Pre-war Československá zbrojovka, akc.spol. (or a.s.) (Czechoslovak Armory)and post-war Zbrojovka Brno, n.p.(Brno Armory) was a maker of small arms, light artillery, and motor vehicles in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. It also made other products and tools, such as typewriters and early computers. In 1946, Zbrojovka started making

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commo ...

s, which it branded "

Zetor Zetor (since January 1, 2007, officially Zetor Tractors a.s.) is a Czech agricultural machinery manufacturer. It was founded in 1946. The company is based in Brno, Czech Republic. Since June 29, 2002, the only shareholder has been a Slovak co ...

" ("Z-tractor"). Zetor continues to make tractors in Brno.

History

The company was founded in 1918 as a state-owned factory known as the State Armament and Engineering Works. The factory assembled German

Gewehr 98 The Gewehr 98 (abbreviated G98, Gew 98, or M98) is a German bolt-action rifle made by Mauser, firing cartridges from a five-round internal clip-loaded magazine. It was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the Kar ...

and Austrian

Mannlicher M1895 The Mannlicher M1895 (german: link=no, Infanterie Repetier-Gewehr M.95, hu, Gyalogsági Ismétlő Puska M95; "Infantry Repeating-Rifle M95") is a straight pull bolt-action rifle, designed by Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher that used a refined ...

rifles, but later began producing their own. In 1924–1925 a new factory was built, where cars, engines and other machines were produced in addition to rifles and machine guns. In the 1930s, the factory also produced Remington licensed typewriters and Skoda tractors. During the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Zbrojovka Brno was renamed to Waffenwerke Brunn and produced weapons for the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS. In 1944, the factory was severely damaged in the bombing of Brno. After liberation and rebuilding, it resumed production. In the second half of the 1940s, it produced engines, weapons and tractors. In November 1945, a prototype of the

Z-25 tractor was produced, the name Zetor, which was maintained to this day, comes from the words "Zet" (the proclaimed first letter of the armory) and "or" (the end of the word tractor). In the 1980s, the company refocused mainly on communication and computing technologies at the expense of weapons production and repair. In the 1990s, the number of employees began to decrease. From 2003, the company continued to decline; in June 2006, arms production was discontinued. On 8 August 2006, the last employees were made redundant. Shortly after, at the beginning of September 2006, Zbrojovka Brno auctioned machine equipment at public auction. The machines were purchased by

Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod Česká zbrojovka a.s. Uherský Brod (CZUB) is an engineering company based in Uherský Brod, Czech Republic whose main activities include the production of service, hunting and sports firearms. It is owned by the Czech holding company Colt CZ ...

, another firearms manufacturing company. The 22.5 hectare premises in Brno were auctioned at the end of January 2008 for 707 million CZK (30 million US Dollars, 24 million GBP, 25 million €) by the Slovak holding company J&T. Now the campus is used by several companies; due to the aesthetics of the premises, it is used for photographic work. There are also music rehearsal rooms. The lease agreement between Zbrojvka Brno and the new owner has been extended and is continuing production in rented premises.

Products

Firearms

* vz. 98/22 *

ZB vz. 26 The ZB vz. 26 was a Czechoslovak light machine gun developed in the 1920s, which went on to enter service with several countries. It saw its major use during World War II, and spawned the related ZB vz. 27, vz. 30, and vz. 33. The ZB vz. 26 influe ...

vz. 24 The vz. 24 rifle is a bolt-action carbine designed and produced in Czechoslovakia from 1924 to 1942. It was developed from the German Mauser Gewehr 98 line, and features a very similar bolt design. The rifle was designed in Czechoslovakia shor ...

ZH-29 The ZH-29 was a semi-automatic rifle developed in Czechoslovakia during the late 1920s, and used by the Chinese National Revolutionary Army. Overview The ZH-29 is a gas-operated service rifle with a tilting-bolt locking system similar to that whi ...

Karabiner 98k The Karabiner 98 kurz (; "carbine 98 short"), often abbreviated Karabiner 98k, Kar98k or K98k and also sometimes incorrectly referred to as a K98 (a K98 is a Polish carbine and copy of the Kar98a), is a bolt-action rifle chambered for the 7.92× ...

( German occupation of Czechoslovakia) * Gewehr 33/40 ( German occupation of Czechoslovakia) *

MG 34 The MG 34 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr 34'', or "machine gun 34") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun, first tested in 1929, introduced in 1934, and issued to units in 1936. It introduced an entirely n ...

( German occupation of Czechoslovakia) *

ZB-53 The ZB-53 was a Czechoslovak machine gun. A versatile weapon, it was used both as a squad support weapon, as a mounted machine gun for tanks and other armoured vehicles, and on fixed positions inside Czechoslovak border fortifications. Adopted b ...

*ZB-47 * ZB-50 *ZB-530 *BRNO MOD2-E *ZK-383

Motor vehicles

Zbrojovka built cars and light commercial vehicles with

two-stroke engine A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

s. The first model was the Disk, which was a two-door light car with a four-cylinder, 598cc, engine launched in 1924. This was succeeded in 1926 by the Z 18, which was a two-door sedan powered by a two-cylinder, 1005 cc engine producing . This was succeeded in 1929 by the Z 9, which had a 993cc engine producing . Body options for the Z 9 included a four-door sedan or convertible, two-door, four-seat sedan, two-seat convertible and a commercial light truck. In 1933, Zbrojovka introduced the Z 4, again with a two-cylinder engine. Early versions displaced and produced . In 1934, Zbrojovka introduced a version that produced in standard tune or in the sports coupé version. In 1935, Zbrojovka widened its range with two new models, the Z 6 Hurvínek and Z 5 Express. The Z 6 had a two-cylinder engine that displaced and produced . The Z 5 engine was modular with the Z 6: a four-cylinder version that displaced and produced . Zbrojovka designed a rakish new body style for the Z 5 and Z 6 and updated the Z 4 body to a similar style. Zetor 15 2 Zetor Gallery

Zbrojovka ceased production of the Z4 and Z5 in 1936 and the Z6 in 1937. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the company concentrated its vehicle manufacturing on tractors.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Authority control 1918 establishments in Czechoslovakia Car manufacturers of the Czech Republic Firearm manufacturers of the Czech Republic History of Brno Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1918 Manufacturing companies of the Czech Republic Motor vehicle manufacturers of Czechoslovakia