"Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken"

HISTORY

DWM bought majority interest in Loewe & Co in late 1896 and began producing the "Father" of the Luger, the Borchardt, designed by Hugo Borchart under the label of Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken in 1897.  Also acquired in the purchase was the talents of Georg Luger who as a young engineer was converting the Borchart into what we know today as the Luger.

    The 1897 Swiss trials brought forth the gun with the substantial changes to the location of the return spring to the grip which removed the "ungainly" feel of the Borchardt and the streamlining of the toggle assembly The Swiss called the gun "Versuchmodel" to distinguish it from the Borchardt during this period of transition.

   By 1900 after the Versuchmodel tests of 1899 the Luger had emerged into a production model. and so began the legacy of the Luger, name the Parabellum from the Latin si vis pacem, para bellum or "If you wish for peace, prepare for war".

The  1900 - 1906 Model Period     (Menu)  

The 1908- 1918 Imperial Models

(World War I)  (Menu)

OTHER DWM MENUS

After WWI Germany was humiliated by the Treaty of Versailles while the Allies sought to strip the nation of it's power and dignity and imposed horrific sanctions.  This included the production of self-defense weapons and coupled with the economic impact of the American led Wall Street Crash of 1929 and subsequent world wide depression Germany weapons manufacturers scrambled to stay in business.  DWM was acquired by Berlin-Karlsruhe (BKIW) in 1922 and the Luger parts and machinery were absorbed by Mauser in 1933.

These buttons take you to the page the gun is displayed on with more pictures