All About Pocket Knives

I bought this knife several years ago. The seller did not know for sure but was told it was an Olbertz when he bought it. I'm familiar with the "Crown & wings" of Olbertz but I have never seen this tang stamp anywhere except on this knife. I could not find it in Goin's. It is a solid well made knife. Anyone know what it is? Thank you!

Wilhelm Weltersbach located at Bimerichterstrasse 11 Solingen Germany. founded in 1882, they registered the LAUFBRUNNEN (running well) trademark in August 1910. Ref. German Knife And Sword Makers by J. Anthony Carter pg. 548.

-J.H.

Thank you, I appreciate that information and your time. Do you know anything about this particular knife or if this company is still making knives or when they stopped?

Your knife appears to be a fancy regular pen pattern with grooved and pinched bolsters. The handle material is genuine stag. Very nice knife. Further research reveals that the Weltersbach Company, like many other German firms, produced knives under several other trademarks besides the LAUFBRUNNEN double spouted water pump marking. Among them was the WEIDMANNSHEIL trademark. Mr. Carter's book indicates that the company ceased operation in the late 1980's. According to the book THE KNIFE COLLECOTOR'S ENCYLOPEDIA by James F. Parker the entire contents of the Weltersbach factory was purchased by him in October 1995 from the heirs of the original owners. This included all blades, frames, parts and assembled knives in the factory. I do not know if there were any knives or blades left in inventory with your trademark but it is well known that the WEIDMANNSHIEL knives were assembled, finished and sold by Mr. Parker.

-J.H.

Hey, stlouis, thanks for this bit of knife history. I hope to read more of your posts in the future.
Do you 'specialize' in collecting vintage German knives ?
kj

Apologies to Rwmoss, if I can hijack your thread for just a moment......I am not any kind of authority on German knives. My secret weapon of knife knowledge is a vast array of BOOKS. Over the past 40+ years I have accumulated as many cutlery related books and catalogs I can get my hands on. I highly recommend that all knife nuts (Yes. I'm one too!) acquire as many books as well as cutlery related material you can get your hands on and then READ THEM! There is only so much info available here on the interwebs and as you probably know, even more misinformation. That is why I sing the praises of printed material. there's just no substitute for it.
Thanks,

-J.H.

stlouisknives wrote:Apologies to Rwmoss, if I can hijack your thread for just a moment......I am not any kind of authority on German knives. My secret weapon of knife knowledge is a vast array of BOOKS. Over the past 40+ years I have accumulated as many cutlery related books and catalogs I can get my hands on. I highly recommend that all knife nuts (Yes. I'm one too!) acquire as many books as well as cutlery related material you can get your hands on and then READ THEM! There is only so much info available here on the interwebs and as you probably know, even more misinformation. That is why I sing the praises of printed material. there's just no substitute for it.
Thanks,

-J.H.

And with those same thoughts, many older knife books can be bought cheap because some guys think new books and/or new editions have all the old info plus the new but many new editions leave old info out, maybe not much info is left out but some, and if that is the piece you are looking for and can't find it because you only have new books you are plum out of luck.
This is true with most collectibles including firearms.

Thank you stlouisknives for all the information. I found the German Knife And Sword Makers book at Amazon and also eBay. Sells for around $57 or so. Prior to your help, I was really stumped. Sorry for taking so long to thank you again, I'm still finding my way around AAPK.