Hans: A GDR Story of Innovation in Isolation

Petor is the director of Bespoked and this year, he moved the showcase from the UK to Dresden, Germany. Through regular visits to Germany, meeting builders and small independent manufacturers he was extremely fortunate to meet some incredible people who gave me a glimpse into bicycle manufacturing in Germany. Inevitably, the name Diamant would crop up over and over, in the way that Raleigh would in the UK or Schwinn in the states. There were crumbs pointing to the former GDR everywhere, and in trying to learn a bit more about the cultural landscape of framebuilding in the former GDR all roads eventually led back to Diamant...