Former Bath Mayor Bryan Chalker’s venerable East German Trabant car saw
service on 14 May as a wedding limousine, transporting Katrin Hudewenz
and her father (both from East Germany) from Maybrick Road, Oldfield
Park, to the Assembly Rooms for the ceremony, which took place at
6.30pm.
It was probably the first time ever that a Trabant has been
used as an official wedding car in Britain and it created a huge amount
of interest from wedding guests (many of them from Germany) and
tourists, particularly as the Trabi retains its original 1973 featured,
including the iconic DDR plate denoting East Germany.
The car had been seen in Bath on several occasions by Katrin, who
expressed the desire to have a Trabant as her wedding vehicle.
Husband-to-be Sam George traced Bryan via the Museum of Bath At Work and
arrangements were made for ‘Hermann’ to fulfill the role of ‘limousine’,
with the former Mayor acting as chauffeur!
Bryan’s car is an acknowledged ‘Classic’ and has been in his ownership
for the past ten years. ‘Hermann’ was recovered from a Southstoke barn,
where it had reposed for 16 years, and Bryan purchased it for the
princely sum of £1.50p. The little car underwent a mechanical
restoration at Larkhall Garage.
