Ah, I forgot to translate the text:
„The shotgun in question is a piece of great historical interest, with numerous connections to other Suhl-based sporting gun manufacturers. Otto Reif was born in Suhl on April 15, 1884. His father also worked for a gun manufacturer until 1895, and his mother came from the renowned Kerner family firm. In 1898, Otto began an apprenticeship as an action maker (lock maker) at the famous Simson company in Suhl. In the interim, he completed his military service and attended a technical school in Frankfurt am Main. When production of a suitable passenger car began in 1911, Otto Reif transferred to Simson’s vehicle production division. He obtained his driver's license and an instructor's license, and conducted test drives in the Thuringian mountains. Upon the outbreak of the war, he became an armorer for the 71st Infantry Regiment but was soon transferred back to Suhl to continue working in arms production. In 1917, he received an Imperial decoration for outstanding achievements in weapons manufacturing.
After the war, the Simson family invested the enormous profits from arms production primarily into vehicle manufacturing. From 1921 onwards, he also tried his hand at motor racing. In 1924, Simson’s new "Supra" car was unveiled, and Otto Reif drove it in races. He won 32 races with the vehicle, becoming Germany's first major racing driver and the head of Simson's racing department. Using his race winnings, among other funds, he opened his own company in Suhl in 1926, dealing in vehicles and firearms. In 1928, his son died while racing motorcycles. This personal tragedy, combined with the economic difficulties of the era, led to the bankruptcy of his own business. From 1939 to 1945, Reif is recorded as the managing director of the Heym company. Following the end of the war and the Heym family's flight to the West, Reif took over parts of the Heym factory premises and established his own company, "Otto Reif Metallwarenfabrik Suhl." Undoubtedly due to his pre-war employment, he maintained a close relationship with the Suhl-based firm Simson & Co. (the action of the double-barreled shotgun in question bears Simson company markings). It is likely that many shotguns were sourced from there in the "white-finished" state—fully machined but unpolished and unengraved—and subsequently completed at his own facility. Additionally, the new authorities appointed him managing director of the Sauer & Sohn company; the serial number range of the shotgun in question can be traced to Sauer & Sohn. From 1950 onwards, the GDR intensified its efforts to nationalize all private enterprises, placing Otto Reif under increasing pressure. He was reportedly defrauded so severely during the construction and sale of a double-barreled shotgun with interchangeable barrels intended for Joseph Stalin that he was left with no choice but to abandon the company and its 60 employees. In September 1950, he relocated to West Berlin with a number of employees and machines, finding a new business opportunity with RICA-Werk GmbH. His excellent contacts in Suhl—particularly with VEB Fortuna-Werk Suhl (formerly Sauer & Sohn)—aided him in selling the firearms in the West. Otto Reif died of a stroke in West Berlin on April 8, 1951.“
Serbus,
Raimey
rse
