Puma Knives
"Founded in 1769, the first rule of PUMA was and still is today, first class quality which is reflected in their hunting, sporting and outdoor knives. We proof every single PUMA® knife blade made in Germany for hardness. If you examine the right hand side of your knife, you will see a small indented dot on the blade. This small dot is the “proof mark” from a Rockwell hardness tester. Using a diamond-pointed needle, every blade is tested for hardness."
The Lauterjung & Sohn, Puma-Werk Waffen-und Messer Fabrik / Stahlwarenfabrik company has its beginning stretched back to 1769, with Nathanael Lauterjung's great grandfather. In 1855, Nathanael established a cutlery and knife making workshop in Solingen. After he died in 1876, the business was formally known as "Firma Wwe Nath. Lauterjung." On May 26, 1900, the "Puma-Werk" name was registered with the Solingen authorities. By 1906, Puma was distributing its products all around Europe. From 1920 to 1992, the company was located on Kanalstraße 9 in Solingen. Early on Puma manufactured: razors, hair cutters, pocket and hunting knives. Trade directories reveal the owners were Ernst Otto Lauterjung in 1914, and widow Emilie Lauterjung in 1939. During the Third Reich era, Puma-Werk was a large manufacturer of edged weapons. It supplied a vast array of daggers, knives and swords for the Wehrmacht and NSDAP. Shortly after the end of the Second World War, Oswald von Frankenberg and Ludwigsdorf (1915-1986) joined the Puma-Werk company. In 1953, the company concentrated its efforts on specializing in high-quality: hunting, fishing and outdoor knives. In 1979, a serious fire in Kanalstraße destroyed some stock and a part of its historic archives, but the factory was soon-after rebuilt. The Hindrichs family (purchasers of Hugo Köller two years earlier) acquired Puma-Werk on November 1, 1991. In 1995, Puma moved into Hugo Köller's factory on Grünewalder Straße 28, allowing the Kanalstraße premises to be demolished. In 1998, Puma-Werk and Köller's Stahlwarenfabrik companies were moved to An den Eichen 20-22, the premises of "Cuno Melcher" (part of the same Hindrichs family group). In 2019, the company celebrated 250 years of knife making in Solingen. Puma-Werk continues to offer handmade pocket and hunting knives around the world.
