The submachine guns of Theodor Bergmann are closely connected with its name recognition and weapons production in the time leading up to the First World War.

Bayard signed an agreement with Schmeisser to manufacture and sell weapons to South Africa and Spain, among other countries.

[1] As the Nazis rose to power during 1933, ten weapons development enterprises in Suhl and Zella-Mehlis merged under the name of "United Suhl-Zella Mehlis Armament Makers".

This central administration was used to coordinate production with the army's needs, and it allowed Schmeisser to make a business acquaintance, which later developed to a friendship, with the aviator Ernst Udet, a deputy of Hermann Göring under Germany's Luftwaffe.

Against the desires of many engineers and technical designers, the Schmeisser brothers continued to enforce patent royalties and manage company funds.

The chief designer, Heinrich Vollmer, revised the basic construction of Erma MP-36 and developed from it the well-known German submachine guns of the Second World War, the MP-38 and the MP-40.

This new automatic weapon, with a shortened 7.92 mm cartridge, allowed for smart usage of resources and high production.

Hugo Schmeisser and his brother Hans were interrogated for weeks by weapon expert teams of the American and British secret services.

One month later, the Red Army assumed control over the area, starting a civilian works project to manufacture weapons for the Soviet Union.

In these Soviet reviews, Schmeisser was described as a "practical man", whose lack of formal training showed whenever he was presented with any design problems.

The 50th anniversary of his death was honored by a ceremony held in Suhl, as he is recognized as one of the most important technical designers of infantry weapons of the 20th century.

[5] There is a theory about Hugo Schmeisser's participation in the design and development of the Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle due to its visual similarities to the Sturmgewehr 44.

74 in 1949, the official orders explicitly prohibited German engineers working there from access to classified developments, including the AK.