GALLERY PICTURE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE. INFO ONLY P18-2
Caliber: 7.65mm
Finish: Blued
Bore Condition: G-VG
Stock Condition: Good some mars
Type: Pistol
Metal Condition: G-VG Bluing
Serial #: 2249xx
Markings: Crown N Proofs, Ortgies Paten right side frame, Serial number and GERMANY in front of trigger guard, DEUTSCHE WERKE –monogram- WERK ERFURT on left side of slide
Other Information: more wear on end of barrel, Original logo’d magazine
Deutsche Werke was a German shipbuilding company founded in 1925 when Kaiserliche Werft Kiel and other shipyards were merged. It came as a result of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I that forced the German defence industry to shrink. The company was owned by the government of the Weimar Republic and its headquarter was in Berlin.
Deutsche Werke started building merchant ships but when the Nazi Party gained power in 1933 the production was changed to naval ships. Among the ships built here was the German battlecruiser Gneisenau.
Besides shipbuilding Deutsche Werke also produced firearms. Especially known are the so-called Ortgies pistols which were particular popular in the United States. The pistols were developed by Heinrich Ortgies.
Deutsche Werke facilities and infrastructure was destroyed during World War II by bombing raids. What little that remained was dismantled once the war ended.
ohn, Heinrich Ortgies lived in Liege for many years, while in Belgium, he designed an automatic pistol incorporating patents which were granted to him circa 1916 - 1918. After WWI, Ortgies returned to Germany and set up in business in Erfurt manufacturing Ortgies pistols in 7.65mm calibre. Over 10,000 Ortgies pistols were manufactured by 1921 when Deutsche Werke AG purchased the Ortgies patents and machinery, and took up production of pistols in the Ortgies plant. At first under Deutsche Werke, only 7.65mm pistols were manufactured but Ortgies had also prepared designs for pistols chambered in 6.35mm and 9mm Short. 7.65mm pistols were manufactured from 1920 to 1928, 9mm Short pistols were manufactured from 1922 to 1926, and 6.35mm pistols were manufactured from 1921 to 1928.
While the 6.35mm model is identical, except for size, to the 7.65 model, the 9mm model sometimes exhibits small variations which are probably due to Deutsche Werke. Some examples in both 7.65mm and 9mm are found with a manual safety catch on the left side of the frame at the top center of the butt grip. Another variation is the use of screws to hold the grip plates instead of the patented 'invisible' attachment that was originally used by Ortgies. Early models carry the slide inscription 'Deutsche Werke Aktiengesellschaft: Werke Erfurt' and have the monogram 'HO' let into the butt grips. Later models are inscribed 'Deutsche Werke (monogram) Werke Erfurt' with the monogram in the center of this inscription. On the butt grip is an ornate 'D' formed by a symbolic animal. I have not been able to find any information on any models that were marked Berlin.
The standard commercial proof applied by proof houses for Germany was a Crown over the letter N. The N stood for nitrate based gun powder (smokeless powder). German law required that any gun offered for sale had to have been successfully fired a cartridge with much higher pressure than would ever be used in the gun. German military guns also had to be proofed, but the military used different proof markings.
