Indeed it is possible that Ludwig Koppensteiner did hail from Linz from circa 1919 to the mid 1920s, when he appears to have dropped off the globe. Is Linz atop the tubes? He may have originally hung out his shingle in Urfahr, Austria in the latter part of the 19th Century. At the end of WWI when the Austro-Hungarian empire was dissolved, Urfahr absorbed a city adjacent to it and then the sum was absorbed by Linz making Urfahr a suburb. Seemingly a moot point as only about 3km, and the Danube River, separated Urfahr & Linz. Urfahr was created and/or was a market place by Royal decree in the early part of the 19th Century and incorporated in 1882, so Ludwig Koppensteiner examples with the city of Urfahr atop would be post 1882. Urfahr is on the North side of the Danube while Linz was/is South of the Danube with both being only 30km or so from the Czech border. Adolf Hitler spent about 10 years of his childhood in Linz. So firearms merchant Ludwig Koppensteiner either moved from Urfahr to Linz or his address changed. It is possible that Ludwig Koppensteiner adorned his wares, but he heavily sourced the craftsmen of Suhl & Zella-Mehlis and may have partnered with a larger concern like August Schüler early on in his peddling. If his offerings included bolt guns, August Schüler was a common source who in turn sourced either Sempert & Krieghoff or E. Schmidt & Habermann. Your example looks to be a August Schüler Model 1, if it is devoid of engraving. A Model 2 if with light engraving with both being offered in 12, 16 & 20 bores. Models 1b & 2b are capes with a single set trigger for the solid projectile tube. I don't see a date stamp, but the weapon looks to be from Suhl from the 1912-1923 period. Any Krupp steel stamps?
R.A. or R.N.?
Kind Regards,
Raimey
rse
