After running off the Simsons the Nazis renamed it Gustloffwerk in honor of a young Nazi who was murdered in Switzerland by a Jewish man. Then came the communists in 1945 and the renamed Thalmannwerk after some obscure communist hero. Thalmannwerk is the entity that produced the rather rare East German manufactured Lugers.
Oddly enough, the DDR made and exported very high quality sporting arms prior to the "Wall" coming down. I had a fantastic Merkel double twelve that was marked and marketed as such but made in Suhl, East Germany. I also had a chance to buy a 28 gauge double Simson. Like the Merkel it was made in Suhl by the East Germans. As a 28 gauge it was almost certainly made for the US market.
|