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Ērenpreiss Original
This article is about Latvian bicycle manufacturer Ērenpreiss Original.

Ērenpreiss’ history began way back on 5 August 1891 when the family of a couple of workers from Mazsalaca, Lībijs and Anna Ērenpreiss welcomed a new addition, a son whom they christened Gustavs.

After graduating from craft school, Gustavs turned his attention to bicycle construction and by implementing new technological solutions, his talent soon won high praise and he was appointed technical manager of Edgars Bērziņš’ bicycle workshop.

With the approach of the war, the workshop was evacuated to Harkov where Ērenpreiss becomes one of the workshop’s owners.

In 1921, Gustavs Ērenpreiss returns to Rīga and begins to set up his own company. The war had destroyed everything and there were neither work tables, nor instruments, nor financing with which to restore the previous workshop. He obtained his initial capital by repairing and selling some vehicles abandoned by Bermont’s army.

At the start of 1922, Bicycle and Motorcycle Workshop G. Ērenpreiss opened, which moved to new, bigger premises two years later at Brīvības iela 129/133 – the former premises of A.Leitners’ bicycle factory.

In 1926, in order to expand production and increase quality, Retail and Bicycle Production Joint Stock Company G. Ērenpreiss and Biedris was founded, where bicycles were built under a new brand name, Omega. However, at the end of the year Gustavs Ērenpreiss had a difference of opinion with his partners and withdrew from the new joint stock company.

In early 1927, a new company: G. Ērenpreiss’ Bicycle Factory opened for business at Brīvības iela 82 and not long after the Ērenpreiss Original bicycle appeared on the market.

In 1928, 11 bicycle factories were in operation in Latvia, as well as a lot of workshops; after 1930 the number of bicycles in Rīga increased faster than the size of its population. The first Erenpreiss bicycle came out of the factory already on 1927, and it was made by a very talented Latvian craftsman Gustavs Erenpreiss.

In the course of time Erenpreiss became the biggest and the most modern bicycle producer in Baltic States. His work was based on three cornerstones – design, high quality and accessibility to everyone. Erenpreiss bicycles were much loved in Eastern Europe and even nowadays they can still be spotted on the streets. Unfortunately, during the World War 2 the bicycle production was forced to stop. Later in 1950ties the factory was nationalized by Soviet forces.

The great grandson of Gustav Erenpreiss’ brother – Toms Erenpreiss had felt attached to the bicycles since an early childhood. He independently restored his first historic bicycle at the age of 12.

In 2006 Toms opened his own Erenpreiss bicycle renovation workshop. Till this moment more than 100 historic bicycles have been renovated there, most of them are about 80 year old vehicles. The workshop deals with complete renovation, as well as conservation of the historic bicycles.

Seeing the increasing interest in bicycles, Toms began to cherish a dream of his own brand new bicycle production, applying all the knowledge and skills gathered in eight years of renovation work.

Since the beginning of 2012, after 70 years long pause, brand new Erenpreiss bicycles made in Latvia have been rolling out on the streets.

Currently Erenpreiss Original team consists of 12 people. Erenpreiss actively participates in the development of the local cycling infrastructure and culture, annually organizing the Riga Bicycle Week and Tweed Run. In the beginning of July 2013 the company launches its 2nd bicycle collection. The company has received such acknowledgements as the 1st place in the Swedish Business Awards, 1st place in PrintArt Awards for its visual identity and 2nd place in Baltic PR Awards for corporate communication. Erenpreiss bicycles have been featured in design book “Velo 2nd Gear” by Gestalten, Daily Mail and Sunday Times bicycle reviews, Cool Hunting, DesignEast and other blogs.

History
Gustavs Erenpreis was born on August 5, 1891 to Libis and Anna Erenpreis in a working—class family in Mazsalaca. Erenpreis couldn't rely on patronage from any high-ranking benefactors so he had to rely on his own efforts and talent to get ahead. After finishing trade school he joined the newly—established E. Berzins' firm in 1907. His energetic personality and mechanical skills were soon noticed. The quality and huge demand of E. Berzins' bicycles was the result of the efforts of G. Erenpreis, who brought many technological innovations to the firm.

The widow of Eduards Berzins, the late owner of the bicycle work- shop "Baltija" and the technical manager of the firm, Gustavs Erenpreis, returned to Riga in 1921, ‘ having spent years in exile in Harkov. Erenpreis had now become the owner of the workshop which following the war years had ended up on the verge of bankruptcy. The business had to be rebuilt — there were no tools, no premises or finances to purchase materials. The essential ingredient, however, was there — an enterprising spirit, a hard-working attitude and common sense.

Erenpreis purchased a few abandoned and damaged army trucks that were left behind by Bermont’s army, fixed them and sold them. With the proceeds he purchased his first tools and raw materials for the business and at the beginning of 1922 he opened a small workshop on Aleksandra (now Brivibas) Street next to Vidzemes Market, with the name ”Bicycle and motorcycle workshop G. Erenpreis” (The building on Brivibas Street next to Vidzemes Market no longer exists. A five-storey apartment building now stands in place of the wooden structure.)

The first Erenpreis bicycles still used the well-known brand name Baltija and were manufactured using the war technology and techniques Erenpreis quickly understood that in order to expand the manufacturing side he needed bigger and more suitable premises, new and modern machine tools and high—quality parts.

Although most of these obstacles took a few years to overcome the need for larger premises was resolved quite quickly. A. Leutner’s factory buildings in Riga were empty and abandoned. The bicycle factory ”Russia" that had been evacuated during the First World War in 1915 did not resume business. Gustavs Erenpreis signed a lucrative long- term lease agreement with the heir to the business, A. Leutner’s widow Jenny, who had returned to Riga. In 1924 the bicycle workshop had already been moved to the new premises on 129/133 Brivibas Street.

Setting up the manufacturing on the new premises and modernising the technology needed a huge capital investment; funds that Gustavs Erenpreis did not have. So in 1926 a new company with a long name was established — "Bicycle Manufacture and Sales Company G. Erenpreis and Partner", with Gustavs Erenpreis and businessmen Jekabs Are and Janis Ligeris at the helm. The brand name Omega was chosen.

Although initially the business started out running quite smoothly, disagreements between share holders could not be averted. G. Erenpreis’ personal goals and ideas did not correspond with those of the other two partners. So on December 22, 1926 G. Erenpreis handed the other two share holders his resignation as a partner. The remaining shareholders changed the company name to "Omega”.

In 1927 a new business was opened on 82 Brivibas Street - "G. Erenpreis’ Bicycle Factory" and a new brand appeared on the market — G. Erenpreis Istais. The new brand name caused controversy which resulted in a court hearing. Consequently in 1930 Gustavs Erenpreis was fined 300 Lats for "dishonest competitive activities". His former partners objected to his use of the word ”istais” (genuine) in the brand name. in their eyes this belittled the quality of their Omega bicycles, making customers believe their products are second-rate or copies of Erenpreis’ bicycles. The court ruled that Gustavs Erenpreis had to change the brand name, which he did - to Erenpreis Original, which essentially meant the same thing, only using a different word.

And so until 1931 this disagreement between 'former' partners caused a great deal of confusion in the cycling community as there were two similar sounding firms in Riga: "Joint stock company G. Erenpreis and Partner" and "G. Erenpreis’ Bicycle Factory".

Around that time Gustavs Erenpreis purchased land on Brivibas Avenue near the Gaisa Bridge (virtually opposite the VEF buildings) and started building the new "G. Erenpreis’ Bicycle Factory". Construction of the building took a long time. The main building. designed by architect A. Klinklavs, was finished in the summer of 1937. The old buildings were reconstructed and renovated to accommodate the new machinery. This helped expanse manufacturing, improve technology and the quality of production.

At the end of 1938 the most modern galvanising plant in Latvia was opened in Erenpreis’ new factory. At the same time both new automatic machine tools and special equipment to manufacture free wheel clutches and other complex mechanisms were set up. By the summer of 1940 the factory had become the largest and most modern bicycle firm in the Baltic's. Annually a total of 40 000 high-quality bicycles were transported past the factory gates. Erenpreis produced around 70% of all bicycle manufactured in Latvia. By 1940. Erenpreis’ factory had produced total of 200 000 bicycles.

Representatives were located in all Latvian towns and the larger region all centres. In contrast with other firms, customers were given many purchase options. On the whole bicycles were purchased on credit; this was not the most profitable option for the factory but it was favoured by the customers and it did promote bicycle popularity among labourers and farmers. The brand name G. Erenpreis Original was also popular in Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland and Soviet Russia.

G. Erenpreis’ firm continued business until August, 1940 when the Soviet regime nationalised the factory and renamed it the state-owned bicycle factory ”Sarkana Zvaigzne"(Red Star). Gustavs Erenpreis was dismissed from his role of managing director of the factory.

A year later Latvia was ravaged by the Second World War. During the German occupation bicycle manufacture was limited with only small orders filled using semi—assembled bicycle components that had been made before the war. The factory mainly filled the orders of the German army and repaired military equipment. The business was no longer owned by G. Erenpreis. Gustavs Erenpreis battled with the German authorities for years to reclaim his factory, nationalised during the Bolshevik era. The German occupying forces were wary regarding these matters and many businesses in Riga were not returned to their former owners even by the end of the period of German occupation. G. Erenpreis' efforts were not in vain. In October 1943 the Latvian Chamber of Commerce issued Erenpreis a registration certificate, allowing him to conduct business as the owner of "Bicycle Factory G. Erenpreis". Sadly his renewed business activities were not destined to last for long. In the summer of 1944 with the Soviet army nearing the Latvian border, G. Erenpreis and his family loaded all their belongings into trucks and fled to Germany. Their personal property was lost during the war. When the Second World War ended the Erenpreis family was in a refugee camp in Augustdorf and the former manufacturing magnate worked on a wood felling site, Preparing to be shipped to Great Britain. He also worked in the DP camp's forge where together with other workers he built furnaces from old petrol barrels to heat the refugee barracks.

G. Erenpreis lived his remaining years in the hope that he would soon return to Latvia and consequently didn't allow his children to emigrate to the United States or Australia as did so many other refugee families. Germany was closer to Latvia.

In 1956 Gustavs Erenpreis died of cancer at age 65 in Augustdorf in Germany.

After the Second World War many changes occurred in the bicycle manufacturing industry in Latvia. In accordance with a Soviet decree bicycle manufacturing was concentrated in one enterprise — the nationalised factory of G. Erenpreis.

On April 1, 1947 after the damage done to the factory during the war was repaired and reconstruction work finished the factory resumed the manufacture of bicycles with the brand name Sarkana Zvaigzne (Red Star).

In 1949 the planned production volume of 100 000 bicycles per year was attained. Machinery in the factory was continually replaced with newer models and a conveyor belt was set up in the assembly unit.

Today
Since childhood, Gustavs Ērenpreiss’ great-great-nephew Toms Ērenpreiss has felt his affinity for bicycles and at the age of 12 personally restored a vintage bicycle. Thus, his interest in historical values was born.

Toms began a careful study of the process of restoring vintage bicycles by reading books, consulting various people, and browsing the Internet for the relevant information, in order to acquire an exact understanding of how things were done a century ago.

In 2006, Toms Ērenpreiss opened his first Ērenpreiss bicycle restoration workshop at Čaka iela 90, Riga, Latvia.

More than 100 vintage city bicycles have been restored at the Ērenpreiss bicycle workshop including bikes that are even 70 years old. The workshop presides over the complete restoration, as well as preservation of vintage bicycles.

In 2009, Toms Ērenpreiss founded the Historic Bicycle Club of Latvia with the aim of encouraging and developing bicycle culture, as well as promoting and looking after the preservation of the antique bicycle as an important part of our cultural heritage.

Witnessing the growing interest in bicycles, Toms starts to nurture the dream of producing his own new Ērenpreiss bicycles.

In 2010, together with his colleagues, Toms founded a new company SIA “Ērenpreiss Original” to develop the business on a broader scale.

Various activities were also organised in 2010 to promote bicycle culture and encourage more people to travel by bicycle. For example, in May 2010 Latvia’s first ever Tweed Run – a parade ride of vintage bicycles ridden by cyclists in retro outfits – was held in Liepāja.

Renovation of used city bicycles begins at the Ērenpreiss bicycle workshop and they are put on sale to the general public following the opening of the Ērenpreiss store on Kalnciema iela.

Public interest continues to grow building momentum for the continuation of the project despite initial difficulties which arose during the planning of the production of new bicycles, and work continues twice as intensively. The shop is closed in order to fully focus on the production of new bicycles.

The cycling activities organised and initiated by Ērenpreiss are expanded during 2011: the Tweed Run is organised not only in Liepāja, but also in Rīga, attracting the participation of about 400 cyclists, the first Rīga Velo Week is organised, the Ērenpreiss Vintage Bicycle Festival takes place in Mazsalaca, the Ērenpreiss Team takes part in the Unity Ride, etc., thus attaining even greater public awareness.

At the start of 2012, work on the production of the new Ērenpreiss bicycle completed, “Gandrs” store chain is appointed as the official retailer for the bikes and the new Ērenpreiss bicycles have been on sale since 12 April.