!!!Gewehre

Guns (gunsmiths): The art of firearm-making plays an important role in 
the history of technology and crafts in Austria. This art had its 
heyday in the Renaissance and Baroque period. Firearms from these 
periods are valuable collectors´ items, especially those made by 
master craftsmen from Vienna, Salzburg, Ferlach, and rural villages in 
Tyrol, Lower Austria and Upper Austria. The barrels of these firearms 
very often had a deep blue surface finish and were inlaid with gold 
ornaments. Locks were cut and engraved with ornaments and miniature 
figures. Stocks were elegantly designed, carved, inlaid and decorated 
with ornamental fittings of brass and heavy silver.

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The Zelner (Zellner) dynasty (1595-1829), originally from Zell am Moos 
in the province of Salzburg, became famous for their highly skilled 
work and beautifully decorated firearms. In 1692 Kaspar Zelner went to 
work in Vienna, where, together with Markus Zelner, he produced some 
of the most important pieces of that time. In the 17%%sup th/%  
century the Klett family started to design guns. Together with Johann 
Krach, they created innovative gunpowder weapons and repeating rifles 
and forerunners of firearms of modern semi -automatic magazine guns 
were developed.

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The town of  Ferlach, Carinthia, is well known for its gun making. As 
early as 1558, hunting rifles and shotguns were being manufactured in 
Ferlach. Nowadays this production site is still famous for the 
manufacturing of hunting rifles. Each piece is skilfully decorated and 
engraved by craftsmen, and the products are sold through a 
co-operative. In 1879 a technical school for gunsmiths and engravers 
was founded (Fachschule fuer Gewehrindustrie). A Hoehere technische 
Lehranstalt fuer Waffentechnik (upper-level school of weapons 
technology) was also established in Ferlach.

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Another town where gun-making started very early was Steyr. It became 
especially famous due to the work of J.  Werndl. Muzzle-loaders 
(Lorenz System) were produced in Austria from 1854 onwards. This 
system was further developed in 1866 (breech-loaders; Waenzl System). 
In 1865 Werndl and his foreman K.  Holub designed the "Werndl Rifle", 
with a calibre reduced to 11mm. It was introduced on the Austrian 
market in 1876. Werndl also introduced the machine production of guns 
(1855), and the production site in Steyr thus also became competitive 
in the world market ( especially against the big British, Belgium and 
French companies).

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In the early 1880s, Austria also started replacing, on a trial basis, 
conventional single-loading rifles with repeating rifles (Fruwirth 
11mm and Kropatschek Portuguese 8mm). In 1885, the "Mannlicher" 
repeating rifle designed by F.  Mannlicher and Schoenauer was selected 
as the most promising design, and gained world-renown. It was improved 
in terms of mechanics as well as ballistics (reduced barrel calibre, 
and bullet weight, lowering the overall weight of the gun from 4.45kg 
to 3.65kg). Steyr soon extended production to hunting rifles, and from 
1895 onwards to pistols and machine guns. From 1867 until 1922 the 
Steyr production site (Oesterreichische Waffenfabriks-AG) produced 9, 
633, 774 guns. During World War II the Steyr factory  
Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG produced 11% of all German guns (calibre 98). 
Since 1955 it has also produced all guns for the Austrian army 
(automatic rifle 58, automatic rifle 77, marksman´s rifle 69, 
machine gun 74) together with Mannlicher AG & Co KG. Steyr-Mannlicher 
AG & Co KG also produces pistols and weapons for hunting and sports 
shooting. Hunting rifles are still produced in Ferlach, also for 
export.

!Literature
E. Baumgartner, Die Geschichte der Waffenerzeugung in 
Ferlach, doctoral thesis, Innsbruck 1953; M. Pfaffenwimmer, Die 
wirtschaftliche und soziale Entwicklung der "Oe. 
Waffenfabriksgesellschaft" unter der Leitung des Gen.-Dir. Josef 
Werndl 1869-89, doctoral thesis, Vienna 1985.


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