NSU Motorenwerke AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and bicycles, tracing its origins to 1873. The company was founded by Christian Schmidt as a knitting machine manufacturer in Riedlingen on the Danube, operating under the name "Mechanische Werkstätte zur Herstellung von Strickmaschinen." In 1880, the business relocated to Neckarsulm, from which the company's eventual name was derived—NSU being an abbreviation of Neckarsulm. The company entered the bicycle business…