Heinrich Vollmer

Lore & Background

Heinrich Vollmer began his manufacturing career during the First World War by making parts for German copies of the Maxim gun. His first innovation was a beltless feed for the MG08/15, followed by a similar device for the MP/18/I submachine gun—a 60-round circular spool magazine carried on the hip and connected by a flexible hose. In the early 1920s, he developed his own submachine guns, including the VPG, VPGa, VPF, and VMP1925, the latter secretly tested by the Reichswehr alongside competing designs from Schmeisser and Rheinmetall. The Reichswehr was prohibited by the Versailles Treaty from having submachine guns in service, but secret funding allowed Vollmer to continue development, leading to the VMP1926 (which removed the cooling jacket) and the VMP1928 (which introduced a 32-round box magazine on the left side). The final model, the VMP1930, introduced a telescoping main spring assembly, for which Vollmer applied for a patent in 1930, granted in 1933 as DRP# 580620. His company, Vollmer Werke, produced only about 400 of these, most sold to Bulgaria. In late 1930, the Reichswehr stopped supporting Vollmer financially, and he sold the rights to all his designs to Erfurter Maschinenfabrik (ERMA), which continued development as the EMP.

Reader's Guide

Heinrich Vollmer's significance lies in his practical innovations in submachine gun design during a period of legal restrictions on German military rearmament. His telescoping main spring assembly improved reliability and field maintenance, a feature later adopted in other designs. Although his own company produced only a small number of VMP1930 submachine guns, the sale of his patents to ERMA allowed his concepts to influence subsequent weapons. Vollmer also contributed to machine gun development, including the VMG 1927 and the MV 31 in collaboration with Mauser, though neither was adopted. More notably, he worked on the MG 34 general-purpose machine gun, which became a standard German military weapon. Between 1935 and 1938, he designed prototype assault rifles (Vollmer M35) chambered in an intermediate cartridge co-developed with GECO, foreshadowing later assault rifle concepts. His work, though not always resulting in mass production, helped bridge early submachine gun designs and later automatic weapons.

Did You Know?

• Vollmer's 60-round circular spool magazine for the MP/18/I was carried on the soldier's hip and connected to the gun by a flexible hose.
• The VMP1930 introduced a telescoping main spring assembly, for which Vollmer was granted German patent DRP# 580620 in 1933.
• Vollmer sold the rights to all his submachine gun designs to Erfurter Maschinenfabrik (ERMA) in late 1930.
• Vollmer developed the Vollmer M35, a semi-automatic rifle that used standard 8×57mm Mauser ammunition, not an intermediate cartridge.