This website is dedicated exclusively to providing and collecting information about the cleaning kits used by the Germans in the Second World War from the point of view of a simple collector.

This blog has no sympathy or support to the Nazi regime that devastated Europe on the 40's. Also personally, when I see one of these kits manufactured on the war years, I think of the possibility that maybe it was made by a foreign forced worker under harsh conditions - more information about forced labor in Germany during WWII on the Links of interest page -.

"Ky"?: Aktien-Maschinenfabrik Kyffhäuserhütte

   Any help for to complete this chapter with new information, corrections, photos,... are welcome (reinigungsgerat34@gmail.com)

   The "Ky" marked kits - that appear with date from 1936 to 1941- have always been referred as unknown manufacturer or associated by some authors to the company Braunschweigische Blechwarenfabrik GmbH of Braunschweig. This last mentioned company produced the Rg 34 from 1941 with the code "arr" (later "rco"). It is very likely also that the marking "KH" -found only on kits of 1935- was the precursor of the "Ky" stampings and both came from the same manufacturer.

   Although there is no conclusive information about the identification of the manufacturer, all evidences suggest that the "Ky" kits correspond to the company Aktien-Maschinenfabrik Kyffhäuserhütte (vorm. Paul Reuß), located in Artern. This firm, founded in 1881, was primarily engaged in the manufacture of machinery, especially for the agricultural sector. It produced different kinds of machines and equipment and in 1938 had over 1000 employees. During the war it is know that also manufactured ammo cartridge cases and "Flak" mounts. In 1940 it was assigned the code "ayw" by the Heereswaffenamt.


The old buildings of the Kyffhäuserhütte firm (2010).
(Source: Wikipedia - Author: Michael Sander)


KH1935 kit, with Waffenamt 109. The "KH" markings only appear in 1935 and everything points that are the precursor of the "Ky" markings.

An KH 1935 marked oiler, also with Waffenamt 109. Note the grinding marks on the bottom of the oiler.


A KH1935 chain on top and KY1936 bellow. Note the similarities on manufacture.

A closeup picture of the markings from the KH1935 chain shown before. Note that the Waffenamt was stamped partially.

Another closeup picture of the markings from the KY1936 chain shown above. It's marked also with Waffenamt 225.

Two kits "Ky" marked. Note the two styles of Waffenamt -Weimar and Nazi-eagle-, and the different font type of letter K.
A KY1937 marked kit, also with Waffenamt WaA442.

The inner of the Ky1937 kit.



The parts markings of the Ky 1937 kit.
A view of the small department of the Ky1937 kit. Note that the sheet separator piece was heavily soldered to the case.

A KY1937 marked cleaning chain - stamped twice -, no Waffenamt. Normally all the Ky chains show a Waffenamt inspection stamp

The side view of the KY1937 marked chain shown before. Note that the side of the eye loop was smoothed.

A KY1939 cleaning chain.

The Waffenamt WaA225 present on the KY1939 chain shown before.

Two Ky 1940 kits, with Waffenamt WaA57 stamped under the lid (up) and onto the lid (bellow). All the Ky1941 observed kits have the Waffenamt under the lid. From 1940 all "Ky" kits were painted and with steel latchtes.

A close up of the Waffenamt WaA57 stamped on the lid of the Ky1940 kit. It seems that the Waffenamt was stamped and the case painted later.


Waffenamt WaA57 under the lid of the Ky1940 kit.
A side view of two "Ky" kits. The lateral reinforcing groove was not adopted by this manufacturer.

A KY1940 marked oiler. It appears that from 1938 the "KY" marked oilers and takedown tools lacked generally of Waffenamt inspection stamp.




A Ky1941 marked kit, with WaffenamtWaA57.
A side view of the Ky1941 kit.


The inner of the Ky1941 kit.



Waffenamt WaA57 inside the lid of the Ky1941.


The parts of the Ky1941 kit.

Markings on the takedown tool of the Ky1941 kit.


ayw 1941 markigs on the oiler of Ky1941 kit, very unusual on oilers.


The bottom of the ayw 1941 marked oiler. Tipical grinding marks of "Ky" oilers.

ayw1941 and WaA225 markings on the chain of the Ky1941 kit.




A Ky1941 markings on a chain. Note the similarity of the markings with the chain shown above.


Ky 1941 (up) and ayw 41 (down), both with WaA225. Note the similarities of manufacture.

The observed Waffenamts on the "KH/Ky" lids from 1935 to 1941: 109, WaA265, WaA442 and WaA57.

The Waffenamt inspection stamps observed on various parts of the "KH/Ky" kits:
Above (Weimar style eagle): 109, WaA109 and 225.
Down (Nazi style eagle): 225, WaA445, WaA442 and WaA225.

   It appears that the Kyffhäuserhütte firm ceased to produce full kits in 1941 but not single parts, like cleaning chains, metal oilers and takedown tools. These parts are commonly found in the kits assembled by Braunschweigische Blechwarenfabrik.
   A clear coincidence between "Ky" and "arr" kits of 1941 is the presence on both of Waffenamt WaA57 but this only indicate military acceptance of the same inspector. So far not been able to find evidence of legal or commercial relationship between the two companies. Of course, more research is needed.


An invoice from Kyffhäuserhütte of 1943 for a piece of a sludge pump.


Comparison of several Ky and ayw marked tools.



The reverse view of the tools shown above. Note that the second tool - from above - has lost their pin, and in the last one, the pin was re-tighten in place

A Ky marked tool between two ayw marked tools. Note the similarities.



Another ayw1941 steel oiler.

1 comment:

  1. Unknown31 March 2019 at 08:41

    Is there also a Ka code with a Weimar eagle? Thank you. Mario

    ReplyDelete

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