Wenger - The Genuine Swiss Army Knife

December, 2006

The groundwork for the company that today we know as Wenger, was laid in 1893 by Paul Boechat. He was working at a cutlery factory in Delemont, Switzerland, Fabrique Suisse De Coutellerie S.A. In 1898 Theo Wenger became the director of the factory. Later he bought the factory and changed the name to Wenger & Co. S.A.

In 1886 the Swiss Army decided to equip each soldier with a regulation knife. At that time it was a single blade folding pocket knife. The knife along with other tools were necessary to maintain the soldier's rifle.  In 1889 a new rifle was issued to the Swiss Military. A decision was made to assemble all the tools necessary for dismantling the new rifles into one knife. The military called the knife a rifle accessory.  The 1890 model had a knife blade, reamer, screwdriver and can opener. Initially this knife had to be supplied by German manufacturers as the swiss knife makers were not able to mass produce the knife.  This was the beginning of the knives we today call Swiss Army Knives.

In 1884 Karl Elsner fhad started a knife manufacturing works that today is knows as Victorinox. Eventually he was able to get the contract from the Swiss military to produce and supply the soldiers knife. Shortly, after it's creation in 1893, the second industrial cutlers in Switzerland, that of Courtelle, (The future Wenger), also became a supplier of the knife to the military.

Kaspar Oertli joined the cutlery factory as a representative in 1909. In 1922 he became the partner of Theo Wenger. In 1929 Kaspar Oertli obtained controlling interest in Wenger & Co. S.A. from the Theo's family after Theo's death.  Max Oertli took over management of the company in 1947 after the death of his father, Kaspar.

The Wenger company survived the depression years and struggled with layoffs and wage reductions. There were across the board reductions for all Wenger employees of 12 ½ %. Some Wenger employees received additional cuts up to 10%. The year 1937 was the first year in 6 years that Wenger had made a profit.

In 1986 a fire destroyed the Wenger factory in Switzerland. The business was rebuilt, modernized and the product lines reworked. In 1992 NASA took a Swiss Army Knife into space for the first time. In 2002 Victorinox took over Wenger.

With the new products and a new look the future of Wenger has changed. In 2000 they introduced the Porsche Design series, followed by the introduction of the Swiss Business Tool in 2003. In 2005 the look of the Swiss Army Knife was changed after 100 years, with the introduction of the Evolution Series (EVO) Swiss Army Knives.