On 30 September 1897, the first International Automobile Ausstellung (Exhibition) was held by the Mitteleuropäischer Motorwagenverein ("Central European Motor Vehicle Association") at the Hotel Bristol on the Unter Der Linden boulevard in Berlin. A total of eight Benz Velo, Lutzmann, Kuhlstein, and Daimler motor vehicles were on display.
A second motor show was held in 1898 at the exhibition grounds near Lehrter Banhof in 1899 more than 100 exhibitors participated in the third motor show .
As the automobile became more known and accepted, the IAA became a fixed event in Germany, with at least one held every year, usually in Berlin. In 1902 the show was held for the first time by the Association of German Automotive Industiailists (Verein Deutscher Motorfahrzeug-Industrieller). The show was suspended during WWI. With a pause after the war, the IAA was then reinstated and returned to a newly built exhibition hall in Berlin West End in 1921, with 67 German automobile manufacturers displaying 90 vehicles under the motto "comfort." More than 600 exhibitors participated in the 15th IAA in 1923 and the next year's show saw the premiere of economy cars like the Hanomag 2/10 and the Opel 4PS (Laubfrosch).The perky two-seater only came in green and cost just 4,500 Rentenmark, an absolute sensation. This was made possible by the ultra-modern assembly line in Rüsselsheim. The Laubfrosch was affordable for a broad public and democratised automotive mobility.In 1924 the new “Hall II” was also opened, where motorcycles, commercial vehicles and accessories were exhibited.
While the 1933 Berlin Auto Show is often highlighted because of the appearance and speech given by Adolph Hitler, the 1924 show was also of primary significance in the history of the German auto industry. Inflation was no longer an issue because of currency reform, and the better off German middle classes -- "the gentlemen" -- were now desirous of getting behind the wheel and maintaining their own cars. Before 1924 the automobile in German was still an object of leisure for the wealthy. After 1924 now a new market opened , including a market for small cars. It was now small and large cars on the minds of the German consumer. The German industry was still fragmented and populated by large producers, but now Henry Ford's transatlantic influence was profound. With tariff reform American makes proliferated in the German market to 1929, but the number of German car owners more than quadrupled. With the onset of the Great Depression, and the rise of naziism, the momentum that had been generated since 1924 found new direction and new intensity.
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