Sauer & Sohn

J.P. Sauer und Sohn GmbH
Company information
Country of origin	Germany
Headquarters	Isny im Allgäu, Germany
Product types	Firearms Machinery Air compressors
Key people	Johann Paul Sauer Lorenz Sauer Matthias Klotz Florian Hasler Michael Lüke
Areas served	Worldwide
History
Founder(s)	Lorenz Sauer
Founded	1751
Affiliations
Owner(s)	L&O Holdings
Other information
Other name(s)	Sauer
Slogan(s)	Überlegene Werte (Superior Value)
Notable products	Sauer 38H Sauer M30 Sauer 303

J.P. Sauer und Sohn GmbH is a German manufacturing company founded in 1751 by Lorenz Sauer, specializing in firearms, machinery and air compressors. The company is the oldest firearms manufacturer still active in Germany, as well as the oldest recorded firearms manufacturer in Germany.

History

Sauer was founded in 1751 by Lorenz Sauer in Suhl, and initially began producing military arms. Sauer found various partners throughout his time as ownership of the company, entering a cooperation with J.S. Spangenberg and then became the first arms company to provide arms to a German government.

Johann Gotlobb Sauer assumed ownership in 1815, while Johann Paul Sauer assumed ownership from the elder Sauer in 1835, opening his own workshop and renaming the company to J.P. Sauer und Sohn, with his son Lorenz. Production of various types of arms soon followed, along with various patents, including that of a "drilling" design.

The Sauer rifle factory was built in Suhl in 1937, churning out Karabiner 98ks and other weapons for the German war effort. At the end of World War II, most equipment from the Sauer factories is dismantled and moved to West Germany, along with Rolf-Dietrich Sauer. What was left of the company was restructured and renamed to VEB MEWA Fortuna-Werk in 1951. What was now VEB Fortuna was then consolidated along with four other companies, namely what was originaly Haenel, Merkel, Greifelt & Co. and Otto Reif, into one single publicly-owned enterprise known as VEB Fahrzeug- und Jagdwaffenwerk „Ernst Thälmann“, also known as FAJAS.

While in West Germany, Rolf Sauer sets up J.P. Sauer & Sohn AG with businessman Fritz Bohmmüller, based in Eckenförde. The company received production contracts from all manner of countries, from Pakistan to the United States; the company was rapidly expanding as a result. The company was taken over by the Wilhelm Poppe compressor factories in 1966 and subsequently merged with it, Hydromechanik Maschinenbau and Veltrup-Werke to form J.P. Sauer & Sohn Maschinenbau GmbH.

Come 1976, the arms business of J.P. Sauer & Sohn Maschinenbau GmbH was sold off to SIG to become SIG Sauer. SIG then sold off its arms factories and similar production lines to the Luke & Ortmeier Group in 2000; this included Sauer, Blaser and Hämmerli among other brands. The company was subsequently reorganized as J.P. Sauer & Sohn GmbH and moved to Isny in Germany, where they remain.

Products

Sauer is known for producing pistols such as the 38H and rifles like the M30. In its current incarnation, Sauer produces hunting rifles such as the 303.