Schweiz Klausenrennen poster | Das Bergrennen Europas IX Internationales Klausenrennen 1932 poster
This is a reproduction print of an exceptionally rare Schweiz Klausenrennen poster. The original poster was created by the artist Ernst Friedrich Schonholzer to promote an International hill climbing race that took place on 6 & 7 August 1932. The poster depicts a silver Bugatti in full flight, tearing its way up the Klausen Pass in the beautiful Swiss Alps. The driver of the fabulous Bugatti Tipo 53 portrayed in the image is Italian Grand Prix driver Archille Varzi. The text on the Klausenrennen 1932 poster reads: Schweiz – Das Bergrennen Europas – IX. Internationales Klausenrennen – 6-7 August 1932 – ACS. Automobile – UMS. Motorräder – SRB. Fahrräder.
Original copies of this poster are extremely rare, with just four copies thought to exist. If you’re lucky enough to own one you are holding a nice investment. It is estimated that if an original were to hit the auction houses, the price could easily reach between £50,000 to £70,000!
The Klausenrennen hill climb
The Klausenrennen was the International Hill Climb of Switzerland. It was a race for both cars and motorcycles that took place, first annually and then bi-annually, between 1922 and 1934 on the Klausen Pass in Switzerland. The racecourse of the most famous hill climb in Europe began in the village of Linthal in Glarus. The finish line was 21.5km along the Klausenpasshöhe in Uri.
The competition has been held a total of ten times over a twelve-year period, around the ‘Great Mountain Prize of Switzerland. It is widely considered by far the best-known and most difficult race of its kind. The course featured more than 130 curves and a difference in altitude of 1237 meters. No other hill-climb course has fascinated spectators and drivers as intensely as the Klausen Pass race.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the racetrack was little more than a narrow, winding mountain road. There were no grandstands or safety barriers, and spectators would line the route to watch the cars speed by. The road surface was often loose gravel, and severe bends were notoriously difficult to navigate. Despite the dangers, the race remained hugely popular, and tens of thousands of spectators would come out to watch.
According to contemporary reports, the vehicles “hissed and roared” as they raced over the Urner Boden at over 200 km/h. It remained the most popular motorsport hill-climb race until its cancellation in 1934.
In 1935, the Klausen race was cancelled due to safety concerns, and it has not been held since. However, memorial races have been held in 1993, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2013 with vintage vehicles taking place to commemorate the historic racing event. At the 2006 Klausen Pass Memorial race, more than 40,000 spectators turned up to watch the race.
The roads on the race route are now paved. They are also wider and safer than they were in the late 1920s. Even so, following the 2006 run, the course was labelled ‘by far the craziest mountain race in Europe’. One can only imagine what it must have been like back in the day.
The Klausrennen is still the most legendary vintage Swiss mountain motor race in the world and remains an important part of automotive history. Its legacy continues to inspire racing enthusiasts today.
The Klausenrennen 1932 race results
The race was organised by the Swiss Automobile Club and the Union Motorcycliste Suisse and participants during that period included Rudolf Caracciola, Hans Stuck, Tazio Nuvolari, Achille Varzi, Whitney Straight and Louis Chiron.
The superb image on the Klausrennen 1932 poster features Italian racing driver Archille Varzi in his Bugatti Tipo 53. And, Varzi was indeed one of more than fifty drivers that entered the Swiss hill climb competition.
However, it was the German racing driver Rudolf Caracciola that took first place in his Alfa Romeo Type B/P3 completing the twenty one and a half mile course in a record time of 15 minutes 50 seconds. It was the driver from Monaco, Louis Chiron who beat Varzi into third place, beating his time by 18 seconds.
In the 1934 Klausenrennen, Rudolf Caracciola set a new record time of twenty-two and a half minutes in one of the new Mercedes W25 Silver Arrow.
Unlike today, top racing drivers are tied to manufacturers and race series by well-paid contracts. In the 1920s and 30s, most the drivers had to earn their living with prize money, so the most famous of them drove in a variety of events.
Within a short period, the Klausenrennen gained a superb reputation with a winners list reading like the who-is-who both on the drivers and manufacturers side including Otto Merz and Rudolf Caracciola on Mercedes- Benz, Louis Chiron on Bugatti or Hans Stuck on Austro Daimler so the Klausenrennen became one of the 10 races to form the first European Hillclimb Championship in 1930.
The driver on the 1932 Klausen race poster
The artist Ernst Friedrich Schonholzer chose to feature the Italian racing driver Achille Varziin his Bugatti Type 35 as the image of this fantastic poster. Varsi was one of the world’s best drivers until the mid-1930s and was considered in his home country to be on, at least, equal terms with his legendary rival Tazio Nuvolari.
During his exceptional eleven-year career, Varzi won 28 Grand Prix events including several of the most difficult race. During his career, Achille Varzi competed in 139 races, winning 33. Varzi’s first race car was a Type 35 Bugatti be he didn’t drive for them very long. He became a member of the Auto Union team between 1935 and 1937 winning the Tunis Grand Prix and the Coppa Acerbo and the Tripoli Grand Prix in 1936.
How much is a 1932 Klausenrennen poster worth?
The 1932 IX Internationales Klausenrennen plakat is the rarest of all motorsport posters. So, let’s be honest, with just four originals known to exist, the fact they rarely come up in the salerooms and they sell for between £50,000 to £70,000, there’s not much chance many of us will be buying one any time soon!
The only way anybody can get a copy of the Klausen 1932 poster is to buy a reproduction copy and our reproduction posters make a great alternative. They’re perfect for motor racing fans who want to enjoy an otherwise unachievable poster they love on the walls of their garage, kitchen or office.
Our motor racing wall art is printed with high-quality inks on quality 300gsm (thick) satin art paper, so they look superb, especially when framed and hung on a wall. So what are you waiting for? Order your reproduction poster today!
