Pistols comes from the Czech word pistal which means pipes. Gunpowder weapons is a fairly modern invention. Gunpowder was invented already in the 9th Century in China, but gunpowder weapons was not adopted in Europe until the 1400s.
In the 1400's there existed hand cannons. They were not particularly safe and was impractical, and was probably more effective deterrent with its noise. The Danish military museum has a hand gun in their collections. The Danish "Lodbøsse" also known as vedelsprangbøssen was excavated at the Vedelsprang fortress built in 1416.
Georg von Reichwein (1593-1667)
The world's oldest revolver produced by Hans Stopler in 1597 was owned by Georg von Reichwein (1593-1667). Georg Reichwein came from Hessen in Germany to Norway in 1628. Christian IV employed this year several officers from Germany and the Netherlands. The goal was to strengthen the Danish-Norwegian military.
Reichwein was appointed to major and commander of the forces at Bergenhus fortress in 1636. On the gun stock there is a silver badge with the name Georg Reichwein, 1636, and with a grape cluster and acantus decor. Reichwein may have done this to highlight and celebrate the appointment, or perhaps just because he bought the gun this year.
Heraldic shield
In 1655 he became part of the nobillity and appointed general. The Weaponshield to Georg von Reichwein is depicted on the cabinet door below. The Cupboard door comes from the farm Sorgendal which was one of four farms (Vingnes, Hammer, Sorgendal and Hammer) owned by his son Colonel Georg Reichwein (1630-1710) who lived in Gudbrandsdalen.
Guns from Bayern
In the collection there is also two identical pistols. They are probably produced in Bavaria Germany around 1580's. The produser is unknown, but the manufacture stamp is a "M". Firing mechanism is wheel lock which is an early invention. The construction is described in the paper to Leonardo Da Vinci from 1507, and he therefore is regarded as the inventor of the wheel lock.