Ludwig Loewe

Ludwig Loewe (November 27, 1837 – September 11, 1886) was a German merchant, manufacturer, philanthropist and a member of the Reichstag. Loewe's companies became involved in the production of armaments, employing famous designers and creating notable guns.

Loewe was born as Louis Levy in Heiligenstadt, Germany into a Jewish family. He set up Ludwig Loewe Commanditgesellschaft auf Aktien für Fabrikation von Nähmaschinen A.G. in 1869 to produce sewing machines. In 1872 an agreement was reached with the German army to produce rifles for them. For this he set up a separate armaments company Ludwig Loewe & Company (also known as Loewe & Company).

Loewe's armaments company was famous in that it held a controlling interest in Waffenfabrik Mauser so was able to reap financial success from the C96 pistol when Loewe's own Borchardt semi-automatic pistol, designed by employee Hugo Borchardt, was not selling well.

Ludwig Loewe & Company also employed Georg Luger, the inventor of the Luger pistol (as well as the associated gun cartridges).

After Loewe died in Berlin his younger brother Isidor Loewe took over the running of the company. The name of the main company was eventually changed to Gesellschaft für Elektrische Unternehmungen Ludwig Loewe & Co. A.G.. This 'Loewe Group' of companies had three main products: electricity, machinery, and armaments.

In 1896, Ludwig Loewe & Cie obtained a majority interest in the Karlsruhe-based Deutsche Metallpatronenfabrik. In the same year, it was decided to merge the ammunition production of Deutsche Metallpatronenfabrik with Loewe's firearms branch in Berlin, creating a new company of which Loewe remained the owner: Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken (DWM).

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