Theodor Bergmann was a German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 businessman and industrialist best remembered for the various revolutionary firearms his companies released. Like many entrepreneurs of the era, his activity was centered on bicycles and the nascent automobile. Armament was not Bergmann's primary focus, but the one he had more attraction to, which was the reason most of his pistols were manufactured under license once they were created, creating pistols and their ammunition.

Theodor Bergmann sold his automobile activity to Carl Benz in 1910.

The first automatic pistol was made by the Clair brothers working in Saint-Étienne

Saint-Étienne

Saint-Étienne is a city in eastern central France. It is located in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Rhône-Alpes region, along the trunk road that connects Toulouse with Lyon...

, France using the newly appeared smokeless powder

Smokeless powder

Smokeless powder is the name given to a number of propellants used in firearms and artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired, unlike the older gunpowder which they replaced...

, created by Paul Vieille in 1884 and used in the 1886 Lebel

Lebel

Lebel is a surname, and may refer to:* Denis Lebel, Canadian politician* Firmin Lebel, French composer* Ghislain Lebel, militant Canadian politician and former Member of Parliament* Hardy LeBel, video game designer...

 rifle, built a pistol in 1888 using a 8mm round derived from the Swiss 7.5mm 1882 round, but it was rejected by the French Army

French Army

The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...

.

The first pistol to be really manufactured with a significant number was designed by an Austrian, Joseph Laumann, and made by Osterreichische Waffenfabrik Gesellschaft, Steyr

Steyr

Steyr is a town, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. The town is situated at the confluence of the rivers Steyr and Enns. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and simultaneously the 3rd largest town in Upper Austria....

 in 1892. It was called the Schönberger-Laumann

Laumman Pistol

The Schönberger-Laumann 1892 was the first semi-automatic pistol. It was invented by the Austrian inventor Joseph Laumann in 1892. The design is very similar to the Bergmann 1896 pistol.Caliber 7.8x19R FMJ...

 and drew an immediate success. OWG later manufactured the Mannlicher 1894.

In 1893, Borchardt and Bergmann first pistols were already proposed in Europe and in America. The Borchardt evolved into the Borchardt Luger then into the Luger or Parabellum

Parabellum

The word Parabellum is a noun coined by German arms maker Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken and is derived from the Latin saying si vis pacem, para bellum, meaning If you wish for peace, prepare for war...

 as known in Europe and became one of the most famous pistols in the world.

A new Bergmann model pistol was patented every year:

• Bergmann 1893
• Bergmann 1894
• Bergmann 1895
• Bergmann 1896
  Bergmann 1896
  The Bergmann 1896 was a 19th century semi-automatic pistol developed by German designer Theodor Bergmann. A contemporary of the Mauser C96 and Borchardt C-93 pistols, the Bergmann failed to achieve the same widespread success, although Bergmann himself later went on to design one of the earliest...
  
  
• Bergmann 1897  aka Bergmann Pieper
• Bergmann 1898
• Bergmann 1899
• Bergmann 1901  aka Bergmann Simplex
  Bergmann Simplex
  The Bergmann Simplex was a compact firearm produced in the early 1900s, utilizing innovations from the earlier Bergman Model 1896 pistol, as well as the Mars pistol. It was chambered for the proprietary Bergmann-Simplex 8mm cartridge.-Sources:...
  
  
• Bergmann Mars
• Bergmann 1905
• Bergmann 1908  aka Bergmann-Bayard 1908
• Bergmann 1910  aka Bergmann-Bayard 1910
• Bergmann 1910/21 aka Bergmann-Bayard 1910/21

Bergmann designed the Bergmann MG15 nA Gun

Bergmann MG15 nA Gun

The Bergmann MG15 was the World War I production version of a prototype machine gun designed in 1910, the brainchild of Theodor Bergmann and Louis Schmeisser. It should not be confused with the similarly designated Rheinmetall MG-15, which was a completely different weapon, whose nomenclature is...

 a LMG using a locking system he patented in 1901. It was used until World War II as the MG 15 machine gun

In 1915, the German Rifle Testing Commission at Spandau

Spandau

Spandau is the fifth of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is the fourth largest and westernmost borough, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and along the western bank of the Havel, but the least populated.-Overview:...

 decided to develop a new weapon for trench warfare

Trench warfare

Trench warfare is a form of occupied fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops are largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery...

. The original intention had been to modify existing semi-automatic pistols, specifically the Luger

Luger pistol

The Pistole Parabellum 1908 or Parabellum-Pistole , popularly known as the Luger, is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol. The design was patented by Georg J...

 and C96 Mauser

Mauser C96

The Mauser C96 is a semi-automatic pistol that was originally produced by German arms manufacturer Mauser from 1896 to 1937...

. However, the mechanisms of these pistols were not suited to the stresses of full automatic fire, let alone the dirt and debris of the typical battlefield along with light weight weapons being difficult to control in full automatic fire. Based upon this, the Commission determined that a completely new kind of weapon was needed.

Hugo Schmeisser

Hugo Schmeisser

Hugo Schmeisser was a German developer of infantry weapons in the 20th century.Schmeisser was born in Jena, Saxe-Weimar. His father, Louis Schmeisser , was one of the best-known weapons designers in Europe...

, working for the Bergmann Waffenfabrik, was part of a team that designed a new type of weapon to fulfill the requirements, which was designated the MP18

MP18

The MP18.1 manufactured by Theodor Bergmann Waffenbau Abteilung was the first practical submachine gun used in combat. It was introduced into service in 1918 by the German Army during World War I as the primary weapon of the Stosstruppen, assault groups specialized in trench combat...

 or Maschinenpistole 18/I.

Theodor Bergmann's company still exists today as a plastics manufacturer.

External links

• Theodor Bergmann in German
• Guns & Ammo, May 2003 Bergmann pistols
• Pieper Belgium licensed manufacturer of Bergmann pistol under the brand Bergmann Bayard.
• 9mm Largo, 9mm Bergmann
• MG15
• MP 18.1 Video, Informations and Pictures
• A Bergmann MP 18 built in Tsing Tao, China in 1927
• Historic Arms
• Springfield Armory's Villar Perosa