Georg Johann Luger (6 March 1849 – 22 December 1923) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

designer of the famous

Luger pistol The Pistole Parabellum or Parabellum-Pistole (Pistol Parabellum), commonly known as just the Luger or Luger P08, is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol. The Luger was produced in several models and by several nations from 1 ...

and the

9×19mm Parabellum The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO or simply 9mm) is a Rim (firearms)#Rimless, rimless, Centerfire ammunition, centerfire, tapered cartridge (firearms), firearms cartridge. Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer ...

cartridge.

Early life and military service

Georg Luger was born in

Steinach am Brenner Steinach am Brenner is a market town in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol located south of Innsbruck in the Wipptal at the Sill River. Geography Steinach am Brenner is located in Wipptal, along the Sill R ...

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

to Dr. Bartholomaeus von Luger, a surgeon. After Georg's birth, his family moved to Italy, where Dr. Luger taught at the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

. Georg grew up with Italian as his second mother tongue and finished ''

Grundschule Education in Germany is primarily the responsibility of individual German States of Germany, states (), with the federal government only playing a minor role. While kindergarten (nursery school) is optional, formal education is compulsory for a ...

'' (

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

) and '' Gymnasium'' (

university-preparatory school A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily design ...

) in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

. After graduation, his parents sent him to Vienna, where he studied at the ''Wiener Handelsakademie'' (Vienna Commercial Academy), the predecessor to today's

Vienna Business School Vienna Business School is a private educational institution in Austria with a focus on business and economics, operated in Vienna and Mödling by the Fonds der Wiener Kaufmannschaft (Viennese Merchants Guild). Overview The Fonds der Wiener K ...

. In October 1867, Luger volunteered for military service as a Reserve Officer Cadet with the . He was promoted to ''Cadett-Corporal'' (Officer Cadet Corporal) on 1 June 1868, and to ''Faehnrich'' (Ensign) on 1 October. Luger's good

marksman A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting. In modern military usage this typically refers to the use of projectile weapons such as an accurized telescopic sight, scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle (or a sniper ri ...

ship brought him to the attention of his superiors; he was sent to the Austro-Hungarian Military Firearms School at Camp Bruckneudorf, where he soon became an instructor. There, his interest in automatic loading systems began. In 1871, Luger was promoted to ''Leutnant der Reserve'' (

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

) and moved to the military reserve.

Family

Luger married Elisabeth Josefa Dufek in 1873. He moved to Vienna with her and they had three children (in order): *''Georg Franz Luger'' *''Julius Wilhelm Bartholomaeus Luger'' (born 16 March 1880) *''Friedrich Alexander Georg Luger'' (born 26 April 1884) Luger's first son, Georg Franz, became a civil engineer and joined his father in military weapons development. His second son fell as a Hauptmann d.R. (Reservist Captain) in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

on the Galician front in 1915.

After the military

After leaving the military, Luger worked as an accountant and later in the management of the Jockey Club, one of the top social meeting points in Vienna. He met Ferdinand von Mannlicher in about 1875 and the two collaborated on rifle magazine designs, which seemed to awaken a latent talent for design within Luger. In 1891, Luger was employed by

Ludwig Loewe & Company ''Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken Aktiengesellschaft'' (German Weapons and Munitions public limited company), known as DWM, was an arms company in Imperial Germany created in 1896 when ''Ludwig Loewe & Company'' united its weapons and am ...

(of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) and gradually became a consultant designer. In 1894, he was sent to demonstrate a

Hugo Borchardt Hugo Borchardt (June 6, 1844 – May 8, 1924) was a German firearms inventor and engineer, born in Magdeburg, Kingdom of Prussia. He is known for his inventions of the Borchardt C-93 pistol and the Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 rifle. In 1860 he ...

-designed weapon, manufactured by

Deutsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken ''Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken Aktiengesellschaft'' (German Weapons and Munitions public limited company), known as DWM, was an arms company in Imperial Germany created in 1896 when ''Ludwig Loewe & Company'' united its weapons and am ...

(DWM) (which had evolved from Loewe after its founder's death), to the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. The Army rejected the pistol, but from criticism he received, Luger improved it, creating the Parabellum pistol (commonly called a Luger), and patenting it in 1898. This pistol was a success for both Luger and DWM. Luger's contract with DWM was cancelled in 1919 and he successfully sued them over

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

. However, Luger had lost all his savings by this time. He was decorated

Order of Prince Danilo I The Order of Prince Danilo I () is an order, formerly of the Principality and later Kingdom, of Montenegro; it is currently a dynastic order granted by the head of the House of Petrović-Njegoš, Crown Prince Nicholas. It is awarded to promine ...

. He died in

Fichtenau Fichtenau is a community of several villages, in the district of Schwäbisch Hall, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the ...

on 22 December 1923.

Bibliography

* ''Imperial Lugers'' by Jan C. Still (Still's Books, 1994) * ''Third Reich Lugers'' by Jan C. Still (Still's Books, 1988) * ''Weimar Lugers'' by Jan C. Still (Still's Books, 1993) * ''Lugers at Random'' by Charles Kenyon (Hand Gun Press, 1990) * ''La Luger Artiglieria'' by Mauro Baudino (Editoriale Olimpia, 2004) * ''The Complete Handgun'' by Ian V Hogg (Peerage Books, 1984) * ''The Parabellum is Back! 1945 - 2000'' by Mauro Baudino & Gerben van Vlimmeren (Simpson Ltd., 2010)

References

Sources

Luger Artillery and Mauser Parabellum - Original Luger handwritten letter to Paul Mauser
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Luger, Georg Johann 1849 births 1923 deaths People from Innsbruck-Land District Weapon designers Firearm designers Austro-Hungarian Army officers