Wenger History

The Swiss Army is one of the strongest in Europe.  It is tough, well-trained professional fighting forces so formidable that is has kept the country from being invaded through two World Wars.  Every able-bodied Swiss male is required to serve and remains in the army as a reservist until age 50.  As a condition of preparedness, each soldier is provided with the most advanced technology and simplest -- a folding pocket knife.

It dates back to 1886 when the Swiss Army decided to equip every soldier with a regulation single-blade folding knife. In 1889 a new rifle was introduced. To disassemble the rifle a screwdriver was needed. So a decision was made to create a mutli-purpose tool incorporating a knife, screwdriver, reamer and can opener -- The Swiss Army Knife.

At that time, the cutlery industry in Switzerland was well established but incapable of mass production. So the knives were made in Solingen, Germany.  However, a Swiss cutler soon established a knife manufacturing company, today Victorinox, and began to make army knives.  Shortly after a 1893 at Courtetelle in Delemont valley, the second industrial cutlery of Switzerland, Paul Boechat & Cie -- and the future Wenger -- received a contract from the Swiss Army to produce knives.

In 1895 a group of entrepreneurs from Delemont bought out Boechat and built a new plant at Courtetelle.  About two years later Theodore Wenger was hired to be it's General Manager.  The son of a pastor, Theodore Wenger was a minister who had served in the USA.  He decided this calling was not for him, and his Swiss wife was homesick, so he returned to Switzerland.  There he learned the world of  business in his father-in-law's cloth trade.   After a few years he applied for a job at Courtetelle.

One of Wenger's first acts was to acquire a manufacturer of spoons and forks which he moved to a rented factory in Delemont. Then in 1900 he built a new 18,000 square foot facility there.  Both the utensil operations and the Courtetelle cutlery production were incorporated into the new plant now called Fabrique Suisse de Courtetellerie at Services.  A few years later Wenger acquired Fabrique Suisse, renamed it Wenger et Cie. and shepherded its growth for the next forty years.

The company from which Wenger emerged had been a supplier to the Swiss Army as early as 1893, and its competitor,  Victorinox, since 1890.  Wenger is in the French-speaking Jura region, and its competitor is in the German-speaking canton of Schwyz.  To avoid friction between the two cantons, the Swiss government decided in 1908 to use each supplier for half of its requirements.  So while Victorinox can lay claim to be the "original", Wenger can state that its Swiss Army Knives are the "genuine".  In any case, both have been manufacturing Swiss Army Knives for over 100 years and both must meet identical specifications laid down by the army.

It wasn't until after World War II that the Swiss Army Knives entered into worldwide distribution.  The American G.I. discovered it.  In the USA, it became known as the "survival knife" and was even featured in a television action series, MacGyver, where the hero overcame all sorts of obstacles with his trusty Swiss Army Knife.

Today the Swiss Army Knife is popularized thoughout the world and has many imitators.  But only the authentic knives are permitted to wear the distinctive Swiss cross.  An it is the Wenger knives that exemplify innovation and continuing technological growth.  Over 100 Wenger models are available with many designs created for special interests and activities such as golfing, fishing, skiing and many others.  Wenger also produced a variety of deluxe models that combine aesthetic appeal with practicality.  The company turns out 22,000 pocket knives a day -- nearly one a second.  They are not only produced rapidly and efficiently but they are precision-made, beautifully crafted and superbly finished.

While the Wenger knife is simple and functional and will continue to be so, it will become more and more individualized and specialized. New markets will emerge.  Innovative materials will be utilized.  New styles will be developed for specific activities.  Above all, the emphasis on quality and customer service will be maintained as passionately as during Wenger's first hundred years.