Rheinmetall

Rheinmetall AG is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. Its shares are traded on the Frankfurt stock exchange. The Hörder Verein established the Rheinische Metallwaaren- und Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft in 1889. Banker and investor Lorenz Zuckermandel (1847–1928) was one of the founders and the first chairman of the supervisory board. The company manufactured steel products, including armaments. During the post-World War I disarmament of Germany, Rheinmetall diversified, but by the 1930s armament manufacture resumed. In 1933, it acquired A. Borsig GmbH, which manufactured locomotives. In 1999 it bought the Swiss firm Oerlikon Contraves, which it renamed Rheinmetall Air Defence in 2009. At some point it bought the Swiss firm Oerlikon Contraves Pyrotec, which it later renamed RWM Schweiz. In 2009 it bought RF Engines on the Isle of Wight. On 13 April 1889, the Hörder Bergwerks- und Hüttenverein under General Director Joseph Massenez founded the Rheinische Metallwaaren- und Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft, the now Rheinmetall AG to supply ammunition for the German Empire. The Thuringian engineer Heinrich Ehrhardt built the first Rheinmetall plant in Düsseldorf and ran it until 1920. In 1901 Dreysesche Gewehrfabrik, Munitions- und Waffenfabrik was acquired. After World War I, as a result of the limitations imposed upon Germany in the Treaty of Versailles, Rheinmetall produced non-military items including locomotives, steam ploughs and office equipment. The very first locomotive manufactured by Rheinmetall was a Prussian G 10, later renumbered . Rheinmetall would produce 302 engines from this series and some Prussian G 12 as well. Military production recommenced in 1921, and in 1925, the German government acquired a majority stake of the company. The railway locomotive manufacturer August Borsig GmbH was taken over in 1933; in 1936 the two merged to create Rheinmetall-Borsig AG. In 1938 the company headquarters moved from Düsseldorf to Berlin.