Simson
Encyclopedia
Simson was a German company which produced firearms, automobile
s, motorcycle
s, and moped
s. Under Nazi rule, the factory was seized from the Jewish Simson family, and was renamed several times under Nazi and later Communist control. The Simson name was reintroduced as a brand name for mopeds made at the factory in the former German Democratic Republic
(GDR). Simson mopeds were produced in Suhl
(Germany
) until 2002. The most popular model is the Simson Schwalbe.
In 1871 the first steam engine started its service and the enterprise established production of bicycle
s in 1896, which was followed by the start of automobile production in 1907. The racing car Simson Supra is famous.
During World War I
, Simson produced Mauser Gewehr 98
rifles for the German Army. In the aftermath of the war and the Treaty of Versailles
, the reorganized Reichswehr
was allowed to buy new handguns from only one company, so as to limit the ability of the German arms industry to recover. Larger manufacturers such as DWM
were passed over in favor of Simson precisely because of its lower production capacity, and as such Simson was the sole producer of military-contract Luger pistols from 1925 to 1934. Simson produced approximately 12,000 Lugers during this timeframe. Simson also was responsible for repairing and refurbishing existing firearms of the Reichswehr, though DWM was employed in the capacity as well, in contravention of the Treaty of Versailles. In addition to Lugers, Simson also repaired and refurbished Gewehr 98 and Karabiner 98b rifles, MG08
machine guns, and MP18
submachine guns.
During the 1920s, Simson also produced .25 ACP
vest pocket pistols, or Westentaschenpistolen, for commercial sale. Until 1989, this was Simson's only venture into commercial handgun production. These pistols were available in two almost identical models, the first known as Model 1 in German and Model 1922 in the United States, and the second as Model 2 in Germany and Model 1927 in the US.
They produced a line of sporting automobiles from 1911 until 1933, with the name changed from Simson to Simson-Supra in 1924. The hand-built models starting at that time and designed by Paul Henze were particularly noteworthy.
Adolf Hitler's dictatorship forced the Jewish family Simson to flee the country in 1936. Under the framework of dispossession of Jewish industrialists a trustee took control of the firm, and so by merger with other factories the Berlin Suhler Waffen- und Fahrzeugwerke (BSW) was formed. In the same year the first motorbike came off the assembly lines, the BSW 98. Critics of the Nazi government suggested a different meaning for the BSW acronym: Bis Simson Wiederkommt (Until Simson Returns).
After the politically determined emigration of the Simson brothers the factory intensified weapons production. From 1939 the company was called Gustloff-Werke - Waffenwerk Suhl, producing the Panzerbüchse
and having subsidiaries such as Otto Eberhardt Patronenfabrik
.
The factory continued to build bicycles, weapons and cars until 1945. Then, in 1946, by order of the Soviet military administration the manufacturing plant was partially dismantled and transported to the Soviet Union (USSR). This was as part of the Soviet reparations' programme for the damage inflicted on the USSR by Germany during the Second World War then in 1947 the factory was integrated into the Soviet SAG Awtowelo (state stock company motorcycle).
Later, the USSR handed back control of the factory to the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and in 1952 it was renamed VEB Fahrzeug-und Gerätewerk Simson Suhl. Production of sporting guns, prams and bicycles slowly resumed, but the main focus was again on motorcycle manufacture.
Simson produced more than 300,000 motorcycles of the type AWO 425. This was a shaft driven
, 250 cc four stroke
motorcycle that enjoyed a high reputation within the Eastern-Bloc countries. There were two main models of AWO 425. The T (touring) had plunger rear suspension
, while the S (sport) model had twin-shock swinging arm
rear suspension.
Simson motorcycle manufacture ceased in the early 1960s when the GDR government decided that from then on all new private cars and motorcycles would be two-strokes. The GDR already had a two-stroke motorcycle factory: the former MZ
works at Zschopau. The Simson factory was therefore given a new task of building two-stroke mopeds. From the 1960s moped production grew steadily in Suhl; up to 200,000 mopeds per year came off the assembly lines.
Series manufacture of the scooter KR51 "Schwalbe", fitted with a 3.4 hp engine, began in 1964. The year 1968 saw the merger of Simson and VEB Ernst-Thälmann-Werk Suhl to VEB Fahrzeug- und Jagdwaffenwerk Ernst Thälmann Suhl. Subsequently, the Schwalbe helped the company to worldwide fame, and in the GDR the scooter stood for the success of East German two-wheeler motor manufacturing.
After the political changes in East Germany in 1989 a number of attempts to modernise the assembly lines failed. This included commercial production of Makarov PM
pistols, which the factory had previously manufactured under the Ernst Thälmann name for East German military and police use. Less than 1,000 commercial Makarovs were produced under the Simson name before the project was shelved. Several investors tried unsuccessfully to keep production going and to bring new developments on market, but production finally ceased in autumn 2002. On February 1, 2003, bankruptcy proceedings were held, in the wake of which the remaining 90 employees were made redundant without any form of compensation.
However, the Schwalbe has since gained cult status in West Germany, where it is now as popular amongst enthusiasts as the VW Beetle and even more than the Piaggio Vespa.
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
s, motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
s, and moped
Moped
Mopeds are a type of low-powered motorcycle designed to provide economical and relatively safe transport with minimal licensing requirements.Mopeds were once all equipped with bicycle-like pedals , but moped has been increasingly applied by governments to vehicles without pedals, based on their...
s. Under Nazi rule, the factory was seized from the Jewish Simson family, and was renamed several times under Nazi and later Communist control. The Simson name was reintroduced as a brand name for mopeds made at the factory in the former German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
(GDR). Simson mopeds were produced in Suhl
Suhl
- Geography :Suhl sits on the south edge of the Suhler Scholle, an upthrust granite complex that is streaked by numerous dikes. This is part of the Ruhla-Schleusingen Horst that defines the southwest side of the Thuringian Forest...
(Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) until 2002. The most popular model is the Simson Schwalbe.
History
In 1854 the brothers Löb and Moses Simson bought one third of a steelhammer works in Suhl (Germany). The production of carbon steel began and the firm Simson & Co. was founded in 1856. The factory produced guns and gunbarrels in the years following.In 1871 the first steam engine started its service and the enterprise established production of bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
s in 1896, which was followed by the start of automobile production in 1907. The racing car Simson Supra is famous.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Simson produced Mauser Gewehr 98
Gewehr 98
The Gewehr 98 is a German bolt action Mauser rifle firing the 8x57mm cartridge from a 5 round internal clip-loaded magazine that was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the Karabiner 98k. It was hence the main rifle of the German infantry during World War I...
rifles for the German Army. In the aftermath of the war and the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
, the reorganized Reichswehr
Reichswehr
The Reichswehr formed the military organisation of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when it was renamed the Wehrmacht ....
was allowed to buy new handguns from only one company, so as to limit the ability of the German arms industry to recover. Larger manufacturers such as DWM
Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken
Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken Aktien-Gesellschaft , known as DWM, was an arms company in Imperial Germany created in 1896 when Ludwig Loewe & Company united its weapons and ammunition production facilities within one company...
were passed over in favor of Simson precisely because of its lower production capacity, and as such Simson was the sole producer of military-contract Luger pistols from 1925 to 1934. Simson produced approximately 12,000 Lugers during this timeframe. Simson also was responsible for repairing and refurbishing existing firearms of the Reichswehr, though DWM was employed in the capacity as well, in contravention of the Treaty of Versailles. In addition to Lugers, Simson also repaired and refurbished Gewehr 98 and Karabiner 98b rifles, MG08
Maschinengewehr 08
The Maschinengewehr 08, or MG08, was the German Army's standard machine gun in World War I and is an adoption of Hiram S. Maxim's original 1884 Maxim Gun. It was produced in a number of variants during the war. The MG 08 remained in service until the outbreak of World War II due to shortages of...
machine guns, and MP18
MP18
The MP18.1 manufactured by Theodor Bergmann Waffenbau Abteilung was the first practical submachine gun used in combat. It was introduced into service in 1918 by the German Army during World War I as the primary weapon of the Stosstruppen, assault groups specialized in trench combat...
submachine guns.
During the 1920s, Simson also produced .25 ACP
.25 ACP
The .25 ACP centerfire pistol cartridge is a semi-rimmed, straight-walled pistol cartridge introduced by John Browning in 1905 alongside the Fabrique Nationale model 1905 pistol...
vest pocket pistols, or Westentaschenpistolen, for commercial sale. Until 1989, this was Simson's only venture into commercial handgun production. These pistols were available in two almost identical models, the first known as Model 1 in German and Model 1922 in the United States, and the second as Model 2 in Germany and Model 1927 in the US.
They produced a line of sporting automobiles from 1911 until 1933, with the name changed from Simson to Simson-Supra in 1924. The hand-built models starting at that time and designed by Paul Henze were particularly noteworthy.
Adolf Hitler's dictatorship forced the Jewish family Simson to flee the country in 1936. Under the framework of dispossession of Jewish industrialists a trustee took control of the firm, and so by merger with other factories the Berlin Suhler Waffen- und Fahrzeugwerke (BSW) was formed. In the same year the first motorbike came off the assembly lines, the BSW 98. Critics of the Nazi government suggested a different meaning for the BSW acronym: Bis Simson Wiederkommt (Until Simson Returns).
After the politically determined emigration of the Simson brothers the factory intensified weapons production. From 1939 the company was called Gustloff-Werke - Waffenwerk Suhl, producing the Panzerbüchse
Panzerbüchse
The Panzerbüchse 39 was a German anti-tank rifle used in World War II. It was an improvement of the unsuccessful Panzerbüchse 38 rifle. Panzerbüchse literally means "tank hunting rifle".-PzB 38:...
and having subsidiaries such as Otto Eberhardt Patronenfabrik
Otto Eberhardt Patronenfabrik
Otto Eberhardt Patronenfabrik was a Nazi Germany munitions company. The company's Hirtenberger Patronen Zündhutchen und Metallwarenfabrik near Wiener Neustadt used forced labor from a sub-camp of the World War II Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp and produced...
.
The factory continued to build bicycles, weapons and cars until 1945. Then, in 1946, by order of the Soviet military administration the manufacturing plant was partially dismantled and transported to the Soviet Union (USSR). This was as part of the Soviet reparations' programme for the damage inflicted on the USSR by Germany during the Second World War then in 1947 the factory was integrated into the Soviet SAG Awtowelo (state stock company motorcycle).
Later, the USSR handed back control of the factory to the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and in 1952 it was renamed VEB Fahrzeug-und Gerätewerk Simson Suhl. Production of sporting guns, prams and bicycles slowly resumed, but the main focus was again on motorcycle manufacture.
Simson produced more than 300,000 motorcycles of the type AWO 425. This was a shaft driven
Driveshaft
A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, propeller shaft, or Cardan shaft is a mechanical component for transmitting torque and rotation, usually used to connect other components of a drive train that cannot be connected directly because of distance or the need to allow for relative movement...
, 250 cc four stroke
Four-stroke cycle
A four-stroke engine, also known as four-cycle, is an internal combustion engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes—intake, compression, power, and exhaust—during two separate revolutions of the engine's crankshaft, and one single thermodynamic cycle.There are two...
motorcycle that enjoyed a high reputation within the Eastern-Bloc countries. There were two main models of AWO 425. The T (touring) had plunger rear suspension
Suspension (vehicle)
Suspension is the term given to the system of springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels. Suspension systems serve a dual purpose — contributing to the car's roadholding/handling and braking for good active safety and driving pleasure, and keeping vehicle occupants...
, while the S (sport) model had twin-shock swinging arm
Swingarm
A swingarm, or "swinging arm" is the main component of the rear suspension of most modern motorcycles and ATVs...
rear suspension.
Simson motorcycle manufacture ceased in the early 1960s when the GDR government decided that from then on all new private cars and motorcycles would be two-strokes. The GDR already had a two-stroke motorcycle factory: the former MZ
MZ Motorrad- und Zweiradwerk
MZ Motorrad- und Zweiradwerk GmbH is a motorcycle manufacturer located in Zschopau, Germany. MZ an acronym, stands for Motorradwerk Zschopau in the Erzgebirge region of Saxony...
works at Zschopau. The Simson factory was therefore given a new task of building two-stroke mopeds. From the 1960s moped production grew steadily in Suhl; up to 200,000 mopeds per year came off the assembly lines.
Series manufacture of the scooter KR51 "Schwalbe", fitted with a 3.4 hp engine, began in 1964. The year 1968 saw the merger of Simson and VEB Ernst-Thälmann-Werk Suhl to VEB Fahrzeug- und Jagdwaffenwerk Ernst Thälmann Suhl. Subsequently, the Schwalbe helped the company to worldwide fame, and in the GDR the scooter stood for the success of East German two-wheeler motor manufacturing.
After the political changes in East Germany in 1989 a number of attempts to modernise the assembly lines failed. This included commercial production of Makarov PM
Makarov PM
The PM is a semi-automatic pistol design. Under the project leadership of Nikolay Fyodorovich Makarov, it became the Soviet Union's standard military side arm from 1951-1991.-Development:...
pistols, which the factory had previously manufactured under the Ernst Thälmann name for East German military and police use. Less than 1,000 commercial Makarovs were produced under the Simson name before the project was shelved. Several investors tried unsuccessfully to keep production going and to bring new developments on market, but production finally ceased in autumn 2002. On February 1, 2003, bankruptcy proceedings were held, in the wake of which the remaining 90 employees were made redundant without any form of compensation.
However, the Schwalbe has since gained cult status in West Germany, where it is now as popular amongst enthusiasts as the VW Beetle and even more than the Piaggio Vespa.