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{{Short description|German arms manufacturer}}
{{coord|48.45185|N|9.97254|E|display=title|type:landmark_region:DE}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Carl Walther GmbH
| logo = File:Walther Logo.svg
| logo_size = 200px
| logo_alt =
| logo_caption =
| logo_padding =
| image =
| image_size =
| image_alt =
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| trading_name =
| type = [[GmbH]]
| traded_as =
| ISIN =
| industry = {{ubl|[[Arms industry]]|Sporting goods}}
| genre = <!-- Only used with media and publishing companies -->
| fate =
| predecessor = <!-- or: | predecessors = -->
| successor = <!-- or: | successors = -->
| founded = {{start date and age|1886}}
| founder = [[Carl Walther]]
| defunct = <!-- {{end date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| hq_location = [[Ulm]], [[Baden-Württemberg]], Germany
| coordinates =
| num_locations =
| area_served = <!-- or: | areas_served = -->
| key_people =
| products = [[Firearm]]s
| brands =
| production =
| production_year = <!-- Year of production data (when known) -->
| services =
| revenue =
| revenue_year = <!-- Year of revenue data (when known) -->
| operating_income =
| income_year = <!-- Year of operating_income data (when known) -->
| net_income = <!-- or: | profit = -->
| net_income_year = <!-- or: | profit_year = --><!-- Year of net_income/profit data (when known) -->
| aum = <!-- Only for financial-service companies -->
| assets =
| assets_year = <!-- Year of assets data (when known) -->
| equity =
| equity_year = <!-- Year of equity data (when known) -->
| owner = <!-- or: | owners = -->
| members =
| members_year = <!-- Year of members data (when known) -->
| num_employees = 280 (Ulm)<ref>{{cite web|title=Innovationsregion Ulm: Carl Walther|url=http://www.innovationsregion-ulm.de/members/c-d/carl-walther.html|website=Innovationsregion Ulm|publisher=Ulm Innovation Region|access-date=20 February 2016|archive-date=16 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116081539/http://www.innovationsregion-ulm.de/members/c-d/carl-walther.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (when known) -->
| parent = PW Group
| divisions =
| subsid = Walther Arms, Inc.
| website = {{Official URL}}
}}
'''Carl Walther [[Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung|GmbH]] ''' ({{IPA|de|ˈvaltɐ|lang}}), or simply known as '''Walther''', is a German firearm manufacturer, and a subsidiary of the PW Group.<ref name=":0" /> Founded by Carl Walther in 1886, the company has manufactured [[firearm]]s and [[air gun]]s at its facility in Germany for more than 100 years. '''Walther Arms, Inc.''' is the [[United States]] Walther business unit and is based in [[Fort Smith, Arkansas]].
== History ==
The history of Walther started with the factory created by Matthias Conrad Pistor, the chief armorer of the Kassel Armory. Pistor is the ancestor of the Walther family. This plant was operating in 1780 and made pistols and other weapons. The granddaughter of Gustave Wilhelm Pistor married August Theodore Walther, whose son Carl Wilhelm Freund established the factory that employed apprentice Carl Walther. This small shop was established in 1886 in [[Zella-Mehlis]],<ref name=nra/> in what is today [[Thuringia]]. The company originally manufactured hunting and target rifles.<ref>
{{cite book
| last1= Smith
| first1= W.H.B.
| title= Walther Pistols
| date= 1946
| publisher= The Military Service Publishing Company
| ___location= Harrisburg, PA
| isbn= 978-1169109599
| pages= 106
}}
</ref>
Then in 1888, he married Minna Georgine Pickert, daughter of Christian Friedrich Pickert, from the well-established revolver manufacturer "Arminius Waffenwerk", in the same town.
[[File:Walther Model 8.jpg|right|thumb|[[Walther Model 8]] pocket pistol, 1926]]
It was not until 1908 that, under the initiative of Fritz Walther, the oldest son of Carl Walther, they began to make pistols. Models 1 to 5 and 7 to [[Walther Model 9|9]] were in calibers [[.25 ACP]] (6.35mm) and [[.32 ACP]] (7.65mm). The Model 6 was Walther's first attempt at a [[9×19mm Parabellum|9mm Luger]] pistol. It used [[Blowback (firearms)|blowback]] rather than a [[Recoil operation|locked breech]] and proved unsuccessful, with only around 1,000 made. Its rarity has made it highly sought after on the collectors market.
In 1929 Walther began to make the popular [[Walther PP]] ''Polizeipistole'' (police pistol) models. Walther followed this in 1931 with the first PPKs (''Polizeipistole Kriminalmodell'', or Police Pistol Detective Model). Walther manufactured both PP and PPKs in [[.22 Long Rifle]], [[.32 ACP]] (the most common caliber), [[.380 ACP]] and a minimal number in [[.25 ACP]]. The PP models were the first mass-produced pistols with stamped parts. Still, the overall increase in dependability and high production quality with lower relative manufacturing costs made them the best option to replace the [[Luger P08 pistol|P-08 Luger]]. In 1938, [[Nazi Germany]] awarded the contract for that replacement to Walther for the 9mm [[Walther P38|P38]].
[[File:A sick Polish survivor in the Hannover-Ahlem concentration camp receives medicine from a German Red Cross worker.jpg|thumb|upright|The Hannover-Ahlem subcamp of [[Neuengamme concentration camp]] after liberation, 11 April 1945]]
From 1942 until 1945, the company used slave labour at the [[Neuengamme concentration camp]], and operated its own factory at the camp.<ref name=":0">
{{citation
| quote= Seit diesem Zeitpunkt stellten Häftlinge [...] Pistolen und Karabiner (Metallwerke Neuengamme, Zweigbetrieb des thüringischen Waffenherstellers Carl Walther. [Transl.: Since this the prisoners built pistols and rifles (Metal Works Neuengamme, a branch of the Thuringian arms manufacturer Carl Walther.]
| publisher= KZ Gedenkstätte Neuengamme
| language= de
| url= http://www.kz-gedenkstaette-neuengamme.de/ausstellungen/neuengamme/walther-werke/
| access-date= 2009-10-13
| title= Walther-Werke
}}
</ref>
With his factory destroyed in [[World War II]] and Zella-Mehlis in the [[Soviet occupation zone]], Walther was reduced to just a collection of designs and patents. Fritz Walther started anew and began manufacturing in [[Ulm]], [[West Germany]] in 1953.<ref name=nra>Keefe, Mark A., IV "Walther. Carl Walther." ''[[American Rifleman]]'' October 2013 pp.64-68&110-114</ref>
The company resumed production of the P38 (renamed the P1) in 1957 to equip the new West German Army, the [[Bundeswehr]], with sidearms. When Fritz Walther died in December 1966, his son, Karl-Heinz, took over the company, concentrating on the sports sector.
In 1993, [[Umarex]] (now part of PW Group) of [[Arnsberg]], Germany, acquired Walther.<ref>
{{cite web
| title= The Second Century
| url= https://carl-walther.com/defense/company/history/the-second-century
| website= Carl Walther
| access-date= 31 January 2025
| archive-date= 2024-11-26
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241126145808/https://carl-walther.com/defense/company/history/the-second-century
}}
</ref>
It continued to manufacture under the Walther name in Ulm and Arnsberg. The German Walther company is known as Carl Walther GmbH.
In 1999, the U.S.-based [[Smith & Wesson]] company became the authorized importer for Walther Firearms.<ref name=UmarexHistory>
{{cite web
| last= Kunkel
| first= Jörg
| title= Umarex Sportwaffen GmbH & Co. KG
| date= 2016-05-04
| url= http://www.die-erfolgs-strategie.de/aktien/weltmarktfuehrer/umarex-sportwaffen-gmbh-co-kg/
| website= Die Erfolgsstrategie
| access-date= 16 February 2017
}}
</ref>
In 2012, the PW Group formed a new subsidiary, Walther Arms, Inc., located in Fort Smith, Arkansas, to take over the distribution of Walther arms in the United States.<ref name="TAG-WaltherSplit">{{cite web
| last= Zimmerman
| first= Dan
| title= Walther Splits with Smith & Wesson. Mostly
| url= http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/06/daniel-zimmerman/walther-splits-smith-wesson-mostly/
| website= The Truth About Guns
| access-date= 15 February 2017
| date= 2012-06-29
| archive-date= 2018-06-21
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180621143716/http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/06/daniel-zimmerman/walther-splits-smith-wesson-mostly/
| url-status= dead
}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=October 2024}}
== Products ==
=== Handguns ===
;Competition Air Pistols
* [[Walther LP300]]
* [[Walther LP400]]
* [[Walther LP500]]
;Target Pistols
* [[Walther OSP]]
* [[Walther GSP]]
* Walther SSP
* [[Walther Olympia]]
* [[Walther CSP]]
;Cartridge & Police Pistols
[[File:Walther mod 4 (6971798071).jpg|thumb|300px|upright|[[Walther Model 4]], 7.65mm / .32 ACP]]
[[File:Walther-PPQ-Q5-Match.jpg|thumb|300px|Walther PPQ Q5 Match 9mm with red dot reflex sight]]
* [[Walther Model 8]] (1920–1940)
* [[Walther Model 9]] (1921–1945)
* [[Walther PP]] (1929–1999)
* [[Walther PPK]] (1931–present)
* [[Walther P38]] (1938–1945)
* [[Walther P1]] (1963–2004)
* [[Walther TPH]] (1968–2000)
* [[Walther P5]] (1977–1993)
* [[Walther P88]] (1988–2000)
* [[Walther P99]] (1997–2023)
* [[Walther P22]] (2002–present)
* [[Walther PPS]] (2007–present)
* [[Walther SP22]] (2008–2010)
* [[Walther PK380]] (2009–2022)
* [[Walther PPQ]] (2011–2023)
* [[Walther PPX]] (2013–2016)
* [[Walther CCP]] (2014–present)
* [[Walther Creed]] (2016–2019)
* [[Walther Q4|Walther Q5 Match]] (2019–2023)
* [[Walther Q4|Walther Q4 SF]] (2020–2023)
* [[Walther PDP]] (2021–present)
* [[Walther WMP]] (2022–present)
* [[Walther PD380]] (2023–present)
=== Rifles & submachine guns ===
[[File:Walther lgv master pro.jpg|thumb|LGV Master break barrel air rifle]]
[[File:Walther LGR.jpg|thumb|LGR single stroke pneumatic match air rifle]]
;Air Rifles
* [[Walther Reign M2 Bullpup]]
* [[Walther LGR]]
* [[:File:Walther lgv master pro.jpg|Walther LGV]]
* [[Walther LG300]]
* [[Walther LG400]]
;Target Rifles
* [[Walther KK200]]
* [[Walther KK300]]
* [[Walther KK500]]
;Other Rifles
* [[Gewehr 41]]
* [[Gewehr 43]]
* [[Maschinenkarabiner 42(W)|MKb 42(W)]]
* [[Walther G22]]
* [[Walther WA 2000]]
;Submachine guns
* [[Walther MP|Walther MPK/MPL]]
* [[Walther MPSD]]
=== Shotguns ===
* [[Walther automatic shotgun]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://waltherarms.com/ Walther Arms, Inc. website]
{{Walther}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Arnsberg]]
[[Category:Companies based in Baden-Württemberg]]
[[Category:Companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia]]
[[Category:Defence companies of Germany]]
[[Category:Firearm manufacturers of Germany]]
[[Category:Knife manufacturing companies]]
[[Category:Neuengamme concentration camp]]
[[Category:Military history of Ulm]]
[[Category:Companies involved in the Holocaust]]
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