Theodore Emil Kommer was born in 1866, son of a German gunsmith. He took the same profession, and at the age of 23 in 1889 opened his own business making guns. He initially focused on sporting rifles and single-shot pistols, but expanded into semiauto pocket pistols after World War One. His first design came out in 1920, mechanically a copy of the Baby Browning in .25 ACP. The first model had a curved grip frame, which was replaced by the Model 2 which was a closer copy of the Browning, with a straight grip and 6-round magazine. In 1927 he added the Model 3, identical to the Model 2 but with a longer grip and 8-round magazine. In 1936 he added a Model 4, a copy of the FN 1910 in .32 ACP.

All of Kommer’s guns were simplified from their Browning parents, with the grip safeties and magazine safeties removed. They were produced in a single serial number range with just under 20,000 total made by 1940, when production ceased. Kommer died in 1942, and his company ended with him.