Hans Schmeisser

Hans Schmeisser is a German weapons technical designer. The son of

Louis Schmeisser Louis Schmeisser (5 February 1848, Zöllnitz – 23 March 1917) was one of the best-known weapon technical designers of Europe. He is associated with the development and production of the Bergmann machine guns used during the First World War. ...

, who was also a famous weapons technical designer, his notable achievement is his contribution to the construction of the German "weapon city" of

Suhl Suhl () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located SW of Erfurt, NE of Würzburg and N of Nuremberg. With its 37,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest of the six urban districts within Thuringia. Together with its northern neighbour-town Zella- ...

. His work, along with the work of entrepreneurs and engineers like Simson, Sauer, and Haenel, helped shape Suhl for more than a century. Its name is closely connected to the Bergmann company in the development and production of machine guns up to the time of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The Bergmann company was the place where his brother,

Hugo Schmeisser Hugo Schmeisser (24 September 1884 – 12 September 1953) was a German developer of 20th century infantry weapons. Schmeisser was born in Jena, Thuringia. His father, Louis Schmeisser (1848–1917), was one of the best-known weapons designers i ...

, received his fundamental training as a weapons designer. In 1919, Hugo created the "Industriewerk Auhammer Koch und Co." (Industrial Auhammer Koch and Company) in Suhl. Under given conditions in Germany after the First World War, this enterprise did not run well from the outset. Into this time the first contact falls to the company Haenel in Suhl. That was the beginning of 20 years of cooperation with highs and lows. In the summer of 1922, for the security of their

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

s, Hugo and Hans Schmeisser created a second company under the name of "Gebrüder Schmeisser" (Brothers Schmeisser) in Suhl. Strangely, the brothers Schmeissers' attorney of the company, Haenel, remained, although they were shareholders and actually acting partners of the enterprise. Engineers from Thuringia Year of birth missing Year of death missing {{Germany-engineer-stub