GTW
FEATURE
Managing director Olaf Sauer gives
thanks as he recalls the 120-year-old
history of the Merkel brand in Suhl.
1 2 0 Y E A R S
A B R A N D R E D E F I N E S I T S E L F
With German arms manufacturer Merkel is celebrating its
120th birthday, Gun Trade World looks at what the company
has been doing to celebrate this momentous achievement.
This traditional Germany company
from Suhl was founded in
September 1898 and has positioned
itself as a supplier of premium hunting guns
since the very beginning of its journey. e
jubilee program in Suhl consisted of an
o cial celebration with suppliers, politicians
and executive o cers in the Merkel
manufacturing facility, while members of the
founders’ families travelled in from Australia.
Back in spring of this year the jubilee year
was celebrated in Nuremberg with a gala
at the IWA Show, to which the importers
and partners were invited. In a short speech
during the celebrations, managing director
Olaf Sauer gave a reminder of the company’s
40 www.guntradeworld.com
beginnings during the German empire, paid
tribute to the time of the two World Wars
and the German Democratic Republic and
ended with a look at where the rm is today.
INNOVATIVE
Merkel employs approximately 140 workers
in Suhl; members of the Merkel group are
C.G. Haenel GmbH - another traditional
Suhl weapons manufacturer - and the tool
and robot control systems specialist BWO,
situated in Oberndorf am Neckar.
Olaf Sauer, who himself has been
directing the company for more than ten
years stated that the Merkel brand has
managed to rede ne itself more than once
in the past. Recently, the brand image has
been thoroughly revised: “Merkel presents
itself today as an innovative company with
strong relations to its Suhl roots,” says Olaf.
“For example, our bolt-action ri e line Helix
o ers products which represent the Suhl
class in a new technological way.”
At the same time, Merkel still produces
classic hunting guns of hand-made quality
- drop barrel ri es and shotguns with a high
regard for aesthetics.
THE MERKEL FAMILY TREE
e assistant to the Merkel management,
Bettina Sokolowski, and her team
underwent detailed research about the
/www.guntradeworld.com