Royal Prussian Rifle Factory Erfurt
| Royal Prussian Rifle Factory Erfurt
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| legal form | State enterprise |
| founding | 1859 |
| resolution | 1945 |
| Reason for dissolution | expropriation |
| Seat | Erfurt-Brühl |
| Number of employees | up to 20,000 (1917) |
| Branch | Manufacture of small arms |
The Königlich Preußische Gewehrfabrik Erfurt was one of the leading German manufacturers of handguns.
founding
Since the Saar rifle factory was near Mülheim an der Ruhr near the border with France and could easily have been conquered in the event of a war, it was relocated to fortified Erfurt in 1862 . After the military treasury bought the unused area of the former "Mainzerhof" in Brühl in 1835 and demolished the existing buildings, the rifle factory was built between 1859 and 1862 in addition to barracks and began operations on September 28, 1862.
Production until 1918
The needle gun was manufactured as the first weapon . In 1866 420 workers were employed in what was at times the largest industrial company in the city. Production of the model 1871 infantry rifle began in 1871. Around 1,000 workers produced 60,000 rifles in 1876 alone. The improved M / 1871/84 was also produced in Erfurt.
In addition, from 1892 to 1897 the rifle factory manufactured the Reichsrevolver model 1883 , caliber 10.6 and 10.55 (millimeters), previously produced by the companies Schilling, Haenel , Dreyse and Mauser . A total of around 248,000 pieces of this short weapon, also known as the “Kurzer Reichsrevolver”, were manufactured in Erfurt. During the First World War , around 80% of all German handguns were manufactured in Erfurt, including around 1.5 million Karabiner 98 .
The rifle factory was subordinate to the Prussian War Ministry and was run by military officials. The workers were entitled to a pension and the daily working time was nine hours, later eight hours. There were also social facilities and exemplary hygienic conditions. The factory was expanded significantly in 1872, 1876 and 1912. During the First World War , many women had to be employed due to the lack of male workers. The great need for weapons in 1917 led to three-shift operation around the clock with almost 20,000 employees.
During the November Revolution in Germany, there was also an uprising in Erfurt. Together with the garrison , the workers from the industrial and armaments factories formed a workers 'and soldiers' council . This included members of the Artillery Regiment (Rudolfstrasse), the Infantry Regiment (Petersberg) and the Jäger Regiment. On November 9th, the commandant's office on the Anger was occupied and the officers disarmed.
Production after 1918
In 1919 the Reich government combined 13 army and naval workshops, including the Erfurt rifle factory, in the newly created Deutsche Werke AG . According to the provisions of the Versailles Treaty , many weapons were no longer allowed to be produced. These included handguns with a caliber of 9 millimeters. In partial circumvention of this prohibition, after taking over the patent and machines of the Erfurt company “H. Ortgies & Co. ”produced around 435,000 Ortgies pistols , the barrels of which were interchangeable in caliber 6.35, 7.65 and 9 (millimeters). Production was finally banned by the Allied Control Commission in 1923. Thereupon the production of weapons was given up and switched to office machines. AEG held a 50 percent stake in the company now trading as Deutsche-Werke-Schreibmaschinengesellschaft mbH . AEG acquired the second half of the stake in 1929. Office furniture as well as typewriters and office machines were produced. In 1930 the name was changed to Europa Typewriter AG Berlin - Erfurt . One year after the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, the factory with the typewriter model "Olympia" entered the market under the company Olympia-Büromaschinenwerk-AG Erfurt .
In addition to the resumption of rifle production in World War II , the manufacture of z. B. Enigma encryption machines ( German manufacturing code : "aye" ). In 1944 the plant employed 3,437 people, including 705 forced laborers.
Production after 1945
After the factory suffered severe destruction at the end of the Second World War, it was expropriated in 1945 and converted into a Soviet joint-stock company (SAG) in 1946 . The resulting VEB Optima Büromaschinenwerk Erfurt produced office machines again. Arms production was not resumed.
Use of the former rifle factory today
After renovation in accordance with listed buildings, the existing buildings of the former rifle factory at Mainzerhoferplatz 13 / Maximilian-Welsch-Straße will be used as the “office building at the cathedral”.
literature
- Steffen Raßloff : From industrial building to cultural center . The former heating plant in Brühl recalls important chapters of Erfurt's industrial history. In: Thüringer Allgemeine from June 7, 2014.
- Bernd Könnig: The Prussian-German garrison Erfurt 1860 to 1918 , page 28–30, ISBN 978-3-8442-3061-1
- Gothsche: The royal gun factories. Brief description of their origin, development and tasks , Berlin 1894
- Military History Research Office : German Military History , Volume IV, 1983
Web links
- G 98 rifle from the Erfurt City Museum
- Mignon typewriter from the Erfurt City Museum
- Martin: Information about the typewriter model "Olympia". Verlag Johannes Meyer, Pappenheim, 2006, accessed on April 4, 2013 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Heinrich E. Harder: Service weapon Reichsrevolver M / 1883. Verlag DWJ, 2004, accessed April 4, 2013 .
- ^ Hans Reckendorf, photos by H. Hedtrich: Reichsrevolver M / 1883. Weapons Collectors Board of Trustees, 2004, accessed April 4, 2013 .
- ↑ In the private sector, at least ten or, later, nine hours of work were required.
- ↑ Steffen Raßloff and Bernd Könnig: The November Revolution 1918 in Erfurt. In: Stadt und Geschichte 39 (2008). P. 26 f.
- ^ Meyers Lexikon, Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1925, columns 682/683
- ↑ Ortgie's pistols. Militaria Fundforum, 2011, accessed April 4, 2013 .
- ↑ Olympia Typewriters , TWA-Thuringia
Coordinates: 50 ° 58 ′ 31.2 ″ N , 11 ° 1 ′ 8.4 ″ E