Fire museums and gun manufacturers

Am I correct in assuming that "south eastern side" refers to Bavaria, not Saxony, and "fireman" to "firefighter", not "steam engine operator"? If so:
The fire brigade of Munich has a museum: link. The German fire fighting museum is in Fulda, which may be too far away for your itinerary: link. Blaser ( link) and their subsidiary Mauser Hunting Arms ( link) are both located in the south Bavarian town of Isny. Their web pages don't mention tours, but you could ask them per e-mail.

Hi Sandra, As Mark said, you will need to contact the gun manufacturers in advance to see if they offer any kind of tours, as many do not. For instance, last year my husband wanted to tour the Heckler and Koch (H & K) factory in Oberndorf (Germany) but they will only allow dignitaries and "those on official business" to look around. As we were neither, we couldn't take a tour. At any rate, here is a Wiki link to some other German manufacturers, although not necessarily specific to SE Germany. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Firearms_manufacturers_in_Germany

HA! I'm not surprised to hear about H&K's visitor policy. It's right in line with their so-called "customer service". On one of the forums for firearms enthusiasts, someone posted the question "What will things be like for gun owners 25 years from now?" The first answer he got was "H&K will still hate their customers."

In general, factory tours are pretty rare in Germany, unless you're a potential business partner, or unless it's a very well known international company that can expect a steady flow of visitors (ie, Mercedes and BMW). It simply isn't worth their time or money to hire a guide or to alter the workplaces for the safety of visitors.

thanks guys/gals - appreciate the info!