Böker (company)

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Heinr. Böker Baumwerk GmbH
legal form GmbH
founding 1869
Seat Solingen , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management Carsten Felix-Dalichow
Number of employees 139
sales 8.3 million euros ( gross profit )
Branch Cutlery industry
Website www.boker.de
Status: 2014

The Heinr. Böker Baumwerk GmbH is a German knife manufacturer with headquarters in Solingen in North Rhine-Westphalia. In addition to in-house production at the Solingen and Buenos Aires locations, Böker also has knives made to order in China and Taiwan. In addition, Böker also acts as an importer and distributor for international brands such as B. Spyderco and CRKT . The company is represented in 30 countries through subsidiaries or partners. Böker was one of the first suppliers of ceramic knives .

history

Hunting and travel knives in integral construction from Böker

The company Heinr. Böker & Co. in Solingen was founded in 1869 by Heinrich Böker together with Hermann Heuser . The Böker family had been running a hand tool factory in neighboring Remscheid since the 17th century and had been producing sabers since 1829 . In the 19th century, members of the Böker family from Remscheid founded companies for the production and trade of cutlery in the USA, Canada and Mexico .

At the beginning of the 20th century, Böker sold a large part of Solingen's production to the US market through its American sister company, H. Boker & Co. , based in New York. At this time, H. Boker & Co. also strengthened their own production in the USA in order to meet demand.

During the Second World War, the Solingen plant was completely destroyed. The registration of the Böker trademark for the American market was confiscated.

After the war, the German plant in Solingen was rebuilt. At the beginning of the 1960s Boker USA was taken over by the scissors manufacturer Wiss & Sons after several changes of ownership. Wiss & Sons sold both Böker knives from Solingen production and knives from their own production on the US market. In the early 1970s, Boker USA was sold by Wiss to Cooper Industries . Cooper Industries stopped manufacturing its own knives in 1983 and returned the American trademark rights to Heinr in 1986. Böker Baumwerk GmbH in Solingen transferred. The Böker brand is once again in the hands of the Solingen company worldwide. In the same year, Böker founded the American subsidiary Boker USA, Inc. in Denver, Colorado, for sales on the US market.

Products

Sports knife from Böker
One-hand knife with leopard damask blade from Böker

The focus is on outdoor knives , hunting knives and collector knives , as well as sports knives and professional knives for police and military use. The range also includes chef's knives and classic straight razors . Böker works regularly with internationally known knife makers, whose designs, which are typically made as one-off pieces, are mass-produced by Böker.

The product range is divided into four areas:

  • Under Böker Manufaktur Solingen , Böker offers handmade knives from the manufactory in Solingen. This also includes, in particular, collector's knives with a limited edition. The brand's best-known products include the Speedlock switchblade knives and the collector's knives , whose Damascus steel blades are made from the cannon barrel steel of Leopard battle tanks or the armor plates of the battleship Tirpitz .
  • Under Böker Arbolito , Böker offers handmade knives from its own production in Buenos Aires .
  • Under Böker Plus , Böker offers knives for which conception, design and construction at Böker in Solingen is carried out in cooperation with internationally successful knife makers , while production takes place overseas. The focus at Böker Plus is on innovative knives for professional users.
  • Under Magnum by Böker knives are offered that are designed in Solingen, while design, construction and production take place overseas.

literature

  • Matthias S. Recktenwald, Böker Sportmesser: The first of its kind. 145 years of Böker Sportmesser, in: Visier 6/2014, pp. 70–75
  • Gerhard Wirnsberger, 125 years of the Böker company, Solingen, in: DWJ (formerly Deutsches Waffen-Magazin), 8/1994, pp. 1188–1191

Web links

Commons : Heinr. Böker Baumwerk GmbH  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Imprint . Website of Heinr. Böker Baumwerk GmbH. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  2. a b Federal Gazette : Annual financial statements for the financial year from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014
  3. International partner website of Heinr. Böker Baumwerk GmbH. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  4. ^ Mary Ellen Snodgrass: Encyclopedia of kitchen history . Taylor & Francis, 2004, ISBN 978-1-57958-380-4 .
  5. a b Company history ( Memento of the original from May 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Website of Heinr. Böker Baumwerk GmbH. Retrieved July 11, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.boker.de
  6. Mark D. Zalesky: Boker Celebrates 140 Years In: Knife World, Vol. 35, No. 11 , 2009, p. 26.
  7. Joe Kertzman: Pocket Knives. In: Sporting Knives 2003. 2003, pp. 117, 148-149.
  8. Hans-Heinrich Grosse-Brockhoff: Cutting at the touch of a button, The Böker Speedlock defines the modern switchblade In: FAZ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of May 19, 1998 , p. 0T2
  9. ^ Boker Arbolito: La Historia
  10. ^ Boker Plus, company website. Retrieved January 6, 2018 .