Hugo Schneider AG

Overview

Hugo Schneider AG
Industry	Armaments Metal products
Area Served	Germany
Location	German Empire Germany (Deutsches Reich) Germany (Deutsches Reich) Germany (Deutsches Reich)
Founded	1863 (original founding as Häckel und Schneider) 1899 (as Hugo Schneider AG)
Headquarters	Leipzig
Predecessor	Häckel und Schneider
Fate	Destroyed (main building & office, 1945) Seized (1947) Defunct (1979)
Number of Employees	200 (1880) 1,000 (1930) 3,700 (1939) 13,850 (1942)
Key People	• Hugo Schneider (namesake, founder) • Ernst Häckel (co-founder) • Johannes Schneider (founding heir) • Paul Budin (general manager) • Dr. Georg Mumme • Wilhelm Renner

Hugo Schneider AG (abbreviated as HASAG), also known as HASAG Eiwen- u. Metallwerke GmbH, was a German armaments company.

History

HASAG was founded in the mid 1860s producing metal products as Häckel und Schneider. In the 1910s the company began producing weapons for the German military. The company underwent losses after the war ended, but with Germany's rearmament in the early 1930s business improved.

In the early 1940s, forced labor from prison and concentration camps was introduced to many factories, including HASAG facilities. An unknown amount of force laborers (said to be ranging between 4 and 16 thousand) were working for HASAG during the war.

Albert Speer (Reichsminister für Bewaffnung und Munition) gave HASAG special authority to massively increase the production of Panzerfäuste, while also becoming the sole manufacturer of the weapon. Werk Schlieben was one of the major manufacturers of the weapon under HASAG, producing at one stage 1,500,000 a month.

The Soviet offensive was nearing HASAG factories in 1945, with multiple being evacuated or relocated. Many forced laborers could not be moved so were killed prior to the evacuations. The Soviet forces were nearing Leipzig, where HASAG's headquarters was located, the main building and nearby office building were destroyed to prevent capture, presumingly with Paul Budin and his family inside.

The factories that survived the war were repurposed to construct commercial products until 1947 when machinery and equipment was seized by Soviet occupying forces. Many buildings were demolished after their contents seized.

HASAG's civilian patents were used by VEB following the formation of East Germany, being referenced in new products. The HASAG trademark was renewed one last time in 1963, with the brand name becoming defunct in 1974.

Factories

Abteilung Lampenfabrik Code: wa. Leipzig. Werk Altenburg Code: wg. Altenburg. Werk Berlin-Köpenick Code: wb. Berlin / Köpenick. Werk Dermbach Code: wm. Dermbach, Thuringia. Not to be confused with the wn. Werm Dermbach Code: wn. Dermbach, Thuringia. Not to be confused with wm. Werk Eisenach Code: wh. Eisenach. Werk Kielce Code: wf. Kielce. Werk Langewiesen Code: we. Langewiesen. Werk Meuselwitz Code: wc. Mueselwitz. Werk Oberweißbach Code: wj. Oberweißbach. Werk Schleiben Code: wk. Schlieben. Werk Skarzysko Kamienna Code: kam. Skarżysko-Kamienna. Werk Taucha Code: wd. Taucha.

North German Confederation German Empire Companies 18th Century (1800 - 1899)
Artillery & Small Arms	Artillery	[[]]
	Firearms	DWM • Loewe • Sauer
	Optics	Zeiss
Industry	Chemical, Fuel, Power Generation	[[]]
	Metals / Mining	Häckel und Schneider
Uniform	Clothing	[[]]
Vehicles	Aviation	[[]]
	Ground Vehicles	[[]]
	Naval Vessels	[[]]
Vehicle Parts	Aircraft Engines	[[]]
	Automotive Parts	[[]]
	Vehicle Engines	[[]]

German Empire Companies Pre-War & World War I Period (1900 — 1918)
Artillery & Small Arms	Artillery	[[]]
	Firearms	Adler-Waffenwerke • DWM • HASAG • Loewe • Sauer
	Optics	Zeiss
Industry	Chemical, Fuel, Power Generation	[[]]
	Metals / Mining	HASAG
Uniform	Clothing	[[]]
Vehicles	Aviation	[[]]
	Ground Vehicles	[[]]
	Naval Vessels	[[]]
Vehicle Parts	Aircraft Engines	[[]]
	Automotive Parts	[[]]
	Vehicle Engines	[[]]