Museo Ducati

One of Bologna's best known companies was founded in 1926 by Antonio Cavalieri Ducati and his three sons, Adriano, Marcello, and Bruno. In their small laboratory they commercialized several inventions of Adriano, who was a pioneer in short wave technology and the first to send a message from Italy to the U.S.

Originally known as the Società Scientifica Radio Brevetti Ducati, the company soon became widely known for its innovative radio parts, calculating machines, and vacuum tubes. It expanded so quickly that a new factory was built in the Borgo Panigale in 1935, employing some 1200 workers. They continued to work through the war, until the factory was bombed in October 1944.

By 1946 it was back in business, although by 1948 it was no longer managed by the Ducati family. That same year the company began to collaborate with the SIATA firm in Turin, which had invented the small, four-stroke Cucciolo ('puppy') motor to attach to bicycles. In 1950, Ducati started to produce its own Cucciolo and Cruiser bikes; in 1954, the company split into an electronics firm (now Ducati Energia SpA) and a Ducati Meccanica SpA, devoted to motorcycles.