Trattenbacher Taschenfeitel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The articles Messererbote and Trattenbacher Taschenfeitel overlap thematically. Help me to better differentiate or merge the articles (→  instructions ) . To do this, take part in the relevant redundancy discussion . Please remove this module only after the redundancy has been completely processed and do not forget to include the relevant entry on the redundancy discussion page{{ Done | 1 = ~~~~}}to mark. Wheeke ( discussion ) 14:53, Nov. 8, 2019 (CET)
Pocket knife
Overview of various pocket knife manufacturers
Kinderfeitel
Pocket sizes, different colors

The Trattenbacher Taschenfeitel (also called Trattenbacher Zauckerl ) is an Austrian pocket knife with a centuries-old manufacturing tradition . The place of production is the Trattenbachtal, today part of the municipality of Ternberg in Upper Austria . The knife is still included in Ternberg's coat of arms.

history

As early as the Middle Ages , metal workshops and, in particular, cutlers were set up in the Trattenbachtal valley, due to the great gradient for generating energy . The first documented mention of knife production dates back to 1422. The first foldable pocket knives were produced from the 16th century.

The fact that these knives were made from sharps steel is particularly noteworthy, as at that time this steel was largely reserved for the manufacture of weapons and scythes. At the beginning of the production of Scharsachknife there was only one knife guild for Steinbacher and Trattenbacher knives , but due to rivalries, a separate Trattenbach guild was founded in 1680 , which was approved by Emperor Leopold I in 1682 . The guild mark shows three different blades that had to be produced by each candidate at the time for the master’s examination .

The changeover to machine production at the beginning of the 19th century also brought the end of the guild and the establishment of a cooperative .

The 20th century heralded the decline of the Feitelmacher, the world economic crisis forced the majority of the family businesses to give up the production. After the end of the Second World War there were only six workshops left in the valley.

Apart from the museum workshop of the Löschenkohl manufactory, there is now only the manufacturer Hack Stainless , which, in addition to pocket knives, also produces special knives of all kinds - such as cutlery and cutlery, hunting knives as well as kitchen and commercial knives - which are exported worldwide.

Manufacturing

The Feitel itself consists of four components: the blade, the handle ( handle ), a metal spike and a metal plate surrounding the handle. The required steel was imported via Eisenstrasse . The knife itself was originally forged, hardened, sharpened and polished to achieve the appropriate work quality. However, the blade cannot be fixed.

Since all (38 in total) work steps could be carried out in one workshop, the production was easy to handle and also relatively inexpensive. In the heyday of the Taschenfeitel there were 16 families, each with their own production facility.

In the age of industrialization , the workshops began to increasingly rely on machine production and were able to multiply production and produce 8 million Feitel annually in 45 different varieties. While the blades used to be forged by hand, the blades are now punched out of strip steel .

After the end of the heyday at the beginning of the 20th century, production was temporarily completely stopped due to the global economic crisis. After the decline of the local industry, however, the village has recently developed into a very successful museum . In a show workshop in the turnery on Erlach , visitors are given the opportunity to put together their own pocket knife.

Marketing and sales

Old advertising sign for Taschenfeitel in the museum in Wegscheid

Until the beginning of industrialization, the Trattenbacher pocket knife was unrivaled, as it was characterized by good quality and a low price. The great success of the product brought economic benefits to the entire region. Exports took place along the Eisenstrasse to Steyr , from where the knives were exported worldwide, mainly via Venice . The knives were sold throughout Europe, Africa, the Near and Middle East, Asia and North America. In the heyday of knife manufacture, up to 18 million pocket knives were produced each year.

In order to be able to distinguish the Feitel from different production, each family had its own die that was attached to the knife blade. At the beginning of the industrial age , increased competition from abroad put pressure on the Feitel-makers, and as a reaction many other folding knife variants were created: children's and women's knives, vegetable knives, vintner, rose, Bergstadler Feitel, Knicker as well as Prussian, Hungarian and French knives .

Today, in addition to the traditional Feiteln, miniature versions as key rings, pocket Feitels as advertising media with engravings on the blade or imprint on the handle and regional souvenirs as well as hand-forged unique items with deer horn handles are offered.

As a reminder of the tradition of the Feitelmakers, the world's largest Taschenfeitel was set up in 1985 at the confluence of the Trattenbach and Enns .

Messerln

Zauckerl from the Trattenbach Feitlclub

A game of skill , the knife, has been played with the Trattenbacher Feiteln for centuries . In the knife game, two players compete against each other, whereby a half-open knife is dropped onto a wooden bench or board from a height of about half a meter. A throw is only valid if the point of the knife remains stuck in the wood. Points are awarded according to the degree of difficulty of the throw, various forward or backward rotations in the flight phase. The tradition of the Messerln game is maintained today in around 30 Feitel clubs, which mainly exist in Upper and Lower Austria and Salzburg . The Feitlklubs traditionally greet each other with the greeting "Feitel auf" , at meetings of the club members there is an obligation to carry your own pocketfeitel with you .

Intangible cultural heritage

Blade grinding shop

In order to preserve the centuries-old traditional production of the pocket leather in the future, the Kulturverein Heimatpflege Ternberg - Trattenbach initiated the inclusion of the Trattenbach pocket leather production in the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage in Austria . The centuries-old tradition of production was presented in the application process. A special highlight for the application was the shape of the simple knife, which has remained almost unchanged for centuries, and the original workshops that still exist, as well as the fact that the pocket knife is rooted in the customs of the region. The Trattenbach Museum Village is the central element for conveying the old handicraft technique for making knives .

On September 23, 2015, the manufacture of the pocket watch was awarded as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Movies

  • Feitel TV. See story! Recorded in 1966 by the knife manufacturers Bruno Löschenkohl and Josef Rameis in Trattenbach / Upper Austria. Scientific director: Elfriede G. Liss, camera: Alfred Reich, editor: Elinor Pavlowsek, production: Federal Headquarters for Photography and Educational Film in Vienna, Scientific Film Department, director: Dankwart G. Burkert.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Kulturverein Heimatpflege Ternberg-Trattenbach: Application form Trattenbacher Taschenfeitel as intangible cultural heritage. 2015, accessed October 21, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Trattenbach Pocket Feitel production. In: unesco.at. Austrian Commission for UNESCO, accessed on May 30, 2019 .

Web links

Commons : Trattenbacher Taschenfeitel generation  - collection of images, videos and audio files