Carl Gottlieb Haenel 1840-1946

C.G. Haenel Waffen and Farhrradfabrick was a weapons and bicycle manufacturer based in Suhl, Germany and annexed to Prussia.

They manufactured bayonets for the Imperial German army and made models 1871-84, 1898, 1898-02 and 1898-05.

Issued in 1904 to pioneer troops fits on a C.G. Haenel Suhl 1890 8mm rifle.

The S98/02 was the adversary to the French made Lebel bayonet.

These were called quillback or pipeback blades because they have a round spine on the 20 1/2" blade.

The Model 1898a/A older model has modified muzzle rings called "high ears" and also a one piece handle grip that came before the two piece grips introduced in 1902.

Bayonet was 25 3/4" long overall and too narrow to perform well in the field it was then replaced by the S98/05 butcher blade. Original pre WWI Imperial German S98 Mauser sawback bayonets are maker marked C.G. HAENEL SUHL on the blade and dated 1905. Some made with metal scabbards and others with leather sheaths. Each federal state had its own preferences concerning equipment at the turn of the century.

There are markings on the cross guard are regimental stamps and some re-issued in 1914 with additional blade and guard modifications.

Cyphers found on spine of blade with Wurttemberg Crown:

(P) Prussia - Crown above: "W" Wilhelm I 1861-1888 & Wilhelm II 1888-1918.

(B) Bavaria - Crown above: "L" Ludwig II, 1864-1886 "O" Otto 1886-1913 "L" Ludwig 1913-1918.

(S) Saxony - Crown above: "JR" Johann 1854-1873. "AR" Albert 1873-1902. "GR" Georg 1902-1904. "FA" Friedrich August III 1904-1918. "K" Karl 1864-1891. "W" Wilhelm II 1891-1918.

Carl Gottlieb Haenel died in 1917.

Hugo and Hans Schmeisser merged to run sales and technical directing.

Hugo and Hans

Hugo Schmeisser began his career with his firearms engineer father Louis Schmeisser (1848-1917) at Theodor Bergmann's munitions factory in Suhl, Germany.

 Hugo worked at Bergmann's until about 1921 when Lignose took over, had a close association with his brother Hans at the Haenel weapons factory where they seem to have been contractors.

 Improved the MP-40 at Haenel (redesigned as the selective fire MP-41) and headed the MKb 42 (early MP-44) development. Captured in 1945, traded to the Russians who he claimed made him participate in the development of their AK-47. Mikhail Kalashnikov denied any foreign influence on his designs, Schmeisser said he gave them "ideas."

Russian Gulag burial site of Hugo Schmeisser

 While still a Soviet prisoner from 1945 Hugo died of pneumonia in 1953 as a result of starvation and forced labor.

 Grandson of Carl Gottlieb Haenel, Herbert, ran the factory until the firm was taken over by government decree on July 24 , 1946  by Thueringer Gesetz and became a part of  Ernst-Thaelmann Werke VEB.

After World War II, 80 percent of the work is destroyed during the occupation of the Soviet Union are transported almost 50 percent of plants and plant materials. After 1946 renamed Maschinenfabrik Krupp-Gruson the Soviet Maschinenbau AG (SMAG).

 Germany reunited in 1954 and heavy mechanical engineering taken over by Ernst Thalmann Magdeburg/Buckau (SKET),  merging 30,000 employees in 18 establishments with nearly the entire leadership in the hands of former Nazis.

 In 1998 the privatization of SKET Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH by investors Aloys Wobben (Enercon GmbH, Aurich) and Heinz Buse (Logaer Maschinenbau, empty). 2003 contributed Heinz Buse and Aloys Wobben its shares in SKET Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH to Enercon GmbH. On 1 October 2010, SKET Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH was renamed SKET GmbH. The company is mechanical machining of large parts, including as a supplier for Enercon, and installation works as industrial services provider in the fields.