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Zündapp was a famous German Motorcycle Brand . The company was originally founded in 1917 in Nuremberg by Fritz Neumeyer, together with the Friedrich Krupp AG and the Machine Tool manufacturer Thiel under the name "'''Zünd'''er- und '''App'''aratebau G.m.b.H." as a producer of Detonator s. In 1919 , as the demand for weapons parts declined after World War I , Neumeyer became the sole proprietor of the company and two years later, he diversified into the construction of Motorcycle s. The company folded in 1984 . The first Zündapp motorcycle was the Z22 in 1921 , the "Motorrad für Jedermann" (motorcycle for everybody), a simple and reliable design that was produced in large series. Zündapp's history of heavy motorcycles began in 1933 with the K-series. They introduced the closed engine case, a novelty at the time. (The "K" stands for "Kardanantrieb", i.e. enclosed driveshaft with two universal joints, a type of drivetrain, which these models featured.) The series encompassed models from 200 to 800 Cc Displacement and was a major success, increasing Zündapp's market share in Germany from 5% in 1931 to 18% in 1937 . From 1940 on, Zündapp produced more than 18'000 units of the KS750, a Sidecar with a driven side wheel and a Locking Differential for the German Wehrmacht . After World War II , the company gradually shifted to producing smaller machines, for instance the "Bella" Motorscooter , still a relatively heavy machine for its type. The last of the heavy motorcycles, and incidentally also one of its most famous models, was released in 1951 : the KS601 (the "green elephant") with a 598 cc two cylinder engine. From 1957 to 1958 the company also produced the Zündapp Janus Microcar . In 1958 the company moved from Nuremberg to Munich . Subsequently, the company developed several new smaller models, gave up the development of Four-stroke engines and only produced Two-stroke models. Initially, Zündapp scooters and Moped s sold well, but later sales declined, and in 1984 , the company was bankrupt and closed. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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