1911 Erfurt question...

[DonVoigt]

Originally Posted by Bill_in_VA

I’m interested in this too. I have a police 1911 Erfurt with the unit mark of O.N.1 that seems to be unknown.

Bill,
that format screams "police" marking, especially since it must have police features if you call it a "police luger".

The O. is almost certainly also "Ordnungspolizei", and is in the 1922 marking style. I spent some time looking for a candidate for both "K" and "N" which are not firmly connected to cities or other jurisdictions.

I finally found some reference to "K" as likely being Kiel in some instances and Koeslin in others.

I have not found a known candidate for "N", but there are several
potential candidates- perhaps: Neisse or Neustadt ?

German police organizations underwent several nomenclature changes and the Ordnungspolizei was a short lived designation.

I can't attempt to explain, as there are several books written about the German police of that era and it is more than a little involved.

Maybe Don Maus will see this thread and chime in, he wrote the book! If you don't have a copy of History Writ in Steel- it is a great book and full of info on Germany in the era and markings found on pistols.