Carl Walther

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Carl William Freund Walther (22 November 1858 – 9 July 1915) was a German gunsmith from Zella-Mehlis, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who founded the firm of Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen, generally known as Walther, in 1886.

Walther's father, August Theodor Albert Walther, was a brass and iron caster. His mother, Rosalie Wilhelmine Amalie Pistor, came from the gunsmith family of Pistor, and was the daughter of William Pistor. Walther studied under gunsmith Willibald Barthelmes, and later under Albin Schneider. He worked making Mauser rifles for the Jopp company in Zella-Mehlis. In autumn 1886 he opened his own gunshop in Zella-Mehlis and soon hired additional workmen to meet the demand for the sports (target) rifles he made. His rifles were based on the Martini-Henry design. In 1888, he married Minna Georgine Pickert, the daughter of the revolver manufacturer Christian Friedrich Pickert, and they had five sons.