Stephan98k
aka 8x57IS
I have translated a interesting document from August 1920, I think it fits into this forum.
1920 Hand weapons over
- Thread starter Stephan98k
- Start date
I think it more than fits, it is central to the theme of the era!
Wonderful piece of history, in my original article on the subject, and the synopsis I wrote for Gunboards and this forum, much of it was based upon Wolfgang's provided documents, one very similar to this one but more detailed. More of an instruction sheet as I remember... he didn't want to be mentioned back then, but his contributions are often central to the things I write. Of course I also used period news journals (for the color of the Spa conference and Seeckt's unperturbed demeanor, - foolish politicians that thought they could intimidate a brilliant Officer..), also the discussions held, which you can't find in books, which is what drove this buy back and collection (which is why period news journals are so important to obscures subjects like Spa and Danzig).
Anyway, I will add these two pictures and a link to this thread on my stickie post on the subject. Thanks for posting this and the translation! This is the stuff that most interests me, this would be in a picture frame on the wall if I owned it!
Wonderful piece of history, in my original article on the subject, and the synopsis I wrote for Gunboards and this forum, much of it was based upon Wolfgang's provided documents, one very similar to this one but more detailed. More of an instruction sheet as I remember... he didn't want to be mentioned back then, but his contributions are often central to the things I write. Of course I also used period news journals (for the color of the Spa conference and Seeckt's unperturbed demeanor, - foolish politicians that thought they could intimidate a brilliant Officer..), also the discussions held, which you can't find in books, which is what drove this buy back and collection (which is why period news journals are so important to obscures subjects like Spa and Danzig).
Anyway, I will add these two pictures and a link to this thread on my stickie post on the subject. Thanks for posting this and the translation! This is the stuff that most interests me, this would be in a picture frame on the wall if I owned it!
Warrior1354
ax - hole
What a wonderful piece of information Stephan you find some of the best documents, thank you for the translation and the time spent finding items like this. I did talk to some collectors at the SOS show that have been to Germany in the past few years. And they told me to this day they still find items in peoples houses buried in the walls, basements, or hidden rooms.
gew98
Well-known member
I used to converse with Dietriech J. whom came from munich every year for the SOS. Have not heard from him since 2015. He bought a lot of nice german pistols and accessories. Hell I had a Kolonial gewehr rear sight assy and gave it to him - you'd have thought I gave a candy starved kid a motherload of candy. Always he had a story or two of things "being found". The best one he told me of was a courthouse in Bavaria where they took out some old steps to modernize and found two dozen gew98's with loads of ammo in bandoliers and hand grenades. Himself and another fellow were made aware of these and saved the gewehr's to licensed collectors , but the ammo and grenades had to be turned over to the polizei. These were all straight imperial and hidden no doubt during the 'communist' troubles there right after the war.
Like a good german he loved REAL whiskey and moonshine. I used to send him home with some until it got impossible to bring home on the plane home.
Interesting regarding the hidden rifles, old government buildings seem to be common, I have read of several similar situations, especially in more rural areas. Railyards were common too, so too old estates, though such places weren't suitable for long term hiding. I never read that the IAMCC searching civil institutions.. probably why they survived hidden so long. They were focused upon industrial concerns and military or former military structures. A few thousand men, inspectors being a small fraction of those present could never hope to search every home business or courthouse. Though there was no real reason anyway, they knew the Germans hid large numbers of rifles and equipment, Germany was awash in spies and informers (especially Prussia where the Prussian police routinely captured Reichsheer/volunteers hidden stores, - so it wasn't only the IAMCC after them...) but the central government knew the full scope (inventory) by 1926 for sure, Seeckt's replacement, General Heye informed the government of all efforts in this regard and the government took steps to stop Prussia from interfering (IAMCC was out the door by 1927).
Bavaria was always a hot spot anyway, I bet more exist in Bavaria than the rest combined, the nature of the region and rural environment (not to mention their close-up of what communism represents...) made it a prime hiding ground for illegal weapons.
Dietrich was a solid collector too, he was part of a email group a decade ago and had some really good observations, some of which I saved. Iknow CB was among that group, possibly PeterS and Bugan also, but I haven't heard of him in nearly a decade.
Bavaria was always a hot spot anyway, I bet more exist in Bavaria than the rest combined, the nature of the region and rural environment (not to mention their close-up of what communism represents...) made it a prime hiding ground for illegal weapons.
Dietrich was a solid collector too, he was part of a email group a decade ago and had some really good observations, some of which I saved. Iknow CB was among that group, possibly PeterS and Bugan also, but I haven't heard of him in nearly a decade.
