Berndorf - Discover New Dining Culture.

The name the Berndorf

Metallwarenfabrik with the history of the cutlery is close-knit in Europe. In 1843 the cast steel manufacturer Alfred Krupp together with businessman Alexander Schoeller founded the 'KK privilegierte Metallwaarenfabrik in the surroundings of Vienna'. Alfred Krupp brought in the in the new company the recently invented technique of the spoon roller which decreased to a concept of the Munich goldsmith Anton Wiemer, the businessman Alexander Schoeller undertook the marketing. The beneficial  location Berndorf in Austria guaranteed on the one hand the access to the Austria-Hungarian nickel occurence, on the other hand the free slope of the river Triesting which could drive the machines. Nickel was a component of the German silver fictitious scarcely which was known as a Packfong in China for a long time, however, in the 1820s at the same time in Berlin, Vienna and Saxony only for Europe was discovered. In Saxony the alloy of copper, zinc and nickel got the name 'Argentan' , in Berlin this alloy was discovered by the brothers Henninger and was called 'Neusilber' and Vienna the name of the new alloy in the South American llama Alpakka – because of the silvery shine of its wool. One condition for the concurrent discoveries were the new technical possibilities to process the recalcitrant nickel. While Berndorf was founded at first with the participation of the company Friedrich Krupp, the son Hermann Krupp took over the shares of the family Krupp and became a sleeping partner of the Berndorf Metallwarenfabrik. While during the starting years cutleries merely were produced in german silver and was marketed with great success, the Austrian brand began in 1852 with the galvanic silver plating, like it was already practice in France by Christofle. Berndorf sold his new cutlery under the name Alpakka-Silber and nourished already 1000 families in 1870. The programme increased steadily to meet the requirements of the dining culture - like candelabras, hollowware and trays - and accordingly engravers and metal-workers were hired for the production . Empress Elisabeth of Austira (called 'Sissi') equipped her yacht and parts of the Austian court with the high-quality standard assortment of Berndorf. After the death of the founder Alexander Schoeller Arthur Krupp took over the shares of the heirs and made the new named Berndorfer Metallwarenfabrik to one of the biggest enterprises of the Austrian monarchy. Arthur Krupp delivers to the imperial court and was decorated in 1896 with the title of the K.u.K. purveyor to the court. Parts of the imperial Alpakka silver of Berndorf still today is in Viennese Hofburg. Nevertheless, he pushed the industrial manufacturing of cutleries, hollowware and dinnerware from Alpakka silver, but also the technologies for the processing of pure nickel to pots and pans and changed the former village Berndorf to a representative small town. Among the rest, branches were founded in Lucerne and in Milan, Berndorf Luzern and in 1924 Arthur Krupp Milano, which should pass later to the Italian manufacturer Sambonet. In 1932 old Arthur Krupp withdraws from the company and when five years after his demise the centenary anniversary of the Berndorfer Metallwarenfabrik was celebrated, Berndorf is exclusevely possessed by the family Krupp of Essen. In the post-war period Berndorf turned back to his big tradition. Already in 1956 Oswald Haerdtl (1899 - 1959) designed a complete series of hotel dinnerware for Berndorf. Some models are resumed which were formative for Berndorf already before the world war: Menuett and the cutlery Premiere, both today made in Germany and also even today available in sterling silver. Nevertheless, the prevailing majority of the cutlery models was changed and has adapted the today's life style, nevertheless, all high-quality cutleries of Berndorf promise a longevity which Berndorf Besteck is proud of. Berndorf has given new design impulses in the past over and over again. In 2007 the Austrian company initiated a competition at the 'University for Applied Art' in Vienna with which James Kawada (*1945) presented the victorious  design. After a little while this design was produced under the name Avantgarde by Berndorf and was followed by the cutlery Opus matt or polished, which secures Berndorf a place in the first line of the high-quality cutlery manufacturers with unusual design just as Avantgarde. In Berndorf's span between the design cutleries from today and the traditional cutleries from beginning of the last century we find a whole series of functional cutleries for affordable prices. Get enticed by the highlights.