THE SIMSON
Simson was yet another German motorcycle manufacturer handed over to the Soviet Union as war reparations at the end of WWII. Although the 250cc model looks like a carbon copy of a fifties era 250 BMW, you have to wonder what was going on in East Germany when the war ended, and the Soviets took over. Strange coincidence in design, eh wot?
Simson was founded in 1854 by Lob & Moses Simson, when they bought 1/3 of the Steelhammer corp of Uhl Germany that manufactured carbon steel sheets and blanks. In 1856 the name was changed to Simson, and the firm now produced steam engines, bicycles and in 1907 produced its first automobile. Simson automobiles were very well made four and six cylinder touring cars and sedans that looked like, you guessed it, a Mercedes of the same time period. Here’s a 1925 Type SO (S for Supercharged):
1925 SD Simson-Supra type SO
Simson did well through the Great Depression, and managed to survive the massive financial upheaval the German nation went through in nineteen thirty. They also secured large contracts with the arms procurement people, manufacturing among other things actions and barrels for Mauser 7.92x57 carbines, P09 Lugers, and MG08 Machine Guns.
1925 Simson race car, 3.2 liter OHC supercharged six with DeDion rear axle & quick change gears.
In 1936 Hitler’s Germany forced the Jewish Simson family to flee the country. They left with the shirts on their backs, their holdings seized by the Nazis.
Under the framework of laws regarding the dispossessions of Jewish industrial holdings, a Nazi trustee took control of the firm, and merged it with two other motorcycle factories, “Bwelin Suhler Waffen and Fahrzeugwere”. BSW was formed, and in 1939 the first motorcycle rolled off the assembly line, the BSW 98. 
1939 BSW 98 250cc Sport
The BSW factory continued to build bicycles, motorcycles, weapons and cars until Germany lost the war and East Germany was overrun by Soviet troops. Then, in 1946 the factory was dismantled and shipped to the Soviet Union. The machine tools and other stuff ended up at the SAG Awtowelo state run motorcycle company, where like everything else the Soviets stole after WWII, the factory started building exact copes of the BSW 98 (which looked suspiciously like a 250 BMW). They still made arms, this time a copy of the Makarov PM 9mm pistol. 
1954 Simson AWO 425 S 250cc sport model with top secret invisible carb & airbox.
For some reason the Awtowelo deal didn’t work out, and in 1952 the commissars decided to ship the factory BACK to the GDR in East Germany, where the company was re-named VEB Fahzueg-Geraterwerk Simson Suhl. I guess the commies had whole teams of people just for renaming stolen corporations.
Since 1947 Simson had produced a copy of the BSW 98, and named it the AWO 425. Over 300,000 copies of the AWO 425 were produced, and it was a very popular and reliable motorcycle for the Eastern Bloc countries. Again, it looked just like a BMW 250, with an in-line motor, and shaft drive. The 425T Touring had plunger rear suspension, while the “Sport” model utilized twin rear shocks and a swingarm. BSW even offered an off-road version that had an up-pipe, skid plate and luggage rack called the AWO425G. 
1960 Simson AWO 425 S. Looks like a Beemer... magnesium cases too.
The commies didn’t like the AWO 425, since it was a quality product, and cost a lot to produce. So in the early 1960’s the German Democratic Republik (ha!) decided all personal transportation for both cars and motorcycles would be two strokes. The GDR already had a mothballed motorcycle factory that produced two strokes, the former MZ factory at Zschopau, and Simson was given the task of abandoning all four stroke production to manufacture mopeds at the former MZ works. Over 200,000 Simson moped were produced each year. The name was changed again, too…phew…here it goes…VEB Ernst-Thälmann-Werk Suhl to VEB Fahrzeug- und Jagdwaffenwerk Ernst Thälmann Suhl. VEB for short. 
1973 VEB/Simson 50cc 3 speed moped.
In the nineteen seventies Simsons were produced for ISDT competition in the 50, 80 and 250cc classes, they did quite well, and the design was well ahead of it's time, as evidenced by the Simson 250 ISDT bike seen below from the 1977 event.
Again, Communist mismanagement doomed an otherwise viable motorcycle company that looked to be in the same league as Maico, MZ and BMW. In 2003 VEB closed its doors for good.
Towards the end they made everything from thee wheeled work trucks, frying pans, pistols, and furniture (?) even tried in vain to secure a contract with the East German Military for pistol production. But that failed, and so ended the Simson, or whatever it was called. A sad ending of what looked to be a good company.
1967 Simson 75cc ISDT bike.
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