This driver spent only three years in auto racing, but was a real hero of his time. He had to race during the era of Rudolph Caracciola and Tazio Nuvolari, and Bernd Rosenmeier was the fastest among them. He can be compared to Gilles Villeneuve, only with a large number of victories and a champion title.
Bernd was born in 1909 in Lingeni, Prussia. His father was the owner of a car repair shop, so it is not surprising that the guy was in love with cars and motorcycles and got a driver's license at the age of 16. However, at first, Rosenmeier gave preference to two-wheeled vehicles. Since 1930, he began performing in motorcycle racing - first on grass tracks, and two years later he switched to asphalt tracks. Having won several victories in the factory Zundapp, and then in his own BMW, in 1933 he became an NSU factory racer, and the following year he switched to DKW. This company was part of the Auto Union concern, where they drew attention to a fast and successful racer.
In October 1934, Rosemeyer was invited to test the car at the Nurburgring Grand Prix. Despite his lack of experience in driving race cars, he impressed the management of the racing team and was offered a pilot contract for 1935. At first, the inexperienced rider was kept in reserve, and only at AVUS was allowed to start. Rosemeyer won several podiums and quickly became a full-fledged pilot of the team - there was no longer a question of reserve. The last race was the Masaryk Grand Prix in Brno - named after the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Masaryk. The race was led by the German team-mate Achille Warke, but he retired due to a gearbox malfunction, thanks to which Bernd won his first victory in the grand prix races.
In addition to this outstanding achievement, he put his own destiny in Brno - the award was presented to the winner by the famous pilot Ellie Beinhorn. The guy fell in love with her at first sight - they started dating, and six months later they got married, becoming one of the most famous and popular couples in Germany.
Winning the race in its debut season was an achievement unparalleled in motorsport history. And the very next year Rosemeyer turned into a real winning car - having won four victories and finishing second twice, he tried on the crown of the European champion - already in the second year of participation in auto racing!
His victory at the Nürburgring became legendary - in a terrible fog, Bernd drove 40 seconds faster than his opponents in the North Loop and won with an advantage over his teammate Hans Stuck in four minutes. After that Rosemeier began to be called none other than Nebelmeister - Master of the Mist.
In the next season, things went much worse - Mercedes created the undefeated W125, and Rudolph Caraciolla regained the title. However, Bernd won several victories - at the Eifel, in New York and the season finale at Donington Park.
In addition to the Grand Prix races, both German concerns Mercedes and Auto Union competed in attempts to set a speed record, which was warmly welcomed by the Nazi leadership of the country. Rosemeier competed with Caracciolo here, and on October 26, 1937, he became the first person to cross the 400 km / h line on the highway. At the end of January, both teams gathered on the motorway near Frankfurt to try again to break the record. On January 28, Caracciola took the lead, reaching a speed of 432 km / h. Bernd tried to answer, but at 440 km / h he lost control due to a gust of wind as he passed under the bridge. His car was blown to pieces, and the 28-year-old racer himself was instantly killed.
After Rosemeier's death, Hitler's propaganda made him a Nazi hero, but despite this, he was a real star, who was known and loved not only in Europe, but also in America. Attractive, with a good sense of humor, he became the best master of driving rear-wheel drive cars and motorsport suffered a lot when Bernd passed away tragically.