Ludwig Loewe
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Ludwig Loewe (November 27, 1837 - died September 11, 1886), was a German merchant, manufacturer, philanthropist and a member of the Reichstag. Loewe's companies became involved in the production of armaments, employing famous designers and creating notable guns.
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[edit] Manufacturing
Loewe was born in in Heiligenstadt, Germany. He set up Ludwig Loewe Commanditgesellschaft auf Aktien für Fabrikation von Nähmaschinen A.G. in 1869 to produce sewing machines. In 1872 an agreement was reached with the Germany army to produce rifles for them. For this he set up a separate armaments company Ludwig Loewe & Company (also known as Loewe & Company).
[edit] Armaments
Loewe's armaments company was famous in that it held a controlling interest in Waffenfabrik Mauser so was able to reap financial success from the C96 pistol when Loewe's own Borchardt semi-automatic pistol, designed by employee Hugo Borchardt, was not selling well. [1]
Ludwig Loewe & Company also employed Georg Luger, the inventor of the Luger pistol (as well as the associated gun cartridges).
[edit] After Loewe's death
After Loewe died in Berlin his younger brother Isidor Loewe took over the running of the company. The name of the main company was eventually changed to Gesellschaft für Elektrische Unternehmungen Ludwig Loewe & Co. A.G.. This 'Loewe Group' of companies had three main products: electricity, machinery, and armaments.
The armaments group, Ludwig Loewe & Company, was merged with two other manufacturers, one being the German company DMK (Note 1), to form Deutsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken (DWM).
[edit] Loewe and his faith
Loewe was criticised due to his Jewish faith, something which also affects his family. (It is to be noted that no mention is made whether he was practicing his faith.) His estate was later claimed by the Nazi government in the 1930s, and a claim was made against this action later on by his descendants [2].
[edit] Notes
(1) Loewe's company was reported to have merged with 'DMK' [3], as well as with another company [4] . However the exact company cannot be identified. However it can be speculated that both companies were armaments companies originally, suggesting that DMK may have been Deutsche Metall-Patronen-Fabrik [5].
