S codes
S codes denote coded information on weapons during the Nazi era . In the time before the Third Reich, the manufacturer regularly indicated the company name (company) and the place of manufacture on the military equipment.
The disadvantage of this procedure, however, was that the potential opponent of the war gained knowledge of the place of manufacture by stealing the weapons and was able to plan to impair the industrial facilities located there. Therefore, the aim was to code the manufacturer's information.
history
The provisions of the Versailles Peace Treaty limited German rearmament. Therefore, during the clandestine armament from 1934 onwards, the weapons were marked with an S code . This consists of the letter "S" and a number that was assigned to an armaments company (producer number, e.g. S / 42). These S-Codes can be traced back to the years 1934 to 1936 and were attached to Parabellum pistols (so-called Pistole 08) and the 98k carbine. A K after the S code indicates the year 1934, a G indicates the year 1935 (e.g. S / xxx.K or S / xxx.G ). In 1936, this form of year marking was abolished, as from then on the year was written out in full again and affixed under the S code (e.g. S / 42 1938 on a K98k). From 1938 the letter "S" in front of the producer number was also dispensed with. The numbers 1 to 593 were assigned to the German arms factories, the 6xx area to the Austrian and the 9xx area to the Polish and Czech companies after their occupation.
In 1940 the S-Code was replaced by German production codes (a three-digit letter system), as the need for armaments and product types increased and the old S-Code was no longer sufficient for naming the producers.
Well-known S codes
| S number | Manufacturer | annotation |
|---|---|---|
| 25th | Metallwerke Treuenbrietzen | |
| 27 | Erma weapons factory and precision engineering works B. Geipel GmbH , Erfurt | |
| 28 | Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabrik AG , Karlsruhe-Durlach | |
| 42 | Mauser-Werke AG , Oberndorf | |
| 67 | H. Utendörffer, Nuremberg | |
| 69 | Cartridge, primer and. Metal goods factory, Schönebeck on the Elbe | |
| 94 | Cable and Metallwarenfabrik Neumeyer AG, Nuremberg | |
| 98 | East German vehicle factory, Stolp. | |
| 120 | Lindener Tonwaren- und Patronenfabrik, Hanover-Empelde - taken over by RWS in 1927 | |
| 122 | CG Haenel , Suhl | |
| 131 | Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabrik AG, Berlin-Borsigwalde | |
| 132 | Kopp, Salzwedel | |
| 147 | JP Sauer & Sohn , Suhl / Thuringia | |
| 151 | Rheinisch-Westfälische Sprengstoffwerke, Nürnberg- Stadeln | |
| 154 | Polte-Werke , Grünberg | |
| 155 | E. & F. Hörster, Solingen | |
| 163 | Selters metal goods factory | |
| 172 | Carl Eickhorn , Solingen | |
| 173 | Coppel, Solingen "Alcoso" | |
| 174 | WKC , Solingen | |
| 175 | Höller, Solingen | |
| 176 | Weyersberg, Solingen | |
| 177 | Friedrich Abr. Herder & Son, Solingen | |
| 178 | Gebr. Heller, Marienthal near Schweina | |
| 181 | Hugo Schneider AG , Leipzig | |
| 184 | Weyersberg Kirschbaum & Co, Solingen | |
| 185 | Elite diamond factory, Siegmar-Schönau near Chemnitz | |
| 198 | Metallwarenfabrik Treuenbrietzen , Belsig | |
| 207 | Metallwarenfabrik Odertal GmbH, Oderta | |
| 237 | Berlin Lübeck machine factory. Lübeck plant | |
| 238 | Dürkopp -Werke, Bielefeld | |
| 239 | Richard Herder, Solingen | |
| 242 | Solinger Axt & Hauerfabrik, Solingen | |
| 243 | Mauser-Werke AG, Berlin-Borsigwalde | |
| 244 | Mundlos AG , Magdeburg | |
| 245 | Jetter et al. Scheerer, Tuttlingen | |
| 248 | Voss & Stange, Berlin | |
| 315 | Märkisches Walzwerk, Strausberg | |
| 316 | Westphalian metal industry, Lippstadt | |
| 334 | Mansfeld AG , Rothenburg (Saale) | |
| 337 | Gustloff works, Weimar | |
| 340 | Metallwerke Silberhütte, Sankt Andreasberg | |
| 346 | H. Huck, Nuremberg | |
| 379 | Scharfenberg u. Teubert, Breitungen | |
| 405 | Dynamit AG, Durlach | |
| 480 | Carl Walther , Zella-Mehlis | |
| 635 | Munitionsfabrik Wöllersdorf , Vienna | Austria |
| 660 | Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG , Steyr | Austria |
| 925 | Mauser-Werke AG | Production in Czechoslovakia |
| 945 | Waffenwerke Brno AG , Brno | Czechoslovakia |
The Berlin-Suhler-Waffenwerke marked their products with the designation "BSW" outside the S-coding in the years 1937–1939. How this exception came about is not known.
See also
literature
- Sonja Wetzig: The German Armaments Locations 1939–1945. Podzun-Pallas Verlag, Wölfersheim 2005, ISBN 3-7909-0777-4 .
- John Walter: The German bayonet. 2nd edition, Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-613-01453-X .
- Eugen von Halász: German combat knife. Military publishing house Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt 1996, ISBN 3-931533-33-6 .
- Albrecht Wacker, Joachim Görtz: Handbook of German weapon stamps. VS-Books Carl Schulze & Torsten Verhülsdonk GbR, Herne 2005, ISBN 3-932077-10-5 .
- Heidler, Michael: German production numbers until 1945. Vogt-Schild Germany, Bad Ems 2007, ISBN 978-3-9811018-5-0 .