{{Short description|German shipbuilding company}} {{Infobox company | name = Deutsche Werke AG | logo = Deutsche Werke Kiel Schild 2014.jpg | fate = Dismantled after World War II | successor = {{ubl|{{ill|Deutsche Industriewerke|de}}|Howaldtswerke Hamburg|Maschinenbau Kiel}} | founded = 1925 | defunct = 1945 | location = Berlin, Germany | industry = Shipbuilding<br>Firearms | key_people = | products = | num_employees = | parent = | subsidiaries = }} '''Deutsche Werke Kiel AG''' was a German shipbuilding company that was founded in 1925 when Kaiserliche Werft Kiel and other shipyards were merged. It came as a result of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I that forced the German defense industry to shrink. The company was owned by the government of the Weimar Republic and its headquarters was in Berlin while the manufacturing location was in Kiel.
==History== Besides shipbuilding, Deutsche Werke also produced firearms. Especially well-known are the so-called Ortgies pistols, which were particularly popular in the United States. The pistols were developed by Heinrich Ortgies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ortgies.net/ortgies0015.htm|title = New Page 1}}</ref> Deutsche Werke started building merchant ships, but when the Nazi Party gained power in 1933 the production was changed to naval ships.{{Citation needed|date=May 2026}}
During World War II the company expanded to Gdynia in German-occupied Poland, establishing ''Deutsche Werke Gotenhafen''. The Polish resistance conducted espionage of the Deutsche Werke in Gdynia.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Chrzanowski|first1=Bogdan|last2=Gąsiorowski|first2=Andrzej|title=Wywiad Związku Walki Zbrojnej – Armii Krajowej na Pomorzu. Część I (1940–1943)|journal=Stutthof. Zeszyty Muzeum|language=pl|volume=6|pages=16–17, 27|issn=0137-5377}}</ref>
Deutsche Werke facilities and infrastructure were destroyed during World War II by bombing raids. Parts of the works were reorganised as Maschinenbau Kiel.{{Citation needed|date=May 2026}}
In 1955 the shipyard areas were bought by Howaldtswerke.
==Ships built at Deutsche Werke Kiel (selection)== * Panzerschiff {{ship|German cruiser|Deutschland||2}} (later renamed ''Lützow'') * Heavy cruiser {{ship|German cruiser|Blücher||2}} * Battleship {{ship|German battleship|Gneisenau||2}} * Aircraft carrier {{ship|German aircraft carrier|Graf Zeppelin||2}} (not completed) * Destroyer ''Z1'' - ''Z4'' (Type ''Zerstörer'' 1934) * U-boats Type IIA, IIB, IIC, IID, Type VIIC, and Type XIV
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Deutsche Werke Kiel}} * [http://www.u-boot-archiv.de/bau/werften/dw-gh-ag.html u-boot-archiv.de webpage about the Deutsche Werke shipyard] * [http://ortgies.net/ ortgies.net webpage about ''Ortgies'' pistol] * [http://www.gunsworld.com/gun_pistols/ortgies_us.html gunsworld.com webpage about the ''Ortgies'' pistol] * {{PM20|FID=co/042270|TEXT=Documents and clippings about|NAME=}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Defunct shipbuilding companies of Germany Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1925 Category:Defunct manufacturing companies of Germany Category:Firearm manufacturers of Germany Category:Manufacturing companies based in Berlin Category:Companies of Prussia Category:Defunct firearms manufacturers Category:Kiel Category:1925 establishments in Germany Category:Defence companies of Germany Category:Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1945 Category:1945 disestablishments in Germany Category:Former submarine builders
{{Germany-company-stub}}