Swiss Heavy Metal: The Solothurn Anti-Tank Rifles

摘要

Like many other German armament companies, Rheinmetall suffered under the burden of the Treaty of Versailles. As one of the 33 companies in the German Reich officially authorized by the Military Inter-Allied Com- mission of Control (IMKK) to produce war material, Rheinmetall was only permitted to develop and manufacture guns up to and including 17cm caliber, mountings, armor plating and hydraulic equipment. In order to circumvent these restrictive regulations, a suitable location was sought in neutral foreign countries. There, the development of light weapons and the production of test pieces should be possible without any problems. On April 6, 1929, the Rheinische Metallwaaren- und Maschinenfabrik AG (Rheinmetall) and the Waffenfabrik Solothurn AG in Switzerland signed a contract in principle governing future cooperation. The official entry of the new company, "Waffenfabrik Solothurn AG," in the Commercial Register took place on June 27, 1929. After the end of World War Ⅰ, Rheinmetall had suc- ceeded in secretly transporting some 23,000 tons of machinery, tools and production documents to the Netherlands, thus saving them from dismantling. Wrongly declared, they were stored there in rented warehouses for several years before being shipped to Switzerland. They formed the basic equipment of the new Solothurn arms factory and were officially purchased by it in 1930.