1990 resulted in many changes for every German citizen and manufacturer. Weihrauch began a cooperation with Theoben Engineering in England which resulted in the introduction of the first German/English air rifle design: the Weihrauch HW 90 (the Beeman versions are the RX, RX-1 and RX-2). This was the first Weihrauch rifle using the patented Theoben gas-spring system. These new rifles sold very well in Great Britain and the United States for small-game hunting. The great optimism of that period of the company's development was dampened by the unexpected death of Hans Weihrauch, Sr. on 3 April 1990 aged 63. His business accomplishments were so admired that he was posthumously decorated with the Federal Cross of Merit. His wife, Christel, and sons, Stefan and Hans-Hermann, took the reins of the company. Christel Weihrauch had shared the management of the firm for decades and the preparation of the two sons for their expected future management roles was well advanced. Both had been involved with the company all of their lives and had nearly finished their engineering and marketing training as well. The fall of the German wall close to Mellrichstadt meant they were "in the middle of Germany." This opened new markets for their surface engineering branch. They added new machines for electroless nickel plating and bronzing (and made the floors slip-proof with expanded mesh, stainless-steel fencing panels supplied from the nearby fallen Iron Curtain). Cartridge rifles HW 660 Match HW 60 Match HW 60 J HW 66 Cartridge pistols HW 4 HW 4 T HW 357 Revolvers Arminius is Weihrauch's line of revolvers Air rifles Evolution of the high-power break-barrel sporter range The HW 35 was Weihrauch's first mass-market, high-powered, spring-powered sporter air rifle. However, with time, the HW 35 became technically obsolete as newer, more advanced air rifles entered the market. The HW 80, HW 85 and HW 95 were all designed as evolutionary replacements for the HW 35, and all occupy the same approximate market segment. However, Weihrauch did not follow the conventional and expected practice of retiring its older sporter rifles to make way for newer models. Instead, the HW 80, HW 85 and HW 95 were simply added to the product lineup as they were introduced. This sometimes results in confusion among buyers, many of whom are not familiar with the history of Weihrauch products. Air rifle model designation suffixes The meanings of the suffixes used by