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Prince Wilhelm of Urach, Count of Württemberg, 3rd Duke of Urach (27 September 1897 - 8 August 1957) was a member of the German princely House of Württemberg and a senior automotive production engineer.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=https://www2.landesarchiv-bw.de/ofs21/olf/einfueh.php?bestand=5091 )〕 Most of his professional career was spent working for Daimler-Benz in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim. Between 1941 and 1944 he was sent to France, however, and given responsibility over the technical division of the important Renault company. During these years he successfully avoided knowing about the covert development of the Renault 4CV, which after 1945, proved crucial to the survival of what became France's largest automobile manufacturer. ==Life== Wilhelm was the eldest son of Wilhelm Karl, 2nd Duke of Urach and his first wife, known as Amalie, Duchess in Bavaria. On leaving his Stuttgart preparatory school he moved on, in 1908, to the Karls-Gymnasium (secondary school), passing his Abitur (school leaving examination) in 1914. War broke out at the end of July 1914, and on 3 August 1914 Wilhelm was drafted into The First Württemberg Field Artillery Regiment. Before the month was over, on 18 August 1914 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. His wartime career included periods of service in Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No.26 and the Imperial Fourth Reserve Corps, and took him to France, Poland, Flanders, Serbia, the Carpathians and Bukovina.〔 On 30 August 1915 he was honoured with the Military Merit Order (Württemberg).〔: ''Die Württemberger im Weltkriege'', 2nd expanded edition, Chr. Belser AG, Stuttgart 1928, p. 121〕 On 18 December he was promoted to the rank of Oberleutnant.〔 While the war was still underway, probably at the instigation of his father, he enrolled as a "war student" at the University of Tübingen to study Law. However, his own interest was directed more towards engineering and technology. Between 1919 and 1922 Wilhelm studied Mechanical engineering at Stuttgart's Technical Academy, emerging with an Engineering Degree.〔 As a student he became a member of the "Akademische Gesellschaft Sonderbund Stuttgart" student fraternity.〔''Der Schwarze Ring. Mitgliederverzeichnis.'' Darmstadt 1930, p. 51.〕 Following his graduation he worked successively for Steiger in Burgrieden, Cockerell in Munich and Bugatti in Molsheim. In 1927 he switched to Daimler-Benz, working at Untertürkheim as a design engineer. In 1933 he joined the top management team and in 1937 he was appointed a chief engineer. His responsibilities included taking care of the Mercedes drivers at sporting events.〔 During the Second World War von Urach was mandated to take responsibility for the technical directorship of Renault, based in a northern suburb of Paris. In 1945 he returned to Daimler-Benz as a member of the top management team (''"Direktions-Sekretariat"''). Between 1946 and 1950 he was in charge of passenger car testing. In 1954 he received Procuration responsibility on behalf of the company, and this was also the year in which he took over the Mercedes-Benz Museum.〔 Wilhelm von Urach died at Munich on 8 August 1957. He is buried in Stuttgart.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wilhelm von Urach」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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