Traditionally, Solingen cutlery was produced through the co-operation of numerous craftsmen, manufactured predominantly by home workers. In addition to the grinders in the water-powered cottage workshops, the steam-powered grinding workshops – later then motor-powered workshops – and the quenchers, the knife assemblers were responsible for assembling the knives and therefore the most important home workers. They had established small workshops throughout the entire urban area.
In the Reiderei Lauterjung (Assembly Company) which specialised in penknives, it seems as though the owner has just stopped for a break. The original fixtures are complete. Several generations of the knife assembler family Lauterjung made a living here, the last person being Arthur Lauterjung who worked in the cottage until 1965. Together with the adjacent former dwelling, the ensemble serves as an example for the Solingen home industry. In the workshop you can learn a great deal about the typical Solingen knife assembling vocation, about penknife production and the division of labour in the cutlery industry.
In co-operation with the Förderverein Industriemuseum Solingen e.V. (Association of Friends), the LVR-Industriemuseum has made the cottage accessible for individual visitors and groups to a limited extent. Under the supervision of a qualified expert, several penknife workshops for children are offered annually in which the participants assemble their own penknife. Not far from the cottage is Germany’s highest railway bridge – the Müngstener Bridge which is more than 100 years old and the re-designed Bridge Park.
Address: Schaberger Straße 16, 42659 Solingen
Opening hours: Every first Saturday of the month, 3 - 5 p.m.
Dates for the Penknife Workshop upon request.
Entrance: 1 €
To book: Groups with more than five persons should book in advance through LVR-Industriemuseum Solingen, Tel.: 0212 232410
