Compiled by Larry B. Schuknecht
The story of the founding of the Schaschl family gun making dynasty in Ferlach is from a piece about Ferlach written by Jerry Sinkovec. The date that Jerry wrote this is unknown.
“In 1556 Charles V abdicates and assigns the Holy Roman Empire and Austria to his brother, Ferdinand I. In 1558 Ferdinand assumes title to the Holy Roman Empire, and in that same year requested that gun makers from Holland and Belgium come to Austria to start a gun works. Two Schaschl brothers left Liege, Belgium and settled in Ferlach to start a gun factory, which was in operation until 1818. A few years later their descendents started a gun-manufacturing co-op, which is still in operation, and is owned by the fourteen master gunmakers.”
In Eugène Heer’s book- Der Neue Støckel we find the following-
Schaschl, Frantz Xaver, Ferlach / Austra, born 1722, died 1818. He was the father of Johann Schaschl Sr. Started a weapons factory with three employees and operated a polishing and grinding mill. Produced a significant amount of finished weapons and barrels.
Schaschl, Johann Sr.?, Ferlach, operated the firm with his father from 1799 to 1818. I assume he is the father of the next entry. In the publication The Monument in Ferlach of 1854 it states “Johann Schaschl in 1813, who after storming the entrenchments near Feistriz, saw wagons full of wounded warriors being led to Klagenfurt, dedicated a sum of 3,000 Guilders to the suffering crew,”
Schaschl, Johann Jr.?, Ferlach, born on April 10, 1822 in Ferlach-Gabl (Carinthia), died on Sept. 26, 1897 in Ferlach-Dolich (Carinthia). His father was a noted gun barrel maker and after attending the Polytechnik Institute in Graz, he took over his father’s business while at the same time studying the Insects in Carinthia. He wrote about his work with insects and published the first work on the insects of Carinthia in 1854. In his senior years he lost the gun business and worked the rest of his life as a Civil Servant. (source- Austrian Biographical Lexicon).
The 1823 Jahrbücher des Kaiselichen Königlichen Polytechnischen Institute in Wein (Vienna) by Johann Joseph Prechtl contained the following. (Google Translation).
“Among the private gun manufacturers, Johann Schaschl zu Ferlach in Carinthia, whose products have long been famous and loved, sent several very beautifully crafted fire rifles to the factory product cabinet, including some with so-called wire barrels.”
In the 1854 Yearbook of Natural History in speaking about Johann Schaschl it states that his business “is considered to be the oldest Rifle Factory in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.”
The 1867 edition of J. C. Ackermann’s Addressbüch contains the following entry (Google translation)
“Schaschl, Johann, K. K. private rifle and weapons manufacturer in Ferlach, Carinthia, Post Unterbergen. This establishment has existed since d. J. 1650 and now after new facilities since d. J. 1864: Private hunting rifles of all designs, muzzle and breech loaders, made of the finest, most beautiful, self-invented damasks, which were crowned with the large silver medal of merit at the agricultural and forestry exhibition in Vienna in May 1866.”
Also in 1867 the Catalog of the Austrian Dept., Worlds Fair in Paris contained the following- (Google Translation)
“Schaschl Johann ( Ferlach in Carinthia, Post Unterbergen). 10 double rifles, 2 simple parlor rifles, 17 pieces of elaborate damask double barrels as a sample card of the damasks, along with the accessories for the rifles. “
In the Allgemeiner Illustrirte Zeitschrift of 1866 we find a piece about Johann Schaschl which possibly describes the percussion side by side 1 bore elephant rifle which is shown in the following images. (The following Google translation will be followed by the actual article)
“We have inherited prejudicial properties against many of our industries; The foreign resource is more important than one’s own performance rate. However, these prejudicial parts are dwindling more and more and the exhibitions contribute to this. This is where we educate ourselves in detail and carry out comparisons and tests that lead to us discovering our value. The exposition of k. k. private rifle and damask barrel factory of Mr. Johann Schaschl in Ferlach in Carinthia. This industrialist has exhibited various types of fine damask barrels (Doman, Beilschen, Relken, Narcissus damasks). Due to the excellent duality and the cheapness of these damasks for rifle barrels, which were completely newly invented in Austria, the other brands that are currently still being purchased in bulk from abroad will gradually be replaced become. Connoisseurs praise Mr. Schaschl’s damasks as being completely competitive with the best English varieties of this type. In the exposition of the named industrialist, which provides the most favorable evidence for the Carinthian rifle finish, a few rarities are noteworthy, namely the elephant double rifle with fine horseshoe nails – Damascus barrels with six-hole bullets (price 140 fl., weighing around 15 Pfd.), and then – a fine double rifle with an equally large caliber, but smooth. with fine Relken Damascus barrels for shooting seabirds etc. (price 90 fl. Eastern W. weighs approx. 10 Pfd.).”
The Oct. 8, 1870 Grazer Volksblatt contained the following notice, Followed by a Google Translation-
“(Johann Schaschl, rifle manufacturer in Ferlach) received the gold medal for hunting rifles and a range of damascened barrels for his service in introducing the manufacture of damascened rifle barrels in Austria, etc.”
The following images are courtesy of and © Joh. Springer’s Erben Handels GmbH, Vienna. They show a percussion double rifle of 1 caliber, made by Joh. Schaschl of Ferlach about 1860.
