By converting Jakob andJosef ’s ideas into high-quality products without

compromise, DIANA built up anexcellent reputation and becamesynonymous with premiumairguns.

!e beginnings were humble.Certainly, Jakob and Josef couldnot have imagined what theywere about to start when, back in1890, they founded their companyMayer & Grammelspacher inRastatt.

Planning to mass-producecomponents for the iron andmetal industry, toolmaker Jakob

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soon unveiled his "rst air pistol,in 1892.

It took nine more years,however, before he received thepatent for a spring-loaded ballmechanism, which serves as adetent lock on barrel-lockingguns.!is turned out to be abestseller, and since then thismechanism has not only appearedin millions of airguns but is still incommon use.

Although Jakob and Josef wereengineers, the latter seemed tohave worked more on the "nancialside of the business while Jakobwas responsible for the product

development and registered manypatents over the years.

What’s in a name?At "rst the products were labelledwith the trademark MGR forMayer Grammelspacher Rastattbut that would soon change.

No records survived to tellwhen Josef left the company butit must have been around 1901.Four years later Jakob had aningenious idea. He changed thetrademark from MGR to theiconic DIANA, referring to thehunting goddess of the samename.

“We can only speculate whyJakob chose that famous image ofDiana holding her air ri#e aloftwhile standing on her discardedbow and arrow,” said DIANACEO Martin Zedler.

As it turned out, Jakob couldnot have done better becausegenerations of hunters were tostart their passion with a DIANAair ri#e in their hands.

Ups and downsBut it was by no means a smoothpath for DIANA, with severalsetbacks that were usually beyondits control. Production had to be

– the one and only, for 125 yearsDIANA airguns are legendary. Since the founders Jakob Mayer and Josef

Grammelspacher started 125 years ago in Germany, the company has inspiredgenerations of shooters with its ingenious products.

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Josef could not have done better because generations of hunters wereto start their passion with a DIANA air ri#e in their hands.

suspended because of World WarI, just when the company was#ourishing with the productionof several models of airguns andtoy guns.

!e latter were marketedunder the trademark Eurekaand included toy pistols or ri#esthat had cork or vacuum cups asammunition.

Change for the better came inthe 1920s. With the increasingpopularity of airguns as a newlyfound leisure-time activity insteadof the more military ri#e shootingin the earlier years, customers notonly changed but also becamemore numerous.

In fact, DIANA productsbecame so well known that italready had an export quota ofapproximately 50 per cent at thattime. In addition, the "rst air ri#esfor adults were developed to caterfor all tastes and wallets – from

the DIANA model 25 costing 25marks up to the high-end modelLG 581 for 90 marks.

DIANA also expanded intoother areas, such as pellets.

“A tin of the newly inventedDiabolo pellets cost 3.40 marks atthat time,” said Martin, “and theysurely increased the accuracy inconnection with ri#ed barrels.”

He regrets that there is noinformation left about the velocityof the airguns of that time. It isnot mentioned in the cataloguesand all the production documentswere lost in the war.

With World War II on thehorizon, the economic prospectsof DIANA rapidly deterioratedagain. Export in 28 countries wasquickly prohibited due to politicalreasons.

!e "nal straw came whencivilian production was completelystopped in 1940. Instead DIANA

had to produce parts for Mauserin Oberndorf.

It comes as no surprise then,that after the end of World WarII, DIANA was completelydismantled. All the productionmachines, tools, constructionplans, even spare parts, and ofcourse, the brand DIANA weresold to the London-based MillardBros.

!e British company soonbegan producing the "rst ScottishDIANAs in a newly built factorynear Glasgow. Interestingly, apartfrom being produced in Scotland,everything else remained German,even the names of the di$erentDIANA models.

New beginningsBecause there was nothing left,the Mayer family had to startfrom scratch again – which theydid as soon as the Allied Control

Council gave them the permissionto do so.

With the name gone, theMayer family stubbornly startedselling air ri#es with the name“Original”. It was explicitlyforbidden to use the trademarkDIANA in the Commonwealth.So the airguns were sold usingnames such Gecado, Condoror Firebird. Indeed Gecado inparticular is, even today, wellknown in South Africa.

Soon the business was thrivingagain because the company stayedtrue to its philosophy to providean excellent service and realinnovations. Kurt Giss, the chiefdesigner, played an important partin the revival after the war.

He developed a double-pistonsystem at the end of the 1950s.!e forward piston compressesthe air for pellet propulsionwhile the second piston moved

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DIANAT: +49 2938 97837-60E: info@diana-airguns.deW: www.diana-airguns.de

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backward, thereby eliminating therecoil.

!e so-called Giss systemresulted in the "rst recoillessmatch guns: the LP6 air pistol in1960 and the LG60 air ri#e in1963. Indeed, both principles arestill in evidence today.

Being true to its pledge toprovide an outstanding serviceDIANA can, for example, stillrepair airguns that have beenproduced more than 50 years ago.In addition to that the tradition ofGerman engineering producingreal innovations is still upheld.

Moving forwardIt was only in 1983 when MillardBros decided to sell its air ri#ebusiness that the family was ableto buy the trademark DIANAagain.

By then the restrictiveGerman gun laws introducedat the beginning of the 1970smade business di%cult again.However, since that time,DIANA has started to reinventitself by introducing new modelsand optimising its productionsprocesses.

In 1987 it developed its mostpowerful long-range airgun with"xed barrel and side-cockingsystem. Just one year later SilviaSperber won the OlympicGold Medal in Seoul by usinga DIANA small-bore ri#e andthen, in 1992, the Model 54 – a

recoilless long-range air ri#ewith patented recoil system –was introduced, followed by theModel 350 Magnum eight yearslater, which is still one of the mostpowerful air ri#es available.

Not content with the existingrange of products, DIANA alsoventured into the market ofcompressed air ri#es in 2011. Itwas nothing less than entering anew era when DIANA presentedthe new PCP model 1000.

With its two-piece huntingstock, a 14-shot magazine as wellas a single shot adaptor, you aretotally equipped for successfulhunting or "eld-target shooting.!e 300 bar, steel cylinder alsoo$ers more than enough energyfor longer periods of shooting.

Another milestone was thedevelopment of the 340 N-TEC.!e DIANA engineers devised,together with a German specialistcompany, a gas spring instead ofthe traditional spiral steel spring.

!e N-TEC piston providesless vibration, leading almostautomatically to a greater accuracy.!e 340 N-TEC o$ers a 10 percent higher level of energy as wellas a smoother cocking action.

Taking that idea furtherresulted in the 350 N-TECMagnum. By combining the new,enhanced gas spring of the 340N-TEC with the well-provenlonger cylinder of the model 350Magnum, DIANA engineers

successfully increased theperformance of their bestsellingair ri#e, making it not only themost powerful model made byDIANA but also one of the mostpowerful air ri#es in the world.

“It is not only about morepower but also about greateraccuracy, which could easily makethe 350 N-TEC Magnum yourfavourite air ri#e,”Martin added.

One and onlyEven 125 years after its humblebeginnings,DIANA is still an iconin the airgun market and has everyreason to celebrate this specialanniversary; hence an absolutelyoutstanding masterpiece of art wascreated:!e One & Only.

It is a dream come true:Master engraver Jose"ne Gröbelsuccessfully combined classical andmodern elements of engraving intoa perfect piece of art.

Diana is depicted on a preciousinset plate of solid gold. Daringleaf arabesques and English swirlssurround this mythical, graceful"gure and create a beautiful andharmonious composition. Fineengraving on the sights andthe anniversary logo “125 YearsDIANA 1890 – 2015”, which isalso worked from solid gold, make!e One & Only true to its name.

!e stock is also purelyhandcrafted from "rst-classCaucasian Walnut and has beengiven an outstanding appearance

by a premium hand-rubbedoil "nish. It adds further to theunique looks of !e One & Only.

!is unique piece will now beauctioned o$ for a good cause.

Martin continued: “We decidedto donate the proceeds to theSelous Elephant EmergencyProgramme (SEEP).!e moneywill be used to buy the necessaryequipment for the gamekeepersin the Selous Game Reserve, inTanzania, to successfully "ght thepoachers.

“!e Selous has been especiallyhard hit by poaching and thecurrent emergency programme,organised by the InternationalCouncil for Game and WildlifeConservation (CIC), helpedin the last year to stabilise theelephant population.”

More information about theauction can be found on theDIANA website www.diana-airguns.de.

!e success story of DIANAwill continue, no doubt. Sincelast October DIANA has teamedup with German Sport Guns(GSG) to further expand theproduct range and ensure thatthe company’s philosophy ofinnovation is continued in thefuture.

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