Hi,
As part of working with Mauro and Gerben (Vlim) on the Mauser Archive documentary, "The Legacy of Paul Mauser", I attended the 2012 meeting of the Kü Club in Oberndorf a. Neckar July 14-15, 2012.
This year's meeting included several members of this discussion board, and leaders from the old Mauser company.
Our meeting was hosted by the
Oberndorf Weapons Museum (
English Translation), which has an outstanding display of Mauser firearms and other products. The museum is located in the old Swedish Bureau which was built by Mauser to manufacture Mauser rifles for the Swedish Contract and also the C-96 pistol. The museum's manager opened the meeting with quite a celebration party.
Several Mauser factory buildings are still in use, many owned today by the Oberndorf government. The old Mauser factory showroom has been restored to a splendid civic theater (it started as the church of a Cloister before being secularized in the early 1800s, and made into the region's armory, then the Mauser factory showroom later in the century).
It is still possible to see the buildings where Mauser lived, the factories where our Lugers and P.38 pistols were made, Paul Mauser's mansion (never occupied, as it was completed just after he died in 1914) and so much more.
Between informal meetings, breakfasts at the host bed and breakfast, and our formal dinner, we discussed many things relating to Mauser, firearms from Oberndorf, and the research and technical interests of attendees. Rare historic documents and artifacts were available; preparation for upcoming books was discussed. I have never before met so generous a group of friends sharing a common interest.
I attempted to summarize our discussion of the Kü Luger in a presentation given the last evening we were together. I've attached that here to share our current knowledge, and open further discussion and research.
One of the highlights of my visit to Oberndorf came Sunday when Gerd took us to an annual "Boar Sausage" celebration with a regional hunting society, held deep in the Black Forest. There is nothing like this fresh sausage and good fresh beer on tap in the beautiful natural area surrounded by the tall pines of the Black Forest.
The local paper covered our work (
English Translation) on the
Mauser documentary, which is now starting through post production.
We should have some pictures to post from the event soon! I certainly hope to visit again soon...