and Wartburg 353 models, as there were no funds available to develop an entirely new generation of cars.
By the time the Wartburg 1.3 entered production in 1988, followed by the Trabant 1.1 in 1990, it was already too late. Before the Peaceful Revolution, waiting lists of up to 18 years had guaranteed sales. Following monetary, economic and social union on 1 July 1990, which introduced the Deutsche Mark to the GDR overnight, demand collapsed. Hundreds of Wartburgs remained unsold.
Production ended on 10 April 1991, and the final Wartburg 1.3 was sold on 7 October 1991. Just two years earlier, the GDR government had celebrated the state's 40th anniversary. By then, the workers’ and peasants’ state had become history, and a chapter of German industrial history came to an end. At 11:48 am on 10 April 1991, the last Wartburg – painted Indian Red – rolled out of the factory in Eisenach.
Why the Wartburg Remains Popular Today
After German reunification, Wartburgs provided affordable transport for many people and could often be bought for very little money. From the late 1990s onwards, however, interest in the marque began to grow again. Today, its robust engineering, ease of repair and almost timeless design have earned it a loyal and steadily growing community of enthusiasts. Many people in Eisenach also take pride in the fact that almost 10,000 Wartburgs survived the closure of the factory and can still be seen on the roads of eastern Germany or at the annual International Wartburg Meeting in Eisenach.
The historic name »Wartburg« was, in fact, used three times in the city's automotive history. It first appeared in 1899 on an early motor car of the same name, returned in the 1930s as the »BMW Wartburg« sports car, and from 1955 became the name of Eisenach’s best-known passenger car. The first model, the »Wartburg 311«, was exported to more than 50 countries, including the United States, South Africa, Colombia, Finland and the United Kingdom.
