ASMU stands for August Schuster Munchen (August Schuster of Munich). August and family started Sporthaus Schuster in 1913/1914 in Munich Germany. It is nice that over time many Sporthaus Schuster catalogs have surfaced that show outdoor products including mountaineering and rock climbing gear. Many collectors have said that the pitons with the ASMU manufacturers stamp on them date back to the early 1930s, which may be true but I still seek proof of how far back does this round logo mark dates. I guess I question this since showing in the 1954/1955 Sporthaus Schuster catalog, the artist that drew the drawings of the climbing gear for some reason printed the letters ASMU on the items and did not show the actual manufacturers ASMU round logo stamp. I have many ASMU pitons and small boot heel crampons that show the round ASMU stamp, but then one day I found a set of crampons that just had the letters ASMU on them without the round stamp. So maybe the round ASMU manufacturers stamp was not put onto the climbing gear items until 1958/1959 time? I have ASMU pitons from the mid 1920s that have no markings on them. I also have some ASMU pitons from the early 1930s that have no markings on them. My collector contact in Germany says that the round ASMU stamp started to be put onto the pitons in 1926, but he too may be assuming this fact. So for this segment showing the history of ASMU pitons I included many of the Sporthaus Schuster catalog pages to show the progression of climbing gear over the years as they added items to their catalogs. On some of the shown Sporthaus catalog pages, I added links to the Ashby Robertson Vertical Archaeology website which shows the entire catalogs. As on everything I show on this website, I offer to the collectors to please assist me on dialing in the correct information on the items presented.
Big thanks to Tarquin Wilton-Jones for adding:  February 2, 2024,
You may wish to note that the ASMü branding is stated by them as having been used as early as the 1924-1925 winter, and was used on ice climbing pitons from that year. The catalogue shows when they started to brand things (look for "[Spezial-Marke ASMü]" in the catalogue), but does not show what shape the brand was. The company logo on the catalogue was square "SPORT HAUS SCHUSTER MÜNCHEN A.S." in winter 1924-1925, and they wrote ASMÜ on the pages. By summer, the catalogue had the round ASMÜ logo. Standard pitons do not show as having any branding up to 1932, but after that, they seem not to tell you any more whether they carry any branding.
1911/1912 Spezial - Sport - Haus, Berlin catalog page showing climbing gear.

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(Right) 1924/1925 Sporthaus Schuster catalog page showing climbing gear.
1928 Sporthaus Jungborn catalog showing Sporthaus Schuster products. Click catalog photo to see entire catalog on the Vertical Archaeology website.

There are no manufacturers marks on the items.
Ring piton donated by Michael Chessler.
​Carabiner and two pitons donated by Matthias Hofle.
1930 Sporthaus Jungborn catalog showing Sporthaus Schuster products. Click on catalog photo to link to entire catalog shown on Vertical Archaeology website.

On this catalog the ice piton was added. The photo of the two ice pitons are from the Ashby Robertson collection.
1931 Sporthaus Schuster catalog. Note that the ASMU round logo is shown on the catalog. Catalog images from Matthias Hofle.
1932 Sporthaus Schuster catalog. Click on catalog photo to link to entire catalog shown on the Vertical Archeology website. Please note that this catalog shows the ASMU round manufacture logo. The climbing gear in the catalog may still be unmarked. This catalog shows the addition of the steel oval carabiner that was donated by Matthias Hofle.


​1934 Sporthaus Schuster summer catalog. 
​Another hammer was added to the catalog, and showing the Kletterschuhe. Still the same photo for the climbing hardware products.
1934 Sporthaus Schuster Kletterschuhe, Matthias Hofle collection
1935 Sporthaus Peterlon catalog showing Sporthaus Schuster products. This catalog shows a horizontal piton donated by Matthias Hofle. Also this catalog shows a piton spike which I have been told actually dates into the 1920s. Not sure if the two sizes of the pitons spikes are a ASMU product. This catalog does show a ASMU boot heal crampon that I wish I had a clearer image of that would prove if the round ASMU manufacturers logo was added to the products in the earlier 1930s.
1937 Sporthaus Schuster catalog. Click on catalog photo to link to entire catalog shown on the Vertical Archeology website. This catalog shows the addition of four different pitons listed as #2960a, b, c and d. They are only offered in one size for each design. In the piton photo the top is letter "a" and the bottom is letter "d." The catalog shows a drawing of two of the four pitons on the catalog listing. On the pitons shown in the picture these do have the round ASMU manufacture logo on them on the other side which I am using these pitons to reference the actual shape of the pitons listed in this 1937 catalog. If the round ASMU manufacture logo was on the pitons in 1937, these could be the pitons shown in this 1937 catalog. I believe at this 1937 time is when the ASMU logo first started to appear on the climbing pitons. 
Three ASMU pitons from the 1930s. All three pitons have no manufacturers marks on them.
Three ASMU pitons from the 1930s
- from: Matthias Hofle
1937/1938 Sporthaus Schuster winter catalog.





​1939 Sporthaus Schuster catalog, photo from Matthias Hofle. This catalog shows a newer ice piton design.
I have not found any Sporthaus Schuster catalogs for the years in the 1940s. I wonder if World War II affected the Sporthaus Schuster business during the war years.  From here going from 1938 and picking back up in 1954 on the ASMU Pitons page two page. Click the link to go to the ASMU pitons page two.