Dannenhauer & Stauss, Coachbuilding workshop in Stuttgart, Germany.
Dannenhauer & Stauss was a coachbuilding workshop in Stuttgart that created sports cars using Volkswagen chassis and components from dealers throughout Europe. The handmade construction involved shaping metal sheets on templates, with doors manufactured separately in a pressing facility.
The company was founded in 1950 by Gottfried Dannenhauer and Kurt Stauss, producing approximately 100 convertibles based on the Volkswagen Beetle through 1957. This establishment came during Germany's rapid reconstruction period when small craft workshops were re-emerging across the country.
The name Dannenhauer & Stauss pairs founder Gotthilf Dannenhauer with his son-in-law Kurt Stauss, who opened the Augustenstraße workshop in 1950. Dannenhauer had helped build bodies for the VW 38/39 pre-series at Reutter in 1938. The firm still operates at Augustenstraße 8, trading as Stauss-Balbach since 2021 and doing only repairs and paintwork.
The workshop still operates at Augustenstraße 8, run as Stauss-Balbach since 2021 after trading as Karosserie Stauss-Balbach from 2005 to 2021. It now handles only vehicle repairs and paintwork, so there is nothing to tour; the address is best noted as a stop on a walk tracing Stuttgart coachbuilding history.
The split windscreen was replaced in 1954 by a curved one-piece pane, so only early cars carry it. Each front wing was hammered from six separate steel pieces and then welded together. The rear seat back folds down for extra luggage space, and a Petri three-spoke steering wheel was standard in the Coupé.
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