''Waffenamt'' (WaA) was the German Army Weapons Agency. It was the centre for research and development of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

and later the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

for weapons, ammunition and army equipment to the German

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshape ...

and then

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

. It was founded 8 November 1919 as ''Reichwaffenamt'' (RWA), and 5 May 1922 the name was changed to ''Heereswaffenamt'' (HWA). The task of overseeing Germany's gigantic pre-World War II rearmament program was given to the ''Heeresabnahmestelle'' (the Army Acceptance Organization, commonly referred to as the ''Abnahme''), a subsidiary of the ''Heereswaffenamt''. By 1940 the ''Abnahme'' consisted of 25,000 personnel in five departments in 16 inspection areas, augmented by specially selected plant personnel who were assigned to assist the ''Waffenamt'' inspectors in each manufacturing facility. Later, in the middle of 1944, approximately 8,000 of these ''Abnahme'' inspectors were "freed for service at the front". The ''Heeres-Abnahmewesen'' was responsible for the testing and acceptance of all weapons, equipment and ammunition before delivery to the ''Wehrmacht''. Inspections were carried out according to detailed guidelines called "''Technische Lieferbedingungen''" (TLs) prepared by the various ''Waffenprüfämter'' (''WaPrüf'') departments When the rearmament program began, ''Waffenamt'' inspection departments were established in each factory and armourers were encouraged to apply for positions there. In preparation for their new duties they were given a four-week course at the ''Heereswaffenmeisterschule'' (Army Armourers School). The course ended with a test for Technical Inspector which raised the rank of each successful applicant to that of ''Oberleutnant'' (First Lieutenant). At the beginning of 1935, all inspection officials in the newly created program started on an equal footing as Technical Inspectors, but by the start of the war in 1939 nearly all of them had been promoted to Technical Inspector First Class with a rank of ''Hauptmann'' (Captain). Waffenamt code (WaA) is the German inspection proof mark and can be found on firearms and equipment.

Chiefs of the Waffenamt

References

A Short History of the Heereswaffenamt
Research and development in Nazi Germany German words and phrases German High Command during World War II {{Germany-mil-stub Reichswehr Military installations of the Wehrmacht 1919 establishments in Germany 1946 disestablishments in Germany