The first workers
No lists of names of the first workers of the Manufacture d’armes blanches have survived. Only through research in various places, in archives and libraries, has it been possible to find their traces.
For other periods, only a few complete lists have been found, but thanks to archival studies, it has been possible to identify numerous workers across all periods.
The first workers to come from Solingen and the surrounding area would be:
| Johann Dietrich Benninghaus Mathias Michael Schmid Caspar Engels Arnold Schmidt Wilhelm Kind Abraham Degard (Teegarten) Abraham Wundes Clemens Evertz Andreas Aschauer Abraham Eichhorn Wilhelm Kind |
Steel refiner Steel refiner Bayonet smith Assistant Blacksmith Bladesmith Bladesmith Assistant Bladesmith Hardener Grinder Assistant Grinder Engraver-gilder |
There are no longer any accounts of the first workshops where the above-mentioned workers might have operated. However, a plan of the first building with eight forges was found, built in 1730 and called the “barracks”.
This building was demolished in 1858.
Worker lists could be found from the following eras: