Sometime around 1921, the Deutsche-Werke made Ortgies a very attractive offer to buy all of his company’s This drew the attention of larger companies such as the Deutsche-Werke AG, Berlin. Was ordered closed and privatized.’ Weaver further writes: ‘Sales were brisk despite the poor state of the post-WWIĮconomy. Pressure from the Inter-Allied Military Control Commission, unhappy at the pace of de- militarization within Deutsche-Werke, the consortium Deutsche-Werke fell under a larger government-sponsored consortium, the “Vereinigte Industrie-Unternehmungen Aktiengesellschaft” or VIAG.

Imperial Amberg, Erfurt and Spandau arsenals. Darrin Weaver in his book An Encyclopedia of German Tradenames and Trademarks: 1900-1945, Deutsche Werke was a ‘state-sponsored consortium created largely from the

Several sources report incorrectly that Heinrich Ortgies died in 1919 and his business was sold after his death, however Der Waffenschmied for 14 April 1937 reported his death as taking place in March of 1937 at the age of 67.Īccording to W. So the gun was clearly in production by this date. The earliest advertisement we have found for the Ortgies pistol appear in the 25 February 1920 edition of the German gun industry trade journal Der Waffenschmied, It is unlikely that production began before 1919. (Gerhard Bock in Moderne Faustfeuerwaffen), writing in the period shortly after World War I states that the Ortgies pistol appeared “shortly after the end of the war.” The war ended in November 1918, so Production is variously reported in English-language sources to have begun sometime between 19, but a German author Heinrich Ortgies organized his firm under the name Ortgies & Company probably in 1919. He secured a number of patents for firearms and locks. He lived near Stamfort, Connecticut and worked as an engineer for the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company at least until 1938. Brauning later immigrated to the United States and became a naturalized U.S. In Kersten’s estate was found an Ortgies prototype with the serial number 01 which was originally owned by Brauning. Brauning reportedly worked for Fabrique Nationale in Liege, Belgium. Kersten in his book entitled Wapens en Munitie (1946), Ortgies bought the design of his pistol from a German gunsmith named Karl August Brauning. The nature of his work in the weapons industry is not specified, but since he started life as a merchant we presume he was aĪccording P.B.W. During his time in Belgium he wasĪppointed Turkish vice-consul, apparently due to his business connections in the Middle-East. At the beginning of World War I he was working in Liege, Belgium also for one or more gun manufacturers. Russia Baku, Azerbaijan and Tiflis, Georgia for various weapon manufacturers. He became a merchant and moved to London at the age of 21. Heinrich Ortgies was the son of a Frisian farmer, born about 1870 near the town of Jever in Lower Saxony.

Ortgies pistol grips