Compiled by Larry B. Schuknecht
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In 1909 the periodical Deutsche Waffenzietung-Suhl contained a six part series of articles titled Die Herstellung des Gewehrlaufes (Making the Gun Barrels). Following are those articles in their entirety. All of the machines shown were made and sold by the Ludw. Leowe & Co. firm which later became DWM.
The Aug. 25, 1911 issue of Der Waffenschmied contained the following item;
A Senator Krämer in Suhl, well known in the Thuringian arms industry district, celebrated his ninetieth birthday on August 10th. Senator Krämer was born in Suhl. In 1851 he founded a small factory in Suhl, where he was the first in Germany to manufacture gun barrel boring machines, milling machines, lathes, etc. Later, with the help of the rifle manufacturer, he established Mr. Val. Chr. Schilling built a larger factory, which formed the basis of the current Schilling & Krämer factory. This factory then took up the construction of machine tools, especially for the gun industry, on an enlarged scale. August 25, 1911-The Armourer
The following article was found in the booklet “Suhl, zum 400 Jahrigen Stadtjubilaum 1527-1927“.
Schilling & Krämer Iron Foundry and Machine Works-Suhl.
The company was founded in 1863 by V. Chr. Schilling, who came from a hammersmith family that had lived in Suhl for centuries, and by the machine builder Robert Krämer, who had hoped to replace the old Steinahammer (Trip Hammer?) after relocating the old water power one that had always been used. They created a completely new factory complex, consisting of an iron foundry, a machine foundry and a residential building. The company was then owned by Gebhard Schilling for a long time, the current (circa 1927) owner is Paul Schilling. The purpose of the factory was to provide the gun industry with machines and tools to make guns better and faster. The factory has maintained this goal since it’s foundation up to the present day (circa 1926), so that it has followed all changes in the manufacture of weapons. It was first factory to build barrel boring machines and barrel lathes in Germany, so that in the 1870’s American designers of gun manufacturing machines visited the local gun factories to study the machines built by Schilling & Krämer in these factories. Due to the quality of the construction and the accuracy of the execution of their macines, the company gained a good reputation throughout Germany and beyond it’s borders in a very short time. The sales area grew and, in addition to supplying the Suhl factories, the machines found their way into almost all arms factories in Germany. In particular, during the pre Would war I period, many machines were delivered to the state arms factories. But even abroad, the companies machines are still popular (circa 1927) today. The factory has followed all advances in the field of weapon production and therefore only supplies what has proven itself in practice today. In addition to the machines for weapon production, however, other machine tools were always built, and many special machines of various types and sizes can be found in the large works of German industry, which were built by the company, including R. Wolf, Backau; Henry Lanz, Mannheim; Fichtel & Sachs, Schwienfurt; Adam Opel, Ruesselscheim; AUG; Siemans-Schukert-Werke; Mannesmann-Rohren-Werke, Komotau; Weise & Monski, Halle; Dürkoppwerke, Bielfeld; Neckarsulmer Fahrzeugwerke etc. In the period after World War I, many machines for the bicycle and automobile industry were supplied and the specialty of thread milling machines were expanded, of which the company had already exhibited a machine in Erfurt in 1896. In 1905, the company began building the “Regina” e, which since then has earned a respected name, has proven itself and is manufactured with the greatest care and precision. The “Regina” typewriter is thus one of the oldest German typewriters and is also one of the most modern and best today, not inferior to the American standard machines.
Click Here to see the Schilling & Krämer machinery in the shop of Max Ern.
Click Here to read more about V. Chr. Schilling.
Ludwig Loew & Co. (DWM)
