LugerForum Discussion Forums - View Single Post - Interesting version of DWM's company history

Vlim · 09-01-2008, 10:15 AM

Steinar,

It was a bit of a fashion statement in the 1920s and 30s to publish a company history at the time of a major jubilee, say a 25th, 50th, etc.. birthday of a company. These histories were mainly written by editors working for the VdI (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure). Many current-day companies still publish company histories as well and these books are a very good starting point when one really wants to get to know a company.

In this example, the book, written by Conrad Matschoss, Friedrich Hassler and Adolf Bihl, addresses the general history of hand guns, the history of the Deutsche Metallpatronenfabrik Lorenz, the Deutsche Metallpatronenfabrik, DWM, BKIW and DWM after the 1933 name change, combined with a photographic reference of the 1939 situation, production of catridges, packaging machines, heavy machines, etc...

The book contains a number of pages on the development of the Borchardt and the Parabellum pistol as well as the Parabellum (MG08) machinegun.
Furthermore it describes the company's internal structure and ownership links with FN and Mauser, for example.

It also has a number of sections that need some 'reading between the lines', as the book was written at the height of the Nazi-empire and being of Jewish origin didn't help in those days. So rather than exposing that until 1929 DWM was basically a Jewish owned and run business (part of the Loewe group), the authors chose a format where they wrote that DWM took over Loewe's arms business in 1896, rather than being PART of Loewe which it really was until 1929. Apart from that, the occasional Nazi-glorification lines slip in here and there but they're so obvious that it's relatively easy to filter out that bit.

You also see this 'glofication phase' in post-war DDR books. First you get a couple of pages glorifying the then current administration and then it's business as usual.

I've got a number of company histories at the moment:
-50 Jahre DWM AG, 1939.
-125 Jahre Mauser ('Geschichte der Mauser-Werke'), 1938.
-1869-1929 Ludwig Loewe & Cie, 1929.
-100 Jahre Boehler Edelstahl, 1970.
-FN 100 Years (which is a combination of the older 75th anniversary and 100th anniversary versions).
-75 Jahre Industriewerke Karlsruhe (DWM followup), 1964.
-Vickers, a history, 1962.

09-01-2008, 10:15 AM	#3
Vlim Moderator Lifetime LugerForum Patron Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Europe Posts: 5,053 Thanks: 1,036 Thanked 3,991 Times in 1,205 Posts	Steinar, It was a bit of a fashion statement in the 1920s and 30s to publish a company history at the time of a major jubilee, say a 25th, 50th, etc.. birthday of a company. These histories were mainly written by editors working for the VdI (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure). Many current-day companies still publish company histories as well and these books are a very good starting point when one really wants to get to know a company. In this example, the book, written by Conrad Matschoss, Friedrich Hassler and Adolf Bihl, addresses the general history of hand guns, the history of the Deutsche Metallpatronenfabrik Lorenz, the Deutsche Metallpatronenfabrik, DWM, BKIW and DWM after the 1933 name change, combined with a photographic reference of the 1939 situation, production of catridges, packaging machines, heavy machines, etc... The book contains a number of pages on the development of the Borchardt and the Parabellum pistol as well as the Parabellum (MG08) machinegun. Furthermore it describes the company's internal structure and ownership links with FN and Mauser, for example. It also has a number of sections that need some 'reading between the lines', as the book was written at the height of the Nazi-empire and being of Jewish origin didn't help in those days. So rather than exposing that until 1929 DWM was basically a Jewish owned and run business (part of the Loewe group), the authors chose a format where they wrote that DWM took over Loewe's arms business in 1896, rather than being PART of Loewe which it really was until 1929. Apart from that, the occasional Nazi-glorification lines slip in here and there but they're so obvious that it's relatively easy to filter out that bit. You also see this 'glofication phase' in post-war DDR books. First you get a couple of pages glorifying the then current administration and then it's business as usual. I've got a number of company histories at the moment: -50 Jahre DWM AG, 1939. -125 Jahre Mauser ('Geschichte der Mauser-Werke'), 1938. -1869-1929 Ludwig Loewe & Cie, 1929. -100 Jahre Boehler Edelstahl, 1970. -FN 100 Years (which is a combination of the older 75th anniversary and 100th anniversary versions). -75 Jahre Industriewerke Karlsruhe (DWM followup), 1964. -Vickers, a history, 1962.