I was out and about yesterday when I came across a gentleman who deals in Medieval and Roman artifacts. As I poked around I found this fine example of a very old straight razor shaving instrument or so I thought.
I asked him to tell me what it was and sure enough, he confirmed my thoughts when he told me it was a shaving razor from the 12th century.
He told me it was discovered in 1988 when a team was brought in to do some restoration work on a castle known as the Hohenneuffen Fortress Ruins.
It is located in Baden-Wurttemberg, Stuttgart, Germany.
Steel of the day was produced by the carbonizing of iron. The piece has been carbon dated and authenticated. It has also been treated bay a professional restoration export so it will not rust any further and perish. (I have all the paperwork). An added thrill for me is that my companies headquarters is in Stuttgart and you can bet I'll be visiting here on my next trip to Germany.
A little History on the Castle itself:
Hohenneuffen was a fortress (Festung) dating from the earliest period of stone castle building in Germany. As can be seen in this photograph it had great command over the surrounding terrain.
A medieval nobleman's mountain castle, founded around 1100, grew into Hohenneuffen and became a politically important fortress during the Middle Ages. During the Reformation, the Peasant's War and in the Thirty Years' War, this country fortress, which lies on a massif on the edge of the Swabian Highlands, was impregnable. After the military importance of Hohenneuffen decreased in the 18th century, the complex decayed until restoration work was taken up in 1988.
Present status: Ruins
Earliest date known: 11th century
Earliest family name: Edelfreien (free nobles) von Neuffen
More info about this castle:
I know, I know, one man's junk is another man's treasure but you have to admit, it's cool as heck.
Any info or insight about this item would be welcomed.
Oh yes, I ill not be honing this baby any time soon...
I asked him to tell me what it was and sure enough, he confirmed my thoughts when he told me it was a shaving razor from the 12th century.
He told me it was discovered in 1988 when a team was brought in to do some restoration work on a castle known as the Hohenneuffen Fortress Ruins.
It is located in Baden-Wurttemberg, Stuttgart, Germany.
Steel of the day was produced by the carbonizing of iron. The piece has been carbon dated and authenticated. It has also been treated bay a professional restoration export so it will not rust any further and perish. (I have all the paperwork). An added thrill for me is that my companies headquarters is in Stuttgart and you can bet I'll be visiting here on my next trip to Germany.
A little History on the Castle itself:
Hohenneuffen was a fortress (Festung) dating from the earliest period of stone castle building in Germany. As can be seen in this photograph it had great command over the surrounding terrain.
A medieval nobleman's mountain castle, founded around 1100, grew into Hohenneuffen and became a politically important fortress during the Middle Ages. During the Reformation, the Peasant's War and in the Thirty Years' War, this country fortress, which lies on a massif on the edge of the Swabian Highlands, was impregnable. After the military importance of Hohenneuffen decreased in the 18th century, the complex decayed until restoration work was taken up in 1988.
Present status: Ruins
Earliest date known: 11th century
Earliest family name: Edelfreien (free nobles) von Neuffen
More info about this castle:
I know, I know, one man's junk is another man's treasure but you have to admit, it's cool as heck.
Any info or insight about this item would be welcomed.
Oh yes, I ill not be honing this baby any time soon...
I didn't realize that folding straight's had been around that long.Amazing.
Apparently the drippings of roast fowl was prefered by young men going courting as the ladies liked it.
