An Otter "Mercator" knife on a piece of mossy wood. The "Mercator" knives were originally produced since 1867 as allround pocket knives by a company named Heinrich Kaufmann & Söhne, Indiawerk in the town of Solingen. The knife name "Mercator" is the Latin version of the German word "Kaufmann" (family name of the company founder) and was chosen for marketing reasons. The simple and rugged design is therefore well over 150 years old, with a folded steel handle and a 9 cm long lockback blade. Due to its ruggedness and affordability the knife became rather popular with German troops in WW I and WW II, but it was never officially issued. After WW II the knife also gained some popularity and abundance in the US because returning soldiers brought them home as war souvenirs. This in turn led there to the wrong belief those knives were official army issue. Since 1995 the knives are produced by Otter-Messer, also in Solingen, a knife maker with a history dating back to 1840. The town of Solingen itself, recognizable by its nickname Klingenstadt (Blade City), has been the heart of the European blades and cutlery industry since the Middle Ages. Around 90 percent of the entire German knife, scissors and cutlery industry is based in Solingen. © All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.
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