Solothurn weapons factory

The Solothurn weapons factory was an armaments factory in Zuchwil near Solothurn, Switzerland, operated by a German majority . Founded in 1929, arms production liquidated in 1949.

history

The Swiss group SIG founded the Solothurn AG cartridge factory in Solothurn in 1923 . The driving force behind this was the German engineer Hans von Steiger, who had headed ammunition production for Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken AG during the First World War . From his work he had good contacts to Fritz Werner AG , Berlin, which supplied the machines for cartridge production to Solothurn. The Solothurn cartridge factory ran into financial difficulties through competition with the Hirtenberger cartridge factory and was bought in 1928 by Fritz Mandl , the manager of the Hirtenberger cartridge factory, who then brought the Solothurn cartridge factory into the joint venture with the German Rheinmetall-Borsig .

After Rheinmetall-Borsig became the majority owner, the company's main export markets in the 1930s were Italy, Austria, Bulgaria, other Balkan countries and South America. A special feature of these countries: They were predominantly led by fascist-dictatorial regimes. A particular export hit was the anti-tank rifle , including the S18 / 100 model . Until his election to the Federal Council in 1935, Hermann Obrecht was a member of the company's board of directors and temporarily also held the office of president of this body. “I was aware,” Obrecht later admitted against criticism, “that this function is a blemish with a politician”.

During the Second World War, the Solothurn weapons factory mainly supplied the Axis powers and was noted as a priority target on an attack plan of the German army command ( Tannenbaum company ). The company was also listed on a 'black list' of the Allies as an important foreign arms supplier to the Axis powers. That was one of the reasons why it was closed as an arms factory after the end of the war in 1949 due to the Washington Agreement .

source

• Stefan Frech: Solothurner Waffenfabrik in Nazi hands (special supplement of the Solothurner Zeitung of December 16, 1997)

See also

• Hans Eltze , technically and economically the most important interface between the Reich and Switzerland at least until 1935

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Independent Expert Commission Switzerland - Second World War: Switzerland, National Socialism and the Second World War . Berghahn Books, 2002. ISBN 3-858-42603-2 . P. 208f. ( PDF )