Workshop of the long- and short – knives

Leute arbeiten in einer Werkstatt — Inside the workshop. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Werkzeuge an der Wand — A postcard boasting of the company's long tradition. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Arbeiter überprüft Messer, daneben liegen Klingen — Preparing a kitchen knife. The knives are set aside after the first grinding. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Ausgestanzte Metallplatte — The moulds for 21 blades have been cut out of this steel plate. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Mann arbeitet an einer Maschine in der Werkstatt — Drilling holes into the wooden handle of a knife. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Schublade mit Scheren — Drawers full of tools needed to make the Klötzli tools. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Aufgereihte Klingenrohlinge — Blades which have yet to be taken to the next processing stage. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Handgriffe für Messer — Timeless materials: wood, horn and mother of pearl. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Papierstapel und Mann an Maschine — Bookkeeping and grinding both require attention to detail. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Frau schleift Messer — Nina Klötzli works on a kitchen knife. She's worked in the family business for a number of years and has now decided to train as a cutler. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Mann montiert ein Messer zusammen — Assembling a "Walker 06" jackknife. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Klappmesser wird zusammengeschraubt — Assembling a jackknife requires steady hands. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Rohlinge von Klingen — The blade takes shape during the first grinding. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Mann schleift Werkzeug — Special cutting tools are sharpened with a hand file. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

runde Käsemesser — Many of the Klötzli products aren't made for mass production, like the special cheese knife for cheese makers, designed to penetrate large wheels of cheese as part of the tasting process. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Klebebandrollen — The workshop also prepares the packaging for distribution via the company's online shop. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Messerteile — Klötzli also makes belt clips for its jackknives. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Besprechung in der Werkstatt — Patron Hans-Peter Klötzli goes over the technical specifications with two of his employees. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Älterer Meister in der Werkstatt — Klötzli himself takes responsibility for the final control of his company's knives before they are sent off to customers. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Forging, grinding, sharpening: Behind the precise cut of a Swiss knife lies a lot of grimy work. A family of cutlers at the Klötzli workshop has been shaping metal into knives for over 160 years.

This content was published on October 20, 2018 - 11:00

As a photo editor I am responsible for the editorial use of photography at SWI swissinfo.ch and our collaborations with photographers. When the opportunity arises, I take a camera and accompany one of our journalists. I trained as a photographer in Zürich and began working as a photojournalist in 1989. I was a founder of the Swiss photographers' agency Lookat Photos in 1990. A two-time World Press Award winner, I have also been awarded several Swiss national scholarships. My work has been widely exhibited and it is represented in various collections.

Thomas Kern, text and photos

Entering the workshop in the industrial quarter of Burgdorf, north of the Swiss capital, Bern, the first thing you notice is the smell: iron, steel, abrasives, oil and grease. It stays with you for the entire visit.

The Klötzli cutlery is in the hands of the sixth generation of the Klötzli family, now run by Nina and Samuel Klötzli. Nina takes care of administration and bookkeeping and occasionally sales in one of the two shops in Burgdorf and Bern. Only last year, at the age of 34, she began an apprenticeship as a cutler after working in the hotel business. Her brother Samuel takes care of the marketing.

Nanny knife

In the assembly area, a staff member drills straight holes into the wooden handles of a simple kitchen knife. But it becomes a “Grandmother’s knife” once the handle is screwed to the blade – a simple but efficient tool for pealing and chopping vegetables and fruit.

One of the more unusual items, a circular blade, is designed for cheese makers. It’s made to penetrate deep into a wheel of cheese, to remove a tasting sample. This special knife is exported all over the world.

But much of the activity in the workshop is dedicated to servicing and repairing knives – regrinding precision, industrial tools, and sharpening expensive kitchen knives from restaurants and amateur chefs.

The dirty work

Grinding is dirty work. Filings dissolve in grinding fluid, which can be water or oil, depending on the exact requirements. The liquid turns grey and black, while the grinding sludge mixes with the abrasive, which is produced in the workshop itself, made from beef tallow and corundum, a hard mineral.

On the shelves in the warehouse there are blade moulds, half-mounted folding knives and the raw materials for the more pricey knife handles: Moonstone, deer antler or – more modern – carbon. The family business is known above all for its jackknives. Designed by the 70-year-old patron, Hanspeter Klötzli, and handcrafted. They are simple, mechanically impeccable and – depending on the model – not cheap.

He checks each knife before it leaves the workshop, checking the spring mechanism, ensuring it clicks quietly when locked.

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