WEIDMANNSHEIL – WILHELM WELTERSBACH

This old German firm was founded in 1892. For the most of their existence the company was little known in the United States, producing a very diverse line of quality pocket and fixed blade knives for the European market, as well as contract work for better-known brands. Their main trademark, “Weidmannsheil” is German for “good hunting,” and often appears in conjunction with the head of a stag or a boar. (Reportedly, those with the stag head were made for the German market, while those with a boar’s head were made for a large customer in Austria.) Other trademarks used by the firm over the years included “Konig” “Laufbrunnen,” “Springer,” and the image of a double spouted well.

The company trademark is a detailed graphic of a stag’s head crowned by a semicircle of uppercase lettering “WEIDMANNSEIL” It is etched in a two tone gold and green, deeply stamped in the tang in an uppercase italic is this: “W. Welterbach, Solingen”.

I have a Wilhelm Weltersbach catalog from 1931 and they made some of the finest switchblades I have ever seen. They are all springer’s and have stag handles. When you open them, they really snap to attention.

The last in the Weltersbach line of cutlers died in 1991, and all output had stopped by 1994. In October of 1997, James F. Parker received a call from Kurt Gronauer, senior president of the Friedrich Olbertz cutlery firm in Solingen, Germany. The owners of the Weltersbach estate, two elderly widows, were finally prepared to sell. Parker hopped a plane to Germany the next day and sat down to talk with the widows, Gronauer serving as the translator. It soon became apparent that they intended to sell every single item on the order of one at a time.

Hours later, Parker was finally able to purchase everything in the Weltersbach factory, including inventory, parts, and raw material such as handle scales. Then, after everything was agreed on, the two widows started bringing out cartons of finished knives, including many unique pieces such as those made of Damascus steel; these weren’t part of the deal. In the end, Parker was able to obtain everything, but he later stated, “With forty years of trading experience, I have negotiated with Pakistanis, Indians, Mexicans, Africans, Japanese, and American traders. I left that day knowing that I was no match for these two German widows.”

The unfinished Weltersbach parts were cleaned and finished by Gronauer in the Olbertz plant and later sold by Parker. The “Weidmannsheil” trademark is now registered in the United States, and thanks to Parker’s effort it has become well known to collectors worldwide.

Jim Parker passed away in November of 2004. Today’s Weidmannsheil knives are still produced in the Olbertz plant in Solingen for Parkers Knife Collector Service of Chattanooga, Tennessee.