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The story
The company was founded in 1918 as a state-owned enterprise named State Armament and Engineering Works. The factory assembled German Gewehr 98 and Austrian Mannlicher M1895 rifles, but later began producing its own designs. Between 1924 and 1925, a new factory was built, where cars, engines, and other machinery were produced in addition to rifles and machine guns. From the 1930s, the factory also produced typewriters under a license from Remington and tractors under a license from Škoda.
During the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Zbrojovka Brno was renamed Waffenwerke Brünn and produced weapons for the Nazi war effort. In 1944, the factory was severely damaged in the Allied bombing of Brno. It resumed production after the war ended. By the late 1940s, Zbrojovka was making engines, weapons, and tractors. In November 1945, a prototype of a new tractor, named Zetor Z25, was delivered in response to a government requisition to design and mass-produce a lightweight tractor. Its name is derived from "Zet" for Zbrojovka and "or" for tractor. In the 1980s, the company pivoted towards communications and computing equipment, deemphasizing small arms manufacturing and repair.
After the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Zbrojovka began to downsize. The decline continued through the early 2000s, and, eventually, small arms production was discontinued. In August 2006, the last employee was made redundant. Shortly thereafter, Zbrojovka Brno liquidated its assets. Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod acquired Zbrojovka's manufacturing equipment and intellectual property. Subsequently, it restarted rifle production on a smaller scale. Zbrojovka continues to manufacture hunting rifles as a subsidiary of Colt-CZ.
The premises previously occupied by Zbrojovka were auctioned off in 2008 for 707 million CZK (approximately 30 million USD) to J&T. As of 2023, the site is being developed by a real estate company that intends to build apartments and office buildings there.
From Wikipedia’s article on Zbrojovka Brno, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4