Edmund Heckler

Born on 2 February 1906.
Edmund Heckler passed his apprenticeship with Messrs. Mauser. In 1925 he attended an engineering school in Esslingen. In 1936 he applied to work with Messrs. Schneider AG and quickly made a career with him finally managing three of their plants.

Theodor Koch

Born on 13 May 1905.
Theodor Koch passed his apprenticeship as a precision mechanic. He then attended an engineering school in Esslingen. In 1924 he started work for Messrs. Mauser,Oberndorf as an engineer and stayed with them until 1931.

Alex Seidel

Born on 4 July 1909.
Alex Seidel passed his apprenticeship with Messrs. Mauser to become an industrial mechanic. He then attended the Esslingen engineering school and started to work for Mauser again in 1932.

On 28 December 1949

this engineering office changed its name into Heckler & Koch GmbH and was registered officially. Influenced by the experiences of World War II and under the existing limitations in terms of production of war weapons put up by the Allied Forces the company started to produce other urgently needed goods like bicycle and sewing-machine components.

In 1955

the Federal Republic of Germany was integrated in the Western Defence Alliance. This also led to the foundation of the new German Army called the Bundeswehr including its specific requirements for equipment.

In 1956

Heckler & Koch participated in the German Government's tender for a new infantry rifle. With its development of the G3 assault rifle, which was a milestone in modern rifle engineering; Heckler & Koch won this tender.

In 1959

the G3 was officially declared as the new standard assault rifle of the German Bundeswehr.

In 1966

the first sample of a new machine pistol HK54 was produced. Three years later this HK54 was launched to the market as the MP5 which gained a great reputation worldwide.

In 1974

Heckler & Koch looked back on 25 years of successful work. The company diversified into two business areas, though other business elements were established as well:

• HK Defence and Law Enforcement Technology
• HK Hunting and Sports guns

In 1990

Heckler & Koch finished the development of the revolutionary case-less weapon system G11, which it had started for the Bundeswehr and other NATO partners. The technical success of this system did not turn into a business success for the company. The sudden changes in the world’s political situation and the non-award of a procurement contract to HK for this G11 system put the company in a very difficult situation.

In 1991

Heckler & Koch is sold to become a part of the large British defence group British Aerospace/Royal Ordnance.

In 1994/95

the German Bundeswehr adopts a new standard assault rifle and a standard pistol for its troops. Again Heckler & Koch was the successful bidder for this programme and started to produce the P8 pistol and the G36 assault rifle.

In 2002

British Aerospace/Royal Ordnance restructured its business and sells Heckler & Koch to private investors.

In 2003

the owners restructure the business set-up for the group and separate the business into a commercial and a defence / law enforcement segment. The newly set-up Heckler & Koch Jagd und Sportwaffen GmbH (HKJS) started its operations on 1 July 2003.