International again

In April 1951 the first automobile fair with a truly international following took place in Germany once again, though in Frankfurt am Main rather than Berlin. This 34th IAA was organized by the Frankfurt-based Automobile Industry Association (VDA), the successor to the "German Automobile Association" (RDA). Once the VDA had been accepted as a permanent and fully-fledged member by a plenary session of the Bureau Permanent International des Constructeurs d’Automobiles in Turin in May 1950, and had therefore subjected itself to the rules of this international association, there were no more obstacles to the first post-war International Automobile Fair. Although another Auto Show was held in Berlin in the same year, and is accepted as the 35th IAA, Frankfurt was nominated as the sole future venue for the now biennial exhibition until the 53rd IAA in 1989.

The IAA in 1951 had a great healing effect on tarnished German self-confidence. After all, it was only in an international comparison that the domestic industry could show what it was still – or once again – capable of. "Automobil-Revue" wrote: “For all the modesty with which we welcome our foreign guests, there is no reason whatever for the German automobile industry to hide its light under a bushel.”

Accordingly the unofficial order of the day for the stand designers was not to do things by halves. “There were many murmurs about the automobile temples which some companies had erected in Frankfurt”, wrote the magazine "Auto- und Motorradwelt". “As there were no large, spacious halls, and only the Festival Hall, which is in reality completely unsuitable for an automobile exhibition, still has the old-style atmosphere, a complete rethink was of course necessary in Frankfurt. The enjoyment of a direct comparison between models by different manufacturers was certainly lacking; however, given the extremely large number of visitors such a comparison would not have been possible in larger halls either.”