Herder Windmill Knives

Herder Windmühlenmesser from Solingen

Robert Herder founded the Windmühlenmesser (windmill knife) manufacturer in Solingen in 1872. He quickly made a name for himself with his particularly sharp knives in what was already a renowned city for scissor and knife sharpeners. Since then, the Windmühlenmesser Manufaktur Robert Herder company has produced knives of exceptional quality and form, and even today, the company motto is that good knives are handmade. This positive attitude towards craftsmanship, which is truly not common everywhere today, is the appreciation of the old Solingen craftsmanship, the preservation of existing knowledge, and the continuation of the necessary skills. The handiwork of the sharpeners and polishers, especially that of the Herder 'Blaupließter' (blue polishers), is of high value and cannot be replaced by machines, even if this means that not as many knives as ordered and desired by dealers or customers can be produced. The work requires a great deal of sensitivity, skill, patience, and a good eye to achieve the desired quality. And since this work used to be the work of master sharpeners, the Herder Messer Manufaktur calls the 'blue polished' knives "masterpieces of today". And it is precisely for this Solingen thin grind, which is and remains extremely sharp, that the Windmühlenmesser Herder company is so famous. After selecting the correct hollow and pin rivets, these are hammered through the wood and steel to connect them. Here too, a delicate touch is necessary, because if one hits too hard or not straight, the wood will tear or a gap will form.

Herder Windmühlenmesser with Character and Tradition

This love for detail is also particularly important to great-granddaughter Giselheid Herder, who today manages the fortunes of the manufactory in the fourth generation. Only artisanal production, comprehensive expertise, and extensive experience create knives as they were a hundred years ago: durable, sustainable, of the highest quality.

My grandmother Elisabeth, born in 1913, used a Windmühlenmesser in the kitchen, actually two: a classic vegetable knife and a bird's beak knife for peeling potatoes, which in the end had only a very narrow, but always sharp, blade. Whenever I use these knives today, I think of my grandma and how Windmühlenmesser are simply great knives. Knives with character and tradition!