"Maurer Union" Automobile (c. 1900) By the turn of the century Germany was a leader in motor engineering and technology. Here is an early automobile developed in the Nürnberger Fahrzeugfabrik [Nuremberg Automobile Factory] at the end of the nineteenth century. The “Maurer Union” was named after the mechanic Ludwig Maurer, who built the prototype. Maurer’s factory went on to produce the so-called Doktorwagen [doctor’s car], as well as friction engines, which other manufacturers adapted.