AUDI AG is able to look back on an exciting and varied past – its tradition of car and engine manufacturing extends back into the 19th century. It all began with August Horch, one of Germany's pioneering personalities automobile engineers. After graduating from the Technical Academy in Mittweida, Saxony he worked on engine construction and later as head of the motor vehicle production department of the Carl Benz company in Mannheim. In 1899 he started his own business A.Horch & Cie. in Cologne. Horch moved to Saxony in 1902, first to Reichenbach then in 1904 to Zwickau, where the company was transformed into a joint-stock corporation.