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Occupation (s) Engineer, industrialist, automotive pioneer. Václav Laurin (16 October 1865, Kamení near Pěnčín – 3 December 1930, Prague) was a Czech engineer, industrialist and automotive pioneer who, along with Václav Klement, founded automobile manufacturer Laurin & Klement that later became today's Škoda Auto.
Václav Klement and Václav Laurin started making bicycles in a workshop. Within four years they had built their own factory and started producing motorcycles – and within ten years they made their first car.
Exactly 125 years ago – shortly before Christmas 1895 – the mechanic Václav Laurin and the bookseller Václav Klement laid the foundation stone for the present-day ŠKODA AUTO. The two founders were united by their passion for cycling.
From being a tinkerer, machine fitter and steam engine technician, Václav Laurin became the founder of a company and a successful and respected businessman who, alongside Václav Klement, gave his name one of the most successful automotive brands of the early 20th century.
Václav Laurin did his apprenticeship as a machine fitter. Even afterwards he continued to educate himself and searched for new challenges – this is how he learned to operate steam engines. Laurin settled down in Mladá Boleslav, where he established a bicycle factory with Václav Klement.
3 days ago · Basic information. About museum. Václav Laurin & Václav Klement started their own business in Mladá Boleslav in 1895. Today, Škoda is one of the longest-established automotive brands in the world, and the Museum highlights this history in the most authentic of places – the original production halls where the company manufactured cars until 1928.
In December 1895, Václav Laurin and Václav Klement founded the company that would become the globally successful manufacturer ŠKODA AUTO. After starting out in bicycle production, Laurin & Klement went on to manufacture motorbikes from 1899 and cars from 1905, which began featuring the ŠKODA badge in 1925.
