karl rapp and julius auspitzer founded karl rapp motorenwerke gmbh (rapp motorenwerke) with a capital stock of rm 200,000 on 29 april 1913 on the site of flugwerke deutschland gmbh (after the company went into liquidation). general consul auspitzer was the company's sole shareholder, with the operational side of the company managed by karl rapp. the idea was for the new company to build and sell "engines of all types, in particular internal combustion engines for aircraft and motor vehicles", in addition to building an engine for the second "kaiserpreis" (kaiser's trophy) rally, but it was not ready in time.