Simson (company)

Simson was a German company which produced firearms, automobiles, bicycles and motorcycles, and mopeds. Under the Third Reich, the factory was taken from the Jewish Simson family, and was renamed several times under Nazi and later Communist control. The Simson name was reintroduced as a brand name for mopeds produced at the factory in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). Simson mopeds were then produced in Suhl (Germany) until 2002.

History

1854–1933

In 1854 the brothers Löb and Moses Simson bought one third of a steelhammer works in Suhl (Germany). The production of carbon steel began and the firm Simson & Co. was founded in 1856. The factory produced guns and gun barrels in the years following.

In 1871 the first steam engine started its service and the enterprise established production of bicycles in 1896, which was followed by the start of automobile production in 1907. The Simson Supra racing car is famous.

In World War I, Simson produced Mauser Gewehr 98 rifles for the German Army. In the aftermath of the war and the Treaty of Versailles, the reorganized Reichswehr was allowed to buy new handguns from only one company, so as to limit the ability of the German arms industry to recover. Larger manufacturers such as DWM were passed over in favor of Simson precisely because of its lower production capacity, and as such Simson was the sole producer of military-contract Luger P08 pistols from 1925 to 1934. Simson made about 12,000 Lugers in this period. Simson also was responsible for repairing and refurbishing existing firearms of the Reichswehr, though DWM was employed in the capacity as well, in contravention of the Treaty of Versailles. In addition to Lugers, Simson also repaired and refurbished Gewehr 98 and Karabiner 98b rifles, MG08 machine guns and MP18 submachine guns.

In the 1920s Simson also produced .25 ACP ''Westentaschenpistolen'' ("vest pocket pistols"), for commercial sale. Until 1989 this was Simson's only venture into commercial handgun production. These pistols were available in two almost identical models, the first known as Model 1 in German and Model 1922 in the United States, and the second as Model 2 in Germany and Model 1927 in the US.

Simson built cars from 1914 to 1915 and from 1919 until 1934. Its 1914 models had four-cylinder engines and were the 1.5 litre, 22 bhp model A and 2.6 litre, 28 bhp model C. In the First World War Simson stopped car production in 1915.

In 1919 Simson resumed car production with a new four-cylinder range: the 1.6 litre, 22 bhp model Bo, 1.6 litre; 40 bhp model Co and 3.5 litre, 45 bhp model D. Top speeds were for the Co and for the D. In 1923 Simson replaced the D with the 3.6 litre, 65 bhp model F, which was Simson's first production model.

In 1924 completely revised its range of cars and gave them the Simson-Supra name. The hand-built models starting at that time and designed by Paul Henze were particularly noteworthy. The first Supra models were the S and the S Sport, which had a four-cylinder, two litre, long-stroke, DOHC engine. The S produced 50 bhp and had a top speed; the S Sport produced 60–80 bhp giving it a top speed of more than . In 1925 a SOHC ''So'' version was introduced that produced 40 bhp and had a top speed of only The S and S Sport were discontinued in 1926; So production continued until 1929.

In 1925 Simson introduced its first six-cylinder car, the model J. Its SOHC, 3.1 litre engine produced 60 bhp, giving it a top speed. In 1926 this was succeeded by the model R, which produced similar performance with an OHV pushrod engine.

In 1931 the model J was succeeded by the model RJ, in which the six-cylinder engine had a larger bore giving it 3.3 litres displacement and 70 bhp. In the same year Simson introduced the first and only eight-cylinder Supra, the model A. Its engine shared the RJ's long-stroke dimensions of 79.5 x 115 mm, giving it 4.7 litres displacement. This produced 90 bhp and gave a top speed. Models RJ and A were produced until 1934.

From 1930 Simson also made prams.

1934–48

Hitler's government forced the Jewish Simson family to flee the country in 1936. Under the dispossession of Jewish industrialists (the so-called aryanization) a trustee took control of the firm, and so by merger with other factories the ''Berlin Suhler Waffen- und Fahrzeugwerke'' (BSW) was formed. In the same year the factory produced its first motorcycle, the BSW 98, which had a 98 cc engine and two-speed transmission. Critics of the Nazi government suggested a different meaning for the BSW initials: ''Bis Simson Wiederkommt'' ("until Simson returns").

After the Simson brothers were exiled the factory increased weapons production. From 1939 the company was called ''Gustloff-Werke – Waffenwerk Suhl'', named after assassinated Swiss Nazi Wilhelm Gustloff, and had subsidiaries such as the ''Otto Eberhardt Patronenfabrik'' ("Otto Eberhardt Cartridge Factory"). As well as the main works in Suhl, the Gustloff-Werke had branch factories at Greiz in Thuringia and at Łódź in Nazi-occupied Poland. Sachs-engined motorcycles from 47 cc to 123 cc were made within the Gustloff group from about 1934 until about 1940.

''Gustloff-Werke'' products included 7.92 mm calibre ''Panzerbüchse'' 39 anti-tank rifles, 7.92 mm calibre MG 42 machine guns, gun carriages for 20 mm calibre ''Flak'' 38 anti-aircraft guns, and various calibres of small arms ammunition. The firm continued to build bicycles, weapons and cars until 1945.

In 1946, by order of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany the manufacturing plant was partially dismantled and transported to the Soviet Union (USSR) as part of the Soviet reparations programme for the damage inflicted on the USSR by Germany in the Second World War. In 1947 the factory was integrated into the Soviet ''Sowjetische Aktiensgesellschaft Awtowelo'' (''SAG Awtowelo'' or "Soviet Avtovelo Company Limited"). Автовело or ''Avtovelo'' is a Russian portmanteau word

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