Georg Luger

Georg Luger
Luger in 1906
Born	(1849-03-06)6 March 1849 Steinach am Brenner,Austrian Empire
Died	22 December 1923(1923-12-22)(aged 74) Fichtenau,German Reich
Occupation(s)	Accountant, firearms designer
Notable work	Parabellum pistol 9×19mm Parabellumcartridge
Spouse	Elisabeth Josefa Dufek
Children	3

Georg Luger's 1900 patent on theLuger pistol

Georg Johann Luger(6 March 1849 – 22 December 1923) was anAustriandesigner of the famousLuger pistoland the9×19mm Parabellumcartridge.

Early life and military service

Georg Luger was born inSteinach am Brenner,Tyrolto Dr. Bartholomaeus von Luger, a surgeon. After Georg's birth, his family moved to Italy, where Dr. Luger taught at theUniversity of Padua.Georg grew up with Italian as his second mother tongue and finishedGrundschule(primary school) andGymnasium(university-preparatory school) inAustrianPadua.After graduation, his parents sent him to Vienna, where he studied at theWiener Handelsakademie(Vienna Commercial Academy), the predecessor to today'sVienna Business School.

In October 1867, Luger volunteered for military service as a Reserve Officer Cadet with the78th Infantry Regiment.He was promoted toCadett-Corporal(Officer Cadet Corporal) on 1 June 1868, and toFaehnrich(Ensign) on 1 October. Luger's goodmarksmanshipbrought him to the attention of his superiors; he was sent to the Austro-HungarianMilitary Firearms Schoolat Camp Bruckneudorf, where he soon became an instructor. There, his interest in automatic loading systems began. In 1871, Luger was promoted toLeutnant der Reserve(lieutenant) 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) inWorld War Ion 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 metFerdinand von Mannlicherin 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 byLudwig Loewe & Company(ofBerlin,Germany) and gradually became a consultant designer.

In 1894, he was sent to demonstrate aHugo Borchardt-designed weapon, manufactured byDeutsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken(DWM) (which had evolved from Loewe after its founder's death), to theUS Army.The Army rejectedthe pistol,but from criticism he received, Luger improved it, creating theParabellum 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 overpatentroyalties.However, Luger had lost all his savings by this time.

He was decoratedOrder of Prince Danilo I.

He died inFichtenauon 22 December 1923.

Bibliography

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

Sources

• Luger Artillery and Mauser Parabellum - Original Luger handwritten letter to Paul Mauser
• Bogdanovic, Branko (August 2010)."New Data About Georg Luger Concerning Maxim Machine Guns and His Pistol".Small Arms Review.Vol. 14, no. 11. Archived fromthe originalon 4 July 2022.Retrieved11 July2023.