Passler, Franz & Family- Weipert & Vienna

Compiled by Larry B. Schuknecht

Very little is known or recorded about the Passler family of Gun Makers in Bohemia and Austria. The following is gleaned from bits and pieces found in books and on the internet.

The main subjects of this page are Johann Franz Passler, born on Jan. 11, 1869 in Weipert, Bohemia to Franz Raimund Passler (1841-1923). Johann Franz married Anna Stamm (1873- ) and they had one son- Adolf Wenzel Passler (1899- ) and passed away in Vienna. It seems that the name Franz was passed from generation to generation and possibly Franz Raimund’s father was also named Franz. A pair of percussion pistols exist which were recently sold on Guns International and they have the name F. Passler-Komontau (a city in the North West of Bohemia) engraved on the locks. Their estimated date of production is 1850 which if correct would be to old to have been made by Franz Raimund Passler and were possibly made by his father. Below are images of those pistols.

The following information was kindly sent to me by Peter Neij of Småland, Sweden- Dear Mr. Schuknecht,

There was an Austrian patent on Paßler’s pistol. It was taken out April 19, 1887, see attachment 01-Schuknecht. It was taken over by Erwin Rieger on May 14, 1889. There are no patent records left but see mentioned attachment.

There was also a German patent on the pistol. D.R.P. 43532. Patented in Germany from August 17, 1887. Two names are on it, Franz Paßler, Ottakring, Vienna, and Ferdinand Seidl, Budweis, South Bohemia. Today under the name České Budějovice.

In 1910, Franz Paßler, by accident, shot his apprentice Karl Fistler with a ”Flaubertpistole” when test firing it. The 16 year old boy was hit in the shoulder blade.

Franz Paßler passed November 13, 1914. In April 1915 a Bankruptcy began. See attachment 02-Schuknecht. The Bankruptcy was not settled until March 1918. See attachment 03-Schuknecht.

Johann Franz Passler

The above picture of Franz Passler in the doorway of his Vienna shop at no. 11 Kalvarienberggasse. The image shows display cases with many hammer long guns and may date from around 1920 when he would be about 50 years old.

Johann Franz Passler is best known for his design and patent of a repeating handgun which he patented in 1887, U. S. Patent no. 385875. It was basically a lever action incorporating a ringed lever in the position of a trigger which when pushed forward opened the breech and when pulled back loaded a live round into the chamber while closing the breech. Further movement of the ringed lever after the breech was closed fired the gun. It is estimated that only about 100 were produced by Franz in partnership with Ferdinand Seidl who it is assumed was descended from a well known family of Austrian gun makers dating back to the early 18th Century.

Advertisements (seen below) for Franz Passler appeared in the 1911 Vienna joke book- Wiener Kleinen Witzblatt which states that he sold Hunting and Salon guns, and revolvers which were his specialty

The book Das Büchsenmachergewerbe in Weipert by Miroslav Slanina contains a list of gun makers active in Weipert in 1931. It lists two Passlers, Anto and Bruno who both had an address of Jahnstrasse 596. This shows that the occupation of gun making ran Deeply in the Passler family.