Zündapp (aka Zuendapp) was a major German
motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1917 in
Nuremberg by Fritz Neumeyer, together with the Friedrich
Krupp AG and the
machine tool manufacturer Thiel under the name "
Zünder- und
Apparatebau G.m.b.H." as a producer of
detonators (Zünder- und Apparatebau is German for Igniter and Apparatus). In 1919, as the demand for weapons parts declined after WWI, Neumeyer became the sole proprietor of the company, and two years later he diversified into the construction of motorcycles.