The Journal of the German Gun Collectors Association No. 42, Spring 2010

Turn to page 8 for more informationabout this Sauer stalking rifle.

German Commemorative and Presentation Guns:Footnotes to history, in war or in peace, for the good or the bad, for the famous or the

infamous, but all made by the best gun makers and engravers in Suhl.

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From the editor

For many of you it was a long andhard winter, and some of you are still

facing severe flooding as I write this. Weare very fortunate that the snow stormsin the East and a windstorm that fol-lowed occurred just barely south of us.Although we were without electricity for48 hours, my stand-by generator waswell worth the expense. The cable con-nection was restored in time to see thelast few days of the Winter Olympics,especially the Biathlon competition.

I am always happy to get mail inresponse to the latest Journal, and thistime came a very nice card from MasterEngraver and friend Winston Churchill.He always sends a card with one of hisphotos, and this is a good time to share itwith you. He wrote that a blue jayperched in an apple tree close to his win-dow and asked to be photographed.Spring is on the way.

As hard as I try, every Journal has mis-takes and so does the last one. Winstonpointed out to me that the floor platewith the dog was not engraved by him.My apology!

I very much appreciate comments andcorrections, but some of them demandan explanation, especially about theJournal that will follow. I very much liketo show you very good, very interestingand even exquisite guns we all wished wecould own. I must point out, however,that these are not guns that are in muse-ums, but gun lovers like you and I cannow see these guns without visiting amuseum, and we can even own them,since many of them came to America aswar booty at the end of World War II.

I am always surprised how often onegood thing is followed by another, and soit is with this Journal. Several very inter-esting historic and commemorativeGerman guns came to my attention,almost forcing me to devote one com-

plete Journal to them. I hope that you willapprove.

In my defense, I must point out that Inever just show pretty guns, but also veryunusual guns. I always try hard to com-bine them with the history of the makerand with pointing out the technical detailsof the mechanism. We men like to look ata pretty girl, and so it is with pretty guns.Fortunate are the men who have a womanin their life who supports their hobby.

Finally on the personal side I report toall of you who insisted that I must go on avacation trip to Germany that I am leavingon the 25th. of April. I will fly intoFrankfurt, and stay at the airport hotel forone night. I will then take the train toSwitzerland, where I will visit my friend,Peter Koopmann, with whom I graduatedfrom high school. By train I will then go toVienna, where I will stay in the hotel someof you know from our visit. It will be a joyto have a much better room than the one Ihad before.

I will then board a river boat, a smallbut comfortable floating hotel that for sixdays will go on rivers and canals toNuernberg.

By train I will then go for one week toSuhl, and stay in Goldener Hirsch thatsome of you will remember. Weather per-mitting I will walk in the mountains, meetwith friends and say good-by to my for-mer homeland. All this thanks to you!

I always save a little space for thoughtsthat come to mind as I create the Journal.This one turned out to be a sentimentaljourney with some memories I wouldrather forget. But it is history and must beremembered and told.

Best regards and Waidmannsheil!

German Gun Collectors AssociationThe journal of the

Dedicated to enthusiasts of Germanhunting and sporting firearms

A 501(c)3 non-profit organization

Editorial Office: P.O. Box 385

Meriden, NH 03770tel (603) 469-3438fax (603) 469-3800

e-mail: info@germanguns.comwww.germanguns.com

Number 42 • Spring 2010

On our cover:A Sauer Stalking Rifle

Editors: Dietrich Apel, Dick Hummel

Assistant Editors: Kathy Hummel,Dick Hummel

Technical Editors:Axel Eichendorff

Steven Meyer (proof marks &ammunition)

Larry Schuknecht (patents)Jon Spencer

Designed and produced by Tom Bulloch

Der Waffenschmied(“The Gunmaker”) is published up

to four times a year. Written permis-sion must be obtained before anypart of this publication is repro-

duced. The publisher or the GermanGun Collectors Association will notbe responsible should any informa-tion lead to mishaps of any nature.

© 2010 GGCA

Waffenschmiedder

“The Gunmaker”

When we study the history ofweapons and their makers all the

way back to the swords, armor, crossbowsand the early muzzle loading guns, we findthat they were always highly prized posses-sions of the rulers and the nobility. Theygave them prestige, and they were favoredas gifts to prominent people and thosewho were in power. The best craftsmen,engravers and wood carvers settled nearthe castles and the courts in the majorcities of the numerous principalities.

Our Association concentrates its effortson German breechloading guns that cameinto use, with few exceptions, in the mid-dle of the 19th Century. Most of these pre-sentation andcommemora-tive huntingguns were inthe castles andresidences ofthe nobility, inmuseums ofmajor citiesand in the cap-itals of themany formerstates.

Targetshooting by thecitizens goes back 800 years in Germanhistory, and a Schützengilde was alreadyfounded in 1139 in Düsseldorf. Men whocould shoot accurately were needed todefend their towns and principalities, but

competitive shooting events became alsoa major part of the social life.

There was not a town in Germanythat did not have a Schützenverein and aSchützenhaus. Competitive shoots werefestive events. The most beautiful andelaborate guns went to the winners ofmajor shoots. As the citizens becamemore prosperous, they could afford betterand more embellished rifles that becameprized possessions. All this is captured inthree volumes of Tom Rowe’s books AlteScheibenwaffen. These books give a goodoverview of the history, and show a mul-titude of excellent photos of the guns thatwere used. The books can be orderedfrom our Association and are well worththe money.

German immigrants brought this tra-dition to the United States, and even heremany or most respectable towns had aSchützenhaus, a Schützenverein,Schüetzenfest and competitive shoots. Thenegative reaction towards Germany at thebeginning of World War I brought mostof this to an end, and even today very few

organizationslike this remain.

When Hitlercame to powerin 1933 andright awaystarted warpreparations, heinsisted that theSchüetzenmovementwould be usedfor trainingwith militaryguns. The gun

industry turned into the production ofmilitary guns. Hermann Göring was anearly supporter of Hitler and quickly roseto the rank of Field Marshall in charge ofthe German Air Force. He was a hunter,

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liked fine guns and was alsoReichsjägermeister of Germany, the topman of the German Forest Service. Heand many top Nazis, Generals and warheroes received fine guns as gifts.

World War II began only six years afterHitler had come to power, and an all-outwar effort drastically reduced the produc-tion of hunting guns. The younger menwere drafted into the army, and only someolder gun makers still made hunting andsporting guns. During these years Naziswere given fine guns for their collectionsand their hunts. Surprisingly the Britishor the American air forces never bombedSuhl and Zella-Mehlis, two importantsmall arms gun making centers.

When American troops occupied aGerman town, including Suhl and Zella-Mehlis, all guns, cameras and binocularshad to be turned in right away. The gunswere laid out on a street and tanks weredriven over them. Others were burned.Fortunately, the American soldiers likedguns, and they saved many from thisdestruction and sent or brought themhome. I was in Suhl as a 15-year-old and

Footnotes to history, in war or in peace, for the good or the bad, for the famousor the infamous, but all made by the best gun makers and engravers in Suhl.By Dietrich Apel

German commemorative and presentation hunting guns

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witnessed it. Never did I dream that Iwould one day write about these veryguns to preserve the history of theirmakers. Guns in museums or major col-lections were not destroyed but confis-cated also found their way to this coun-try.

To find out what the British troopsdid, I wrote to Jock Lamont, one of ourBritish members that many of youknow. He pointed out that he came toGermany only later, but related to methat all confiscated German guns wereregistered, to be returned to their own-ers at a later time. Some were stored inarmories and other went to officers fortheir use.

By the mid-1950s all of them haddisappeared. This came from Jock withthe saying “The way to hell is paved withgood intentions!” We can be reasonablysure that many found their way to theUnited States, because in England “rifleswere not much sought after except forshooting in Germany, and Drillings wereand still are considered heavy and badlybalanced.”

Suhl was fortunate in that Americantroops arrived first. The first Americansoldier I met was a black man who hadhis Colt 45 pistol in his hand and at firstseemed very angry and nervous, andprobably with good reason after he sur-vived the Battle of the Bulge. I tried myschool English on him, talked about myuncle in Philadelphia, and before weparted he gave me a candy bar and toldme to come back the next day for more.He still owes me the promised candybars, because his outfit had moved on bythen. Our whole family made friendswith some of the soldiers that followed.They brought the cream (condensedmilk) and we had fresh strawberries.This is a good memory for me.

Gun making came to a standstill, but

who Otto Reif was, and also that he wasknown for selling guns made in Suhlfrom parts made by various makers toRussian officers. When the authoritiesdiscovered this in 1949, Reif fled to WestBerlin, still possible because the Wall hadnot yet been erected.

During the years when the Easternpart of Germany became the DDR(German Democratic Republic) with aCommunist government installed byMoscow, fine guns from Suhl were givento high party and government officialsand to foreign heads of states of theEastern Block and friendly states.

In the Western free part of Germanythat was divided into an American, aBritish and a French Zone, Germanswere not allowed to own guns for severalyears. After I had graduated from HighSchool in Suhl I served a relatively shortapprenticeship as an actioner and stockmaker, and was allowed to become aJourneyman by the grace of the oldermasters who perhaps sensed what Iwanted to do. I went to Berlin by train,took the subway, which at that time wentthrough all sectors of the divided city,and got out in the American sector.Buses were waiting for the many refugees

we know that the smaller gun makersassembled and finished some guns withthe parts that had not been turned in. Acarton of cigarettes or two could havebeen the pay, and one of our Germanmembers mentioned that gifts from anAmerican soldier kept his family aliveduring those very hard months. But oneday, due to the agreement made inPotsdam between Truman, Churchilland Stalin, the American troops pulledout in their jeeps and trucks. For onesingle day Suhl was not occupied, butthen the Russian troops arrived in horse-drawn paddy wagons.

What Russian troops did when theyentered a German town is not known tome. All we know is that all Germans thatwere able to leave fled to the West in asteady stream. Homeowners and apart-ment dwellers all over Germany tookthese refugees in.

Only two days ago I received anemail inquiry from Russia with photosof a German gun with the name OttoReif-Suhl on the top rib and the nameSauer somewhere on the action. I couldnot find the name Reif anywhere, andwrote to Dr. Fritze in Suhl. He rightaway sent me a detailed explanation of

A certificate likethis was given bya commandingofficer to anAmerican soldierwho wanted tobring or send aconfiscated gunhome.

that were leaving East Germany everyday. I arrived in the Free World on aBritish plane that had brought coal to theblockaded Berlin, covered with coal dustand looking like a chimney sweep. But Iwas free, and you can’t imagine howmuch this meant to me even then!

Paul Jaeger, my uncle, had arranged ajob for me as a gunsmith at theWiesbaden Rod and Gun Club of theAmerican Air Force. For this reason I canreport with some accuracy what the gunbusiness was like in these years. This gunclub was the center of activities for theAmerican servicemen who liked guns.The gun shop was staffed with a few localgunsmiths, but mostly with refugees fromEast Germany.

We only built bolt-action rifles usingsurplus Mauser military actions. Machinegun barrels were turned down to Sportersize, and pre-machined stocks came fromBishop in America. Roy Weatherby hadalready entered the market, and his stockswith high rollover cheek pieces and flashyivory and ebony diamond inlays were indemand. German engravers addedengravings in the German tradition, butmore and more silver inlaid animals werefavored that were later mostly inlaid in

gold. They were not best German master-pieces, but our American customers werehappy and got real bargains.

When Germans were again allowed tomake and own guns.makers from Suhl

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and Zella-Mehlis who had left the Eastwith the American troops, started overfrom scratch. But times had changed, andmaking gifts of luxurious guns seemed tohave faded away. just like the gold watchreceived upon retirement by a personwho had worked for a company all his lifeBut then again they might well exist andhardly anybody knows about them.Makers like Krieghoff, Sauer, Heym,Blaser and the new Sauer inEckernfoerde, as well as the gun makersin Ferlach certainly could produce veryfine guns, but these are now mostlyordered by customers who can affordthem and want them for their own collec-tions and for use.

After this overview of historic events,let us look at some of the guns that werepart of them, beginning with the Sauerstalking rifle on the front cover.

Sold by Otto Reif in Suhl to an officer of the Russian army.

In 1860, “Germany” was a collection ofalmost forty independent principali-

ties, each with its own border controls,coinage, weights and measures, civil ser-vants, and so on. Prussia and Austriawere the dominant powers, but otherswere so small that it would challenge theaverage German today to locate some ofthem on a map. This state of affairsmight have been good for the creators ofromance novels and operettas but muchless so for the functioning of a nation.One man who wished to see the nationpeacefully united was the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Ernst II. Although hislands were relatively small, he was wellconnected to other royal families inEurope and reputed to be a just andenlightened sovereign. His strategy tounify Germany was to bring together inone national organization the ubiquitousand fundamentally German Schüetzensocieties. Originally citizen militiasformed to protect the towns and, asneeded, to provide for civil order, manytrace their history as far back as the thir-

teenth century.In July of 1861, Ernst II summoned

representatives from the four corners ofGermany to Gotha where he bade themto “forget where their cradles stand” andto join together for sport, to enhancemarksmanship, and to stand as protec-tors of the homeland. His proposal wasmet with enthusiasm and on July 11,1861 Germany’s first national sportingfederation, the Deutscher Schüetzenbund(DSB), was founded.

A gauge of the enthusiasm was thefirst competition held in Frankfurt inJuly of 1862, which attracted eight thou-sand marksmen from nine countries.Also there, as guests of honor and tomake a point, was a delegation from thenew Kingdom of Italy, unified the yearbefore.

Germany united in 1871 under theKing of Prussia (now Kaiser) Wilhelm I,who acknowledged at the time that itcouldn’t have happened without the suc-cess of Ernst II in combining the culturalgroups of the nation. A relative of

Ernst’s, Prince Andreas of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, is today lending his good nameto the DSB as Protector. The SchuetzenHall where the founding occurred standstoday, recently refurbished at greatexpense by the city of Gotha. Nearby atSchloss Callenberg is the SchüetzenMuseum of the DSB. The German GunCollectors Association visited both dur-ing our trip to Germany in 2008. —Jon Spencer

After the founding of DeutscherSchützenbund the first Bundesschiessenwas held in Frankfurt in 1862 and tookplace in other major German cities everythree years or so. These were events thatcan be compared with World Fairs, and

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Ernst II and Deutscher Schüetzenbund

Duke Ernst II of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha(1818-1893)

His last rifleOn pages 8 and 9 we introduce youto a stalking rifle made by J.P.Sauer & Son in Suhl with the silvershield that states that this was thelast rifle of Ernst II . This couldmean that it is the last rifle heacquired before he passed away in1893. He perhaps gave the rifle to atrusted member of the Court, whothen added the engraved silvershield to the rifle.

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lowed and the people had little faith inthe new Weimar Republic, a first steptowards a democratic government, andfertile ground for Hitler coming topower. Preparations for war startedright away, and at the Bundeschiessen inLeipzig in 1934 the Nazis had taken overand military training took the place ofSchuetzen competitions.

continued on page 8

elaborate shooting grounds with rangesfor many shooters and meeting hallswere the pride of each town.

Germany was united and prospered,but then came World War I that broughthardship to all of Europe. Germany lostthe war, had to pay heavy reparations andwent from a recession into a depressionwhen the American stock marketcrashed. The Kaiser abdicated, riots fol-

Deutscher Schützenbund is celebrating its150th Anniversary in Gotha in 2011 andplans are afoot for us to go once again tothe domains of Ernst II and participatein the festivities. If you are interested tocome along, please let Jon Spencer knowas soon as possible. Many groups from allover Germany will come to this event,and reservations in hotels will be hard tocome by. Get in touch with Jon at 435-979-9723 or sales@germanguns.com.

A joyful and festive beginning, but 73 years latercame the first signs of a bitter end.

From this postcard we can see thebeginning of the end of the Schützenmovement in Germany before WorldWar II. The Swastika is shown onmuch of the promotional material,indicating how politics were takingover. The KK military style trainingrifle is pictured instead of aScheibenbüchse.

The map above shows the many different principalities that existed in Germany before 1871.Suhl was located in the little island under the word Thuringia that belonged to Prussia. Thisexplains why the guns from Suhl during this time had to be marked “Made in Prussia."

What could the inscription on thesilver shield mean when it states that thisis the last rifle of Herzog Ernst? Was itthe last one he hunted with or the lastone he added to his gun collection? Whoinstalled the shield?

The answers we come up with arecircumstantial and not supported by anyproof. Judging by the serial number38541 on the trigger guard and theforend iron, it must have been built bySauer very late in Herzog Ernst’s life,making it perhaps the last rifle he hadordered or had in his collection.

Dr. Müller in Germany, a serious col-lector and preserver of the history ofHerzog Ernst and the Schützenbundsuggested that the commemorativeshield was most likely installed by atrusted servant or friend of the Herzog.

It is not known how this rifle foundits way to America. It now belongs to Dr.Wallace, a life member in ourAssociation and a former customer ofmine. He bought the rifle from KirbyHoyt, whose company, Vintage Doubles,

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Ernst II, continued

This J.P. Sauer hammer stalking rifle is not a presentation piece by any measure. It isa good and well-made rifle with side plates and full coverage with German stylearabesques. It has open sights and a Diopter (aperture sight) in the top tang that canbe elevated to assist the shooter in lining up the sights with the target. Since HerzogErnst II must have been up in age when he got the rifle, this must have been veryimportant to him. The inscription on the barrel “Voll Korn,” meaning to see the fullor whole bead over the rear sight is an indication of this.

deals in fine used guns and has support-ed our Association for years as a corpo-rate sponsor. Before he became a gundealer, he collected German guns andhad this rifle in his collection. When heran into hard times he had to sell gunsto survive, and this rifle was amongthem.

He had the opportunity to buy itback and felt that this rifle really belongsin a museum in Germany. He told Dr.Wallace the history behind the rifle, whofound it so interesting that he bought itfrom Kirby. After he has shot it andhunted with it, he will designate in hiswill that it should go to a museum inGermany.

Dr. Müller has already expressed aninterest to have it on display it in theMuseum of Deutscher Schützenbund inSchloss Kallenberg near Coburg.Wouldn’t it be great if Dr. Wallace wouldjoin a group of our members and comealong with his rifle to the 150thAnniversary celebration in Gotha nextyear, and perhaps even shoot it there?

Our thanks to Dr. Wallace and KirbyHoyt for the support they have given ourAssociation over the years.

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Special Ehrengaben riflesGiven to the winners of major shooting events in Germany and the United States

This exquisite StiegeleSchützenrifle was the top award

at the 7th. Annual Bundeschiessen inLeipzig in July 1884. You can findmore about it in our Journal Nr. 15,Fall 2002.

The rifle belongs to our memberAllen Hallock, and can also befound in Alte Scheibenwaffen, TomRowe’s excellent books that coverthe tradition and the many riflesthat were the pride of the Germanshooters.

This Winchester Model 1873 engraved in theGerman tradition, most likely by a German

engraver, was the Ehrenpreis at a shooting eventin San Jose, California and is a splendid exampleof a prize that represents the melding of theGerman and American shooting tradition. Moreinformation can be found in Journal Nr.32,Winter 2007.

The photo atleft shows the

coat of arms of theKrupp Family onthe grip cap of afine J.P. Sauershotgun. It isshown in Jim

Cate’s Sauer book on pages 86 to 88. Webelieve that it was most likely a gift of theSauer Company to the Krupps. Mostguns Sauer produced have the Kruppsteel logos on the barrels, and a gift likethis would have enhanced the businessrelationship that existed. The gun wasproofed on April 15, 1912, two yearsbefore the beginning of World War I.

It is known that it was “liberated” onApril 11, 1945 by a member of the 313thInfantry Regiment of the U.S. Army, thefirst to arrive at the Krupp estate,. The 16gauge gun has the serial number 146331,65mm long chambers, automatic ejectorsand a Greener safety. The action is taste-fully engraved with fine English scrollengraving and the fences are deeply chis-eled.

Those who take an interest in Sauerguns will notice right away that theaction is very different from the manySauer guns they have seen. The action isvery short and shows only a screw sloton the cover screw at the hinge.Eliminated in this design are the usualhammer screws and the sear screws, eachwith small lock screws,. In their place,two pin heads can be seen. One pin is forthe tumblers or hidden hammers; theother, for the sears.

This action does not have any cockinglevers, or a third pin would be showing.Looking at the underside of the action,we see that the bottom is well rounded

and the action very slim. This leads tothe conclusion that this gun was possiblymade for Bertha Krupp, the daughter ofAlfried Krupp who married GustavKrupp von Bohlen & Halbach. Theaction’s firing mechanism is based on the“Facile Princeps” Greener Patent Nr. 930of March 2, 1880. The longer front endof the hammers or tumblers are bent andcome together in the middle of theaction. A pivoting hook is mounted inthe forward lump that will engage theforward end of the hammers and cockthem when the gun is opened. Thisdesign allows the action to be shorter,slimmer and more rounded. Did Sauermake the action? Who knows?

Our thanks to Jim Cate for supplying thephotography. His book about Sauer inSuhl is available from the GGCA,order Nr. B095.

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A Sauer side-by-side shotgun for the Kruppsphotography by Jeff Stevens

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Those of you who remember an arti-cle about Kaiser Wilhelm’s bolt

action rifles in Journal Nr.17, Spring2003 might also remember that a list ofthe Kaiser’s personal guns was found inthe 1913 German hunting magazineWild & Hund, and among the 13 gunslisted were a pair of J.P. Sauer & SohnDouble Rifles given as a wedding presentby Fürst Pless. Gun Nr.1 of this pair isshown on these pages, but unfortunatelyit is not known what happened to Nr. 2.

Thanks to Jeff Stephens, who sup-plied the photography and wrote aboutthe rifle in the Winter 2003 issue ofDouble Gun Journal, we can include it inthis line-up of hunting guns of historicimportance. It was Kaiser Wilhelm I whobuilt up the Prussian Army and had avery friendly relationship with the Kruppfamily, because Krupp cannons weredecisive in winning the war of 1870against France.

What sets this Sauer double rifle

apart from many otherSauer guns are the fulllength octagonal barrelsand the arcaded fences,but more so the gold gripcap shown on the nextpage, where you can alsoread an explanation ofwhat it contains.

The .450 BPE caliberDouble Rifle is built on aLefaucheux action and istastefully engraved withfine English scroll anddecorative borders. Theback action locks haverebounding hammers, andthe horn trigger guard hasa hook that needs anexplanation. KaiserWilhelm II was injured atbirth which resulted in a

crippled left arm. If you look at the twopaintings of the Kaiser, you see that hisleft arm is partially hidden on both. Thismight remind us of President Roosevelt,who did not want to be photographed ina wheelchair.

It is known that Kaiser Wilhelm was agood shot and successful hunter, but he

needed all the help he could get from thegun makers. Many of the Kaiser’s gunswith horn trigger guards have a hooklike you see on this gun. Other gunshave a steel hook that can be folded outof the forearm as the one shown below.It is called Anstreichhaken or alsoKaiserhaken in Germany, and is used forsteadying the gun by hooking it to a treeor post. The hook can be installed on

both sides of theforearm, wasavailable to gunmakers by com-panies that pro-duced small gun

components, and its use was not limitedto hunters that had a physical problem.A flat spring holds it securely in the fold-ed-out or -in position. Other guns havea Kaisergriff, a very short pistol grip thatsticks out further on the bottom thannormal grips. A third and more compli-cated shooting aid made for the Kaiser isa gun without triggers, but with pushbuttons on top of the grip for firing thegun. This we will show in another issue.

We found no historic guns of impor-tance from between World War I and thebeginning of World War II in ourarchive. Germany was in turmoil, theTreaty of Versailles placed a very heavyburden on the country, and was followedby recession and the Great Depression.Hitler came to power, and it was now theturn of the Nazi leadership to take overand receive expensive presents.

Now fast forward to the years whenHitler and the Nazis came to power…

A Sauer Double Rifle for Kaiser Wilhelm

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Fritz Saukel, the Nazi Gauleiter ofThuringia came to Suhl and first met

with the Board of Directors of the for-mer Simson Company, now called BSW(Berlin-Suhler-Waffenwerk) to informthem that the company had been takenover by the new government. Followingthis, all company employees assembledin a hall, and Gauleiter Saukel broughtthem the good news that they no longerhad to work for the Jewish former own-ers, but were now part of the ThirdReich with a hundred-year future.

Surely quite a few of these assembledworkers shared this vision, but not all ofthem. Friends and

neighbors hadanother secret name for

the new company’s initials:Bis Simson Wiederkommt— “UntilSimson comes back.” I was six years oldat the time, and was not supposed tohear this because it could have landedyou into a concentration camp that fewsurvived. This was confirmed by othersin Suhl, so it could not be said that Imade up a story.

Those Germans who read Hitler’sbook Mein Kampf might have expectedwhat would happen when Hitler came topower. Although most people had thebook, few read it and even fewer under-stood what Hitler had in mind. Anti-Semitism was apparent even beforeHitler came to power in 1933, but theKristallnacht, the night of broken glass,on the 9th and 10th of November 1938should not have left any doubt in theGerman population what Hitler had inmind. On that night, 91 Jews were mur-dered, over 25,000 arrested and placed

into concentration camps, and 267 syna-gogues were set on fire and destroyed.The synagogue in Suhl was among them.

Fritz Saukel came from a family ofmeager means and did not graduatefrom high school. He joined the Naziparty early on in 1924, and quickly rosethrough the ranks due to his fanaticalbelief in Hitler’s doctrines. He becameGauleiter (Nazi administrator) ofThuringia in 1927. He was responsiblefor the concentration camp inBuchenwald where 56,000 people losttheir lives. He was in also in charge of

the foreign slave laborers thatwere brought to Germany from

the countries that Germany had occu-pied. He was the worst among 20 warcriminals who were convicted andhanged at the Nürnberg trials.

Saukel had his eye on the SimsonCompany early on and tried to take itover by all means available to him. TheSimson Company had their main officesin Berlin, and since they were the onlycompany after World War I that wasallowed to make guns for the German

army and police, the Nazi war depart-ment first insisted on having directors oftheir choice in management. Simson atthat time changed the name to BSW.The Nazis then tried to take over thecompany through investments by theNazi directors, named it WAFFA, but thevery small investments did not make thislegally possible. At that point Saukeltook over, charged the Simsons with var-ious crimes, arrested two of them andkept them in jail while trying to come upwith legal reasons for their arrest andconviction. The case never went to trial,

because the Simsons signed alltheir possessions over to the Nazis togain release from prison. Shortly afterthey were released, the Simsons fled toSwitzerland and later to the UnitedStates.

The belief that Simson asked theAllies after World War I to make themthe only German company allowed tomake guns for the small remainingGerman Army and the police is stillbeing voiced today. To lay this to rest, anexcerpt from the Treaty of Versailles isshown on page 21.

December 21, 1935A fateful day for the Simson family and Suhl

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This BSW side-lock Drilling, made in the Simson factory by Simson gun makers, wassold at a Julia auction in June 2005, and we can show it to you thanks to Julia supply-

ing us the photos. The gun has the serial number 37962, an 8x57JR rifle barrel and two 16Ga, shotgun barrels. Each side lock has a cocking indicator, and the Greener safety is builtinto the left side plate. A pushbutton selector is on top of the grip. Exceptionally nicegame scenes by Richard Schilling are on both side plates, surrounded by very fine Englishscroll. .

It is quite a coincidence that anotherBSW Drilling was brought to our atten-tion and again by the Julia auctioneers. Itwas given to Hermann Göring, anotherNazi leader, three years later and was soldat auction on March 15, 2010 for$58,000. Turn the page to find out moreabout it.

A photo and text below appeared in our JournalVolume 1, Number 2, Winter 1998

It was the privilege of the editor to meet two mem-bers of the Simson family recently. Arthur Simsonand Ewald Mayer were arrested and jailed by theNazis in 1935. The Simsons were Jewish andowned the most prominent manufacturing facilityin Suhl. Not only did they make fine hunting andsporting guns, but also military guns, bicycles,motorcycles and automobiles.

It was Ewald Mayer who signed the Simsonfactories over to the Nazis as a condition for beingreleased from jail. The Simson family made thewise decision to leave Germany right away, andafter first spending some time in Switzerland, theycame to the United States to build a new life.

Our thanks to all those whocontributed to this Journal:Page 1: Dr. Wallace – Kirby Hoyt

Page 2: Winston Churchill

Page 6: Jon Spencer

Page 10: Allen Hallock

Page 11: Jim Cate

Pages 12-13: Jeff Stevens

Pages 14-19: Julia Auctioneers

Page 19: R.E. Peithman

Pages 24-26: Thomas V. Devers

Proofreading: Kathy and Dick Hummel

Technical Editor:Axel Eichendorff

Historical information:Axel Pantermühl, Dr. Fritze

The Editor: Dietrich Apel

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Listing in the Julia Catalog:

Marked BSW (Berlin Suhler Waffen-und Fahrzeugwerke) in Suhl, Germany. 23-1/2" barrel cluster having a flat mat-ted quarter rib with raised front sightpedestal and sunken concave matted cen-ter rib.

The quarter rib is mounted with typ-ical German claw mounts and a two-position express rear sight with handmatted rear faces. The front sight is aremovable caterpillar type silver bead.

The barrels have double under lugsand double barrel extensions for themodified Greener cross bolt, and havethe very rare feature of ejectors for thetwo rifle barrels. They are each markedwith the manufacturer's oval logo over"Suhl.”

The receiver has full side plates with aGreener thumb safety in the left plateand cocking indicators on each side plateand one cocking indicator in the top tangof receiver for the shotgun barrel.

The top tang has a hand checkeredlocking sliding selector button for theshotgun barrel.

Both triggers can be set as hair trig-gers.

The stock is made with spectacularburl honey & chocolate French walnutwith checkered rounded forearm andpistol grip, raised side panels andEuropean style cheekpiece. Length of pullis 14-5/8" over a beautiful leather coveredpad. On the bottom of the shotgun bar-rel and the stock are narrow Europeansling loops.

The grip cap is blued flat steel securedwith two engraved screws and the goldinlaid lettering: HerrnGeneralfeldmarschall Göring zugeeignetvon der Wilhelm-Gustloff- Stiftung,Weimar 1938. (Rough translation: ToField Marshall Göring as a present from

Rare BSW double rifle Drilling presented to Hermann GöringSerial No. 42289, Calibers 9.3x74R – 9.3x74R – 12 Ga.

the barrels and the barrel extensions havematching, blending oak leaf patterns overtheir top edges to match the tops of thefences. The forend iron is engraved tomatch with the flat of the forend ironhighly polished and hand jeweled. Theaction flats and the barrel flats are alsopolished bright and hand jeweled.

This is one of Suhl's finest and mostelaborate Drillings, undoubtedly createdfor Field Marshall Göring on specialorder. A copy of an undated letter fromJan Mueller gives a brief history on thisbeautiful Drilling including some of theabove information. He also states thatthis Drilling was apparently with FieldMarshall Göring's collections at KarinHall (sic), that it was on the train whichwas sent to Berchtesgaden (sic) withGöring's art collection and other person-al effects in late April of 1945.

This wonderful Drilling was "liberat-ed" by 4 star General Wade HamptonHaislip who was the Commander of 15th

the Wilhelm-Gustloff Foundation inWeimar.)

Gustloff was a Swiss National whofounded the Swiss NSDAP (Nazi Party).He became a Gauleiter (Party Leader)and was assassinated in Feb. 1936. Note:Field Marshall Göring's name is spelled"GÖRING" or "GOERING" when trans-lated into English.

This spectacular double rifle Drilling,in German known as aDoppelbüchsdrilling has side plates and isspectacularly engraved with full coverageon the receiver, the side plates, the triggerguard and appended metal with incredi-bly fine foliate arabesque scrolls withheavily carved oak leaf & acorn patternson the fences and laurel leaves & berrieson the reinforcements below the fences.

The thumb lever boss has a spectacu-lar rosette with the shotgun selector but-ton inlaid in gold SCHROT (shot) andthe thumb safety having a large "S" ingold. Engraving extends about 2-1/4" up

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Corps at that time. He was probablygiven this Drilling as a present fromsomeone in the 101st Airborne Divisionwho had captured it at Berchtesgaden.Gen. Haislip was born in Woodstock, VA,July 9, 1889, graduated from West Pointin 1912 and served at various postingsincluding Vera Cruz, Mexico in 1914.From 1917-1921 during WWI he waswith the American Expeditionary Forces,then in the occupation of Germany after-ward. During the war he participated inthe battles of Saint-Mihiel and theMeuse-Argonne Offensive. BetweenWWI and WWII he was an instructor atWest Point for two years and attended avariety of military schools. From 1928-1931 he was the Assistant Executive inthe Office of the Assistant Secretary ofWar. He was in the Budget & LegislativePlanning Branch of the War Dept.General Staff from 1938-1941 andAssistant Chief of Staff for Personnel. Atthe outbreak of WWII he organized the85th Infantry Division and served as itsCommander from April 1942-Feb 1943after which he took command of XVCorps and served with it throughNormandy, France, Rhineland andCentral European campaigns. He thenbecame Commander of the 7th UnitedStates Army through the end of the war.After the war he served in various seniorstaff positions, in 1949 became the ViceChief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Stafffor Administration and retired in 1951.Haislip was a life long friend of Gen.Dwight Eisenhower, introduced Ike toMamie, and served as pallbearer at Ike'sfuneral. He died on December 23, 1971and is buried in Arlington Cemetery.

The gun is accompanied by a copy ofa signed statement dated May 4, 1977from Mrs. Wade Hampton Haislip stat-ing that she was the owner of thisDrilling and that it was the property of

Mueller, purchased this BSW Drillingfrom Mr. Charles Johnson who was theselling agent for Mrs. Haislip in 1977. Hestates that it was displayed in his father'slibrary until his death in the year 2000when ownership passed to him and it hasremained in his possession until con-signed to this auction. Also accompany-ing is a Washington, D.C. "RIFLE/SHOTGUN LICENSE" dated June 13, 1969 toWade Hampton Haislip. There is noidentification of any particular firearmand the intended use block states "DIS-PLAY ONLY AS TROPHY OF WAR".

Additionally it was accompanied by areplacement old green felt lined leathertrunk case compartmented in the bottom

for the Drilling withtwo covered compart-ments containing nickel plated square oilbottles. Other compartments are missingtheir lids with the front two compart-ments containing a Zeiss Zielvier clawmount scope with 3-post reticule andleather scope covers. The other compart-ment contains a Zeiss Zielmar scope withcrosshair, post and dot. Additionallythere are two full 10-rd boxes of RWSrifle ammunition. CONDITION:Extremely fine plus.

Overall the gun retains virtually all ofits original factory finish with strongbright blue on barrels and virtually all ofits original French gray finish on the

her late husband. She states that she doesnot know how he obtained the Drillingbut that it was captured at Berchtesgadenon May 4, 1945 and it was there that heobtained it as "war booty". She also statesthat after General Haislip had acquiredthe Drilling "It was always kept at ourhouse as a trophy of war and was neverfired." She also states that upon theGeneral's death in Dec. 1971 she retainedpossession of the Drilling until she gaveit to Charles E. Johnson to sell for her.Mrs. Haislip died in 1987 and is buriedbeside her husband in Arlington.

Also accompanying is a signed nota-rized statement from Eric E. Muellerwherein he states that his father Jan C.

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cap? The question was raised whether theNazis would really give a gun toHermann Göring marked with BSW andnot Wilhelm-Gustloff Stiftung. The BSWside-by-side shotgun shown below cameto the rescue just in time. It was madeduring the same period in time as theGöring Drilling and is unusual in morethan one way.

Why would this gun have a shinyaction and gold plated screws, and how

can it have both the BSW letters on thebarrels and also the capital G, the trademark of the re-named Gustloff Works?But then we discover that the inscriptionGUSTLOFF WERKE – WAFFENERKSUHL is roll marked over the BSW let-ters. We also have seen a gun that had theSimson Trade Mark on it, and also theBSW letters. It tells us that these weretumultuous times for the company.

receiv-er, the sideplates andappended metal. Thewood is sound, showing little or no wearwith only one or two very minor han-dling and storage marks. The mechanicsare crisp, the ejectors strong, and thebores brilliant shiny. The case is lightlysoiled but solid with light moth damagein the lining and some minor damage inthe bottom. Scopes are both fine withcrisp optics. Ammunition is fine.”

The description of the gun and its his-tory in the Julia Auction Catalog is

very well done and is shown here withminor changes. The gun arrived very lateand almost missed this auction. The factthat the gun does not have side locks, butside plates was discovered after the catalog had been printed, but this was announced before and during theauction.

What is listed as a modified Greenercross bolt is the invention of GustavKersten and therefore called the Kerstenor Strassburg Verschluss. Using this is amuch more expensive option, but itassures that the action will never developlooseness, even in heavy use. It could besaid that the two barrel extensions wouldmake the removal of the fired rifle brasscases cumbersome, but the gun has auto-matic ejectors for the two rifle barrels.

Thanks to the Julia Auction Companyfor the good photos they supplied. Thegun was sold at auction for $58,000, andwell worth it even if it did not belong toHermann Göring.

But what about the letters BSW onthe gun, and the words zugeeinet von derWilhelm-Gustloff-Stiftung on the grip

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Another BSW–Gustloff gun

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Fritz Saukel and the Wilhelm-Gustloff-Stiftung

Wilhelm Gustloff, who worked for theSwiss Government, was the Germanleader of the Nazi Party in Switzerland.He was shot and killed in 1936 by theJewish student David Frankfurter. Hitlerand the Nazi Party elevated him to thestatus of a martyr at a state funeral inSchwerin, Germany that was attended byHitler, Goebbles, Göring, Himmler andother Nazis, and he was later used as a

pretext in the propa-ganda for the 1938Kristallnacht.

A new and verymodern cruise shipused for vacations ofparty members wasnamed after him. Whenthe war started it firstbecame a hospital ship,but was then used as atroop ship. On its lastvoyage, it took refugeesout of Danzig that werefleeing ahead of theadvancing Russianarmy. A Russian sub-marine sent it to thebottom of the ocean

and 9,000 refugees lost their lives.In 1935 Fritz Saukel founded the

Gustloff Foundation as a present to hisFührer Adolf Hitler. In it he combinedbusinesses he had taken over or founded,with Simson, now called Gustloff Werke,being the most prominent one. Otherswere Hirtenberger Ammuntion Factory inAustria, Ventimotor GmbH in Weimar,AGO Flugzeugwerke in Oschersleben,Flugzeugwerk REIMAHG(Reichsmarschall Herman Göring) nearKahla, and the gun making facility at theConcentration Camp Buchenwald. Many

This attempt to take over the compa-ny apparently ran into legal hurdles andhad to be given up. It is now thatGauleiter Fritz Saukel takes over andarrests two of the Simsons on fictitiouscharges and keeps them in jail while try-ing to prove these charges.

The case never came to trial, becauseunder severe pressure the Simsons signedover all their properties to the Saukelgovernment of Thuringia. After they gotout of jail, the whole Simson familyescaped to Switzerland and emigrated tothe United States.

In our Journal Nr. 33 on page 19 weshowed a Double Rifle Bock-Drilling

that was marked with the letters WAFFA.At the time we stated that we did notknow why these letters were used on aSimson gun. Thanks to Axel Pantermühlin Germany who sent us the copy of aletter with the name Simson & Companyin the upper left, we can now draw someconclusions that might came close towhat actually happened.

In another document it is stated thatthe Nazis insisted on having directors oftheir choice in the management of thecompany or Simson would not get anymore military orders. Simson had alreadychanged the company name to BSW,most likely to forestall attacks from theNazis. They now had these directorsinvest small amounts of money, changethe name to WAFFA, and tried to takeover completely. The above letter wassent to customers of Simson and BSW,advising them of the changes and askingthem for their continued support. It isinteresting to note that this letter was not written on paper with a printed letterhead.

Simson? WAFFA? BSW?

thousands died in the concentrationcamp, and thousands more in the campsfor foreign slave laborers.

Only as I write this and search for fac-tual information do I become aware ofthe fact that I belonged to this work forcefor a very short time when I had toreport for duty with the Hitler Youth atthe Kahla plant, where in tunnels in amountain the first jet fighter planes wereassembled. It is one of my worst memo-ries, and eventually I will have to writeabout it.

Reinhold Jaeger

In closing this chapter I have to givecredit to a man who served the Simson

family, but is the one who did not sur-vive. Reinhold Jaeger was the youngest

brother ofmygrandfa-ther,FranzJaeger. Hecame toSuhlwhen hewas seven

years old, grew up in my grandfather’shouse, went to school in Suhl, served anapprenticeship as a gun maker and stud-ied business administration

He served in the army in World War I,was wounded and was a Russian prison-er. When he returned to Suhl, he workedin the business of his brother, FranzJaeger. Kaethe, his fiancee, worked for theSimsons and they asked her whetherReinhold would come and work forthem. Since times were hard and hisbrother had few orders, Reinhold accept-ed, worked for the Simsons, and was incharge of hunting gun sales.

When the Simsons lost the companyhe stayed on and had the misfortune that

Only after the end of the cold war did hischildren get the news that he had died inthe Buchenwald Concentration Camp.

he was also in charge of plant securityand the foreign workers, whom hehelped as much as he could. When theRussians came to Suhl, he was picked upone night and not heard from for years.

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Let the buyer beware!Over the years, we got many inquiries and photos with the suggestion that the gun

belonged to Herman Göring, but it must be remembered that he usually had itemsbelonging to him not signed with mundane initials, but with his coat of arms, consistingof an armor protected arm holding a ring. You may see this not only on a rifle by hisfavorite gun maker Schiwy in Berlin, but also on Original Oberndorf Sporting Rifles,and on his stag and moose trophies in the museums of Munich and Lüneburg. TheReichsjaegermeister patronized the gun makers Schiwy for his bolt action repeatingrifles, Sauer & Sohn, Merkel and Krieghoff. He even had Mr. Schiwy and Mr. Sauer asrepresentatives of gun making industry on his advisory staff. Before the Nazis came topower in 1933, Hermann Göring was practically broke, living on money of his Swedishwife and her von Rosen family. In 1933 the Nazis and Göring came to power; in 1934 hewas made Reichsjaegermeister. Göring was an avid big game hunter with little interestin target shooting.

If we saw this Drilling standing in a gunrack, it would most likely attract our

attention because of the bright case col-ors on the action. Drillings don’t usuallycome this way! Was it perhaps restored?If we pick it up we notice the great con-dition of the gun and look for a maker’sname and find Thieme & Schlegelmilch –Suhl. To those who have been aroundGerman guns, the name is well known asowners of the trademark Nimrod.

The safety on the left side is also dif-ferent from most Drillings. The safetyshaft is near the upper tang, and this tellsus that it blocks the hammers, or what

From the only photo of the gun wehave, we can tell that there are clawmount bases, but know little about thestock or the rest of the gun. The mark-ings under the barrels tell us that the riflecaliber is 7x57R, and that it was Nitroproofed in Suhl in April of 1940. We arenot sure what the other numbers mean.The shotgun barrels are most likely 16Ga. and perhaps already with 2 ¾” longchambers.

the English call tumblers. Thisis indeed a very good safety,much better than the safetiesthat block only the triggers.

Since there are no screwson either side of the action, weknow that this is a BlitzDrilling, with all firing mecha-nism parts mounted on thetrigger plate. This design can

leave the wood on both sides rather thinto give clearance for this firing mecha-nism and can cause the stock to crack. Inthis case the maker installed a cross screwto forestall it.

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A Drilling for a Hero of the Ocean

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The real surprise comes when welook at the buttplate with the inscription:For the Hero of the Ocean, Günther Prien,with Waidmannsheil on all his Ways. Wecan’t decipher the name at the end. Manyof you would not know what to make ofthis, and although I have a very badname memory, this one rang a bell. Itreminded me of the many specialannouncements on the radio in the firstyears of World War II. They alwaysopened with the same music from aWagner Opera, and every time I hear iton my Public Radio Station, I amreminded of the announcements thatsubmarines had sent another ship to thebottom of the sea, and gave the name ofthe ship and its tonnage. I could not

the cables that protected the harbor. Tohis disappointment, most of the BritishNavy had left port, but he spotted oneremaining battleship, the Royal Oak, andsank it with two torpedoes while fiveothers missed. He again used the outgo-ing tide to leave Scapa Flow.

This was a major accomplishment forwhich Adolf Hitler personally awardedhim the Iron Cross on October 18, 1939.Thereafter he was called the “Bull ofScapa Flow.” U-47, Günther Prien andhis crew of 45 men were lost at sea onMarch 7 or 8, 1941.

help but think, even then, of the manylives that were lost. The outcome of this“Battle of the Atlantic” was a victory forthe Allies, but 3,500 merchant ships and175 warships were sunk and 783 GermanU-boats were lost at sea.

Günter Prien was a merchant marinerwho joined the Nazi party in 1932 andquickly rose in rank after he joined theGerman Navy. He became the captain ofsubmarine U-47 and was asked to do thedaring mission of finding his way intothe well protected British Royal NavyBase Scapa Flow. On October 14, 1939,he used the rising tide to get him over

Günther Prien“The Bull of Scapa Flow”

The battleship Royal Oak

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A gift for the bossPresented to Walter Rempt in 1940

“For our Company Managerfor his

60. Birthday75th Year

Business AnniversaryPresentedfrom the

Company Employeesof Remo

1940”

much more time to produce, but showthat many gun makers used their ownideas to improve the design of a gun.

There is no doubt that Remo at thattime was working on war productiononly. Walter Rempt was in charge of thecompany, but Hans Rempt, who was des-tined to take over the company, was offto the war from which he never returned.

Wilhelm Rempt worked as a black-smith in the 18th century and died in1792. The Rempt Brothers’ gun factory,with the trademark REMO, was foundedin 1865 at 41 Rimbach Street in Suhl; in1935 the Rempts had their residence at 9

It does not happenvery often that

employees give a valu-able present to theirboss, but it happenedat the REMO compa-ny in Suhl in 1940, thesecond year of WorldWar II. This anniver-sary present was an over-and-undercombination gun (Bock-Büchsflinte) withthree sets of barrels: a 16 Ga, over andunder shotgun barrel, a combinationbarrel in 16 - 8x57 IR and a double riflebarrel in 8x57 IR. The action has aKersten Verschluss, a Greener cross boltthat engages two barrel extensions.

The cross bolt is quite unusual inshape. It is not round or square as foundon most guns like this. In the last photoyou can see that the lower surface of thebolt is angled and not only holds the bar-rel down but also back against the face ofthe action. Small features like this take

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Schleusinger Strasse. At that time theyemployed 45 people producing huntingand sporting guns. (See Journal #41 for awrite-up of their bolt-action rifle. )

In 1937-38 Rempts bought additionalground from the neighboring KrieghoffCompany, enlarged their shops and wereheavily involved in war production. In1948 the company was taken over by theCommunist government and directed tomake measuring tools. Since 2005 thebuilding has been unoccupied.

Thanks to our member ThomasDevers I could photograph the gun at thelast Beinfeld International Arms Show inLas Vegas. The oak-and-leather fittedcase he had made shows how highly hevalues this fine gun.

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A present for PrimeMinister Khrushchev ofthe USSR.

A present for President Nasserof Egypt

A present for Prime MinisterMao Tse Tung of China

A present for Prime MinisterTito of Yugoslavia

Presents to Heads of States made in SuhlThese guns were made by the gun makers of Suhl during the years when Germany was devid-ed and Suhl was located behind the Iron Curtain. Details of who the craftsmen and engraverswere could not be found, but it was suggested that they were both in the bigger factories thatwere taken over by the Communist Government, and by small makers that worked in theirown shops and were combined in the BÜHAG, the government organization that handled allsales. You can find more about this in our Journal Nr.36, Spring 2008.

To learn more, turn to page 16.

Our Vision—Our Mission

Our Association was founded in 1998 with thevision to preserve the history of Germanhunting and sporting guns and their makersfor future generations and for us, and

To share this history with like-minded peoplein the United States, in Germany and theentire world.

To achieve this, we established a permanentnon-profit organization guided by democraticprinciples which welcomes members from allover the world, and

To collect and share information on Germanguns, from earliest breech-loading to modernhunting and sporting guns, as well asinformation about the rich heritage of theGerman hunting tradition.

The German Gun Collectors Association isincorporated in the State of New Hampshireand is recognized as a 501c 3 educational non-profit association.

Our Association depends on the support of ourmembers and generous donors.

We invite you to join us and to take advantageof our various activities and services.