Georg Luger
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Georg Johann Luger (born March 6, 1849 in Steinach am Brenner, Austria - died December 22, 1923) was an Austrian designer of the famous Luger pistol.
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[edit] Early life and military service
Georg Luger was born to Bartholomaeus Luger, a surgeon. He went to school in Padua, Italy, and later to the Vienna Commercial High School.
Luger volunteered for military service with the 78th Line Regiment on December 19, 1867. He was promoted to Corporal on June 1, 1868. Luger's good marksmanship enabled him to attend the Military Firearms School; his interest in automatic loading systems was gained here. In 1871 Luger was promoted to lieutenant and moved to the military reserve.
[edit] Family
Luger married Elisabeth Josefa Dufek in 1873. He moved to Vienna with her and they had three children (in order):
- Georg Franz Luger
- Julius Wilhelm Bartholomaeus Luger (born March 16, 1880)
- Friedrich Alexander Georg Luger (born April 26, 1884)
Luger's first son, Georg Franz, became an engineer and joined his father in military weapons development. His second son died during World War I on the Galician front in 1915.
[edit] After the military
After leaving the military Luger worked as an accountant, and later in the management of the Royal Jockey Club, in Vienna.
During the 1870s Luger was employed by Ludwig Loewe & Company (of Berlin, Germany). He met with Ferdinand Mannlicher and was employed as a representative of Loewe to sell Mannlicher rifles.
In 1894 he was sent to demonstrate the Borchardt pistol to the US Army for Deutsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken (DWM), the company which had evolved from Loewe after its founders death. The Borchardt was designed by Hugo Borchardt who had also worked for Loewe. The US Army rejected the Borchardt pistol. However from the design criticism that he received Luger improved the Borchardt design, so creating the Luger pistol. This pistol was a success for both Luger and DWM.
Luger's contract with DWM was cancelled in 1919 and he successfully sued them over patent royalties. However Luger had lost all his savings after this time.
