Ernst Jakob Henne

Ernst Jakob Henne was born on 22 February, 1904 in Weiler near Wangen im Allgäu.
In the 1920s and 1930s was one of the most successful German motorcycle racers: he achieved endless victories, championships and speed records on two wheels; he was also on the list of winners of many international races on four wheels.

Among other things he was the 1926 German champion in the 500cc class and  the 1927 German champion in the 750cc class.

 

In 1928, 80 years ago, Henne has raced and won with Metzeler the legendary "Targa Florio": he is still considered a legend, a myth, that's why this year Metzeler want to celebrate this great man with the first chapter of Metzeler's Heroes celebration.

Between 1928 to 1937, he achieved a total of 76 land speed world records, the last on November 28, 1937 with the 279.5 Km/h (173.7 mph) on a fully-faired 500cc supercharged BMW. This record stood for 14 years.

Henne was one of the most successful sportsmen in the 1930s alongside such German greats as Max Schmeling, Gottfried von Cramm, Rudolf Harbig, Rudolf Caracciola, Manfred von Brauchitsch and Bernd Rosemeyer to name a few.

At the end of the 1920s, he was regarded as one of the best, most versatile motorcyclists in Germany. He had proved, during his races, that he was master of all disciplines, from short to long distances, from asphalt to rubble tracks. Searching for new challenges, he took part in the International six-day races at the beginning of the 1930s. In 1933, 1934 and 1935 he won the team event with the national team, which was in actual fact a pure BMW team.

On 19 September 1929, the moment had come: Ernst Henne chased the record for the first time with a 750 cc compressor BMW. He was successful at the very first attempt: Ernst Henne broke eight world records that day. Not all of them were officially recognized, but the most spectacular stayed: at a speed of over 216 km/h, Ernst Henne was the fastest motorcycle rider in the world to date.

On the morning of 28 November 1937, Henne finally reached the ultimate high point of his career: he achieved an officially certified speed of 279 km/ with the "Egg" (because of its characteristic shape, the driver and his motorcycle soon became popularly known as "Henne and his egg".`) , reaching an incredible 280 km/h on his return. After this, Ernst Henne stopped chasing records, but his record remained unbroken until 1951.

In 1936, the racing driver made racing history in the automobile sector too. In the Eifel Race, he drove the first BMW 328 prototype and not only won the two-litre class without compressor, but also, with an average speed of 101.5 km/h, achieved the best time of all the sports cars that had started. With the BMW 328, he then went on to win the Belgian Grand Prix des Frontières in Chimay and the Bucharest Grand Prix.`The "Racing legend" Ernst Henne died on May 24, 2005 at his home on Gran Canaria at the age of 101.