Königlich Württembergische Gewehrfabrik
Encyclopedia
The Königlich-Württembergische Gewehrfabrik Oberndorf am Neckar was a state owned firearms manufacturer from 1812 to 1874 and the predecessor of the Mauser
arms manufacturer.
, needed to outfit troups for Napoleon Bonaparte. Workshops to get independent from foreign weapon shipments were first created 1805 in the steel mills of Christophsthal near Freudenstadt
(Black forest
); stocks were added in the Württemberg arsenal
in Ludwigsburg
.
The king
of Württemberg ordered those independent workshops to be merged in a former monastery
in Oberndorf am Neckar the 31-JUL-1811. This newly created factory began production the 6-NOV-1812 with approx. 100 employees.
The first weapons were variants of the flintlock
musket
s Modèle 1777, caliber
.69".
In April 1856, Baden
, Hesse
and Württemberg were to adopt a new rifle
using percussion locks and Minié ball
s for their troups of the 8th Bundesarmee corps
. This led to the Vereinsgewehr 1857
(union rifle, M/1857) in cal. .547". The rifle for the line infantry
was, with minor modifications in the sights, adopted by all three states; pistols and carbine
s for the cavalry
and sharpshooter rifles for the Jäger
were, however, developed by each state on its own.
s became apparent; so, starting 1865, experiments began to adapt the Vereinsgewehr to a breech-loading rifle; amongst these, a trapdoor rifle-construction (system Milbank-Amsler), which should have been adopted.
In joint developments with Bavaria
, a variant of the Dreyse needle gun was proposed and adopted as in 1867, the danger of a Prussian-French conflict arose. The system Dreyse was adopted on 5 May 1867; 6,000 rifles were delivered by Prussia
. While instruction on the needle-ignition rifles was completed at the end of 1867, weapons for the 33,000 Württemberg troops lacked. So, muzzle-loading rifles were adapted to needle-ignition systems, as well as new rifles, a variant of the prussian M/1862 with the short lock of the M/65 were built.
1873, after the Franco-Prussian War
, those rifles were adapted to the new standard (system Beck); in 1875, the rifles were replaced by the Mauser Model 1871
.
and 1850, had only 50 employees and an output of about 200 weapons per year; even in the decades 1850-1870, when the smooth-bore musket
s were replaced by rifles and 1868–1871, when 200 employees built the needle-ignition rifles, the factory was in deficit.
When the brothers Mauser made an offer for the factory, as the Rifle M/71 was adopted by most of the armies in the German Empire
, Württemberg sold them the factory on 20-FEB-1874. Mauser
then became one of the most important firearms manufacturers in the first half of the 20th century until it was sold in 1995.
Mauser
Mauser was a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to 1995. Mauser designs were built for the German armed forces...
arms manufacturer.
Creation
The armoury was created when Württemberg, as part of the Confederation of the RhineConfederation of the Rhine
The Confederation of the Rhine was a confederation of client states of the First French Empire. It was formed initially from 16 German states by Napoleon after he defeated Austria's Francis II and Russia's Alexander I in the Battle of Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the...
, needed to outfit troups for Napoleon Bonaparte. Workshops to get independent from foreign weapon shipments were first created 1805 in the steel mills of Christophsthal near Freudenstadt
Freudenstadt
Freudenstadt is a town in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is capital of the district Freudenstadt. The closest population centres are Offenburg to the west and Tübingen to the east ....
(Black forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
); stocks were added in the Württemberg arsenal
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...
in Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg urban district with about 87,000 inhabitants...
.
The king
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
of Württemberg ordered those independent workshops to be merged in a former monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
in Oberndorf am Neckar the 31-JUL-1811. This newly created factory began production the 6-NOV-1812 with approx. 100 employees.
The first weapons were variants of the flintlock
Flintlock
Flintlock is the general term for any firearm based on the flintlock mechanism. The term may also apply to the mechanism itself. Introduced at the beginning of the 17th century, the flintlock rapidly replaced earlier firearm-ignition technologies, such as the doglock, matchlock and wheellock...
musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
s Modèle 1777, caliber
Caliber
In guns including firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel in relation to the diameter of the projectile used in it....
.69".
Vereinsgewehr 1857
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
, Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
and Württemberg were to adopt a new rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
using percussion locks and Minié ball
Minié ball
The Minié ball is a type of muzzle-loading spin-stabilising rifle bullet named after its co-developer, Claude-Étienne Minié, inventor of the Minié rifle...
s for their troups of the 8th Bundesarmee corps
Corps
A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
. This led to the Vereinsgewehr 1857
Vereinsgewehr 1857
The Vereinsgewehr 1857 was the commonly developed rifle of Baden, Hesse and Württemberg for their troups of the 8th Bundesarmee corps as a successor of the Musket Model 1777 corrigé...
(union rifle, M/1857) in cal. .547". The rifle for the line infantry
Line infantry
Line infantry is a type of infantry which composed the basis of European land armies from the middle of the 17th century to the middle of the 19th century....
was, with minor modifications in the sights, adopted by all three states; pistols and carbine
Carbine
A carbine , from French carabine, is a longarm similar to but shorter than a rifle or musket. Many carbines are shortened versions of full rifles, firing the same ammunition at a lower velocity due to a shorter barrel length....
s for the cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
and sharpshooter rifles for the Jäger
Jäger (military)
Jäger is a term that was adopted in the Enlightenment era in German-speaking states and others influenced by German military practice to describe a kind of light infantry, and it has continued in that use since then....
were, however, developed by each state on its own.
1864-1874
In the war against Denmark in 1864, the superiourity of Breech-loading weaponBreech-loading weapon
A breech-loading weapon is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel....
s became apparent; so, starting 1865, experiments began to adapt the Vereinsgewehr to a breech-loading rifle; amongst these, a trapdoor rifle-construction (system Milbank-Amsler), which should have been adopted.
In joint developments with Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, a variant of the Dreyse needle gun was proposed and adopted as in 1867, the danger of a Prussian-French conflict arose. The system Dreyse was adopted on 5 May 1867; 6,000 rifles were delivered by Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
. While instruction on the needle-ignition rifles was completed at the end of 1867, weapons for the 33,000 Württemberg troops lacked. So, muzzle-loading rifles were adapted to needle-ignition systems, as well as new rifles, a variant of the prussian M/1862 with the short lock of the M/65 were built.
1873, after the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
, those rifles were adapted to the new standard (system Beck); in 1875, the rifles were replaced by the Mauser Model 1871
Mauser Model 1871
The Mauser Model 1871 adopted as the Gewehr 71 or Infanterie-Gewehr 71 was the first of millions of rifles manufactured to the designs of Paul Mauser and Wilhelm Mauser of the Mauser company.During 1870-71 trials with many different rifles took place, with the "M1869 Bavarian Werder" being the...
.
Sale
The Regal Württemberg Rifle Factory, between the end of the Napoleonic warsNapoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and 1850, had only 50 employees and an output of about 200 weapons per year; even in the decades 1850-1870, when the smooth-bore musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
s were replaced by rifles and 1868–1871, when 200 employees built the needle-ignition rifles, the factory was in deficit.
When the brothers Mauser made an offer for the factory, as the Rifle M/71 was adopted by most of the armies in the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, Württemberg sold them the factory on 20-FEB-1874. Mauser
Mauser
Mauser was a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to 1995. Mauser designs were built for the German armed forces...
then became one of the most important firearms manufacturers in the first half of the 20th century until it was sold in 1995.
Literature
- Hans-Dieter Götz: Militärgewehre und Pistolen der deutschen Staaten 1800-1870, 2nd edition, Stuttgart, 1996, ISBN 3-87943-533-2
External links
- Vereinsgewehr-replicaReplicaA replica is a copy closely resembling the original concerning its shape and appearance. An inverted replica complements the original by filling its gaps. It can be a copy used for historical purposes, such as being placed in a museum. Sometimes the original never existed. For example, Difference...
by Davide PedersoliDavide PedersoliDavide Pedersoli & C. is an Italian firearms manufacturing company based in Gardone, Italy. It was founded in 1957 by Davide Pedersoli.Davide Pedersoli specializes in CNC-engineered black powder weapon replicas for hunting, marksmanship and reenactment. Its weapons normally are more expensive than...