Rudolf Caracciola

Otto Wilhelm Rudolf Caracciola

["Grand Prix Racing Driver", "Three-Time European Champion", "Rainmaster"]

Born Jan 30, 1901

Remagen, Germany

Passed Away Sep 28, 1959 Kassel, West Germany

Lifespan 58 years old

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Notice / Correction

"When the rain falls and the track becomes glass, the car responds only to the quietest, most delicate touch."

Archival Overview

Three-time European Drivers' Champion for Mercedes-Benz and peerless 'Regenmeister' (Rainmaster) whose supreme wet-weather mastery and 1938 public road speed record of 432.7 km/h stood for nearly eighty years.

Biographical Record

Rudolf Caracciola (1901–1959) won the inaugural 1926 German Grand Prix at Avus in blinding rain, earning his legendary moniker 'Regenmeister'. Driving the mighty Mercedes-Benz SSKL and later the supercharged Silver Arrows W25, W125, and W154, he dominated European racing.

Caracciola claimed the European Championship in 1935, 1937, and 1938. On January 28, 1938, on the Frankfurt-Darmstadt Autobahn, he clocked 432.7 km/h (268.9 mph) in a streamlined Mercedes-Benz W125, an outright world record on a public road that remained unbroken until 2017.

Key Life Milestones

1931

First Non-Italian Winner of the Mille Miglia

Shattered Italian dominance by winning the 1,000-mile Mille Miglia in a heavyweight Mercedes SSKL.

1938

Record 432.7 km/h on Public Autobahn

Set an immortal world road speed record on the Frankfurt-Darmstadt highway in the streamlined W125.

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Rest in Peace Forever remembered and cherished Your legacy lives on in all of us With deep gratitude for your life and light

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial

Cimitero di Castagnola
Lugano, Switzerland

                         GPS: 46.0036, 8.9739                    

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