Romfell Panzerbau

Written by Jackson Jewell Edited by Zach Batson

The Romfell corporation’s history began in 1913, when two friends, engineers, and officers of the Imperial and Royal Landwehr - Oberleutnant Simon Fellner and Hauptmann Branko Romanić - attended a military exposition in Milan. While there, they observed a number of new lightweight armored vehicles utilizing the chassis of automobiles. While armored vehicles had been in use for warfare since the 1850s, they had, for the most part, been slow, lumbering, steam powered giants. The internal combustion engine had changed the pace of warfare, with fast moving armored cars being utilized to great effect in the American-Columbian War of 1900. Seeing these advances, the duo were inspired to create their own version.

Utilizing their connections as supply officers, Romanić and Fellner mated the chassis and engine of a Mercedes sports car with armored plate, a machine gun, and a relatively weak shield generators. The initial design took two years to build, but when completed performed admirably. Despite the success of the design, the first officers the car was shown to felt that it was a waste. Eventually though, after inspection by Oberleutnant Erich Kurzel Edler von Runtscheiner of the Imperial Ministry of Military Procurement, the original “Romfell” was approved for service.

In December of 1916 the vehicle was shown to members of the Imperial family. Archduke Franz Ferdinand took a special liking to the vehicle, stating that a fast armored car seemed exceptionally useful. Romanić and Fellner were given a grant for production and an initial run of 1000 cars were ordered for use by the Imperial and Royal Hussars.

The Romfell corporation was officially founded in Budapest in 1917 as “Romfell Fémművek”, though in company letterhead this was most often translated as “Romfell Panzerbau” to appeal to the German speaking majority of the empire. Since their foundation the company has grown tremendously, and now provides the Empire with the majority of their light armored vehicles, holding both military and police contracts. Their success has been such that in the modern day they rival even the monumental Skoda Works of Bohemia in output.

Type

Corporation, Security