Joe Kertzman

I received an email from Roberto Mazzarella of knifeplanet.net saying he did some research on traditional European knives, and contacted museums and associations to find one traditional knife for every European nation. He, of course, found out that some nations have many knife patterns they claim as their own, and others were a little more difficult to uncover. But his research did result in a fascinating and diverse array of European knives. He agreed to allow me to link to his resulting article, “Around Europe in 47 Knives: The Most Iconic Knives of Europe.” Whether you agree with his findings or not, it’s at the very least neat to look at the knives.

As Mazzarella states in his opening paragraphs,  “Knives have been around since caveman chiseled stones to meet their daily needs. Nowadays, thankfully, knife making has progressed quite a ways. In Europe, knife making and knives have a rich, deep and complex history, dating back to cavemen themselves. Therefore, the continent is home to thousands of diverse and unique knives and knife making cultures stretching from medieval Belgium to Ottoman Turkey. Being such a diverse and unique area, however, we wondered how knives differed around the continent. For example, is an iconic knife in Belarus the same as a knife in Bulgaria? Is there an iconic knife from Albania? Due to the fact that there has never been any in-depth research of this kind before, we took it upon ourselves to find these answers. We contacted local knife makers, museums, knife collectors, and local historians from every country in Europe. This never-before done research took over a month of grueling research and labor.” 

See the entire article here.