Weird tale - DWM and Cutlery

Vlim · 01-14-2016, 10:54 AM

A while ago, I found a nice, but refinished 1918 DWM pistol. The pistol is somewhat interesting, as it only has one military acceptance marking, instead of the normal set.

The pistol surfaced in Oberndorf and was placed in a box that clearly wasn't a pistol box. I couldn't make out what the box had contained and I decided to leave the pistol and box together.

Recently I discovered that one of the side businesses that DWM turned to after WW1, was the production of luxury cutlery. They did this under the name 'Ber-Ka', referring to 'Berlin-Karlsruher Industriewerke', while at the same time winking towards the Germany cutlery town Berka.

One of those cutlery sets from the 1920s was offered for sale and to my surprise the box had all the hallmarks of my 'pistol box'. Same materials, type of finishing, inlay around the edges and lock work...

I now feel better that I kept both the pistol and box together and did not discard the box. Although not a pistol box, it has a shared history with this pistol and the company that produced both of them in the past

A funny detail is that DWM/BKIW kept using their 'bombe' logo on the cutlery as well.

Vlim · 01-14-2016, 11:16 AM

DWM wrote about this chapter in their history in their company history:

The first items that DWM produced after the restart in 1919 were balls and ball bearings in Berlin and several items from aluminum in Karlsruhe, mainly kitchen tableware. ... the tableware was very good and heavy, but too expensive for most of the buying public. This was also caused by the fact that it was very uneconomical to produce these items on existing extracting and pressing machines built for 200 to 300 tons of pressure, when only 20 to 30 tons were needed.

DWM mainly used this 'trick' to be able to keep their heavy production machinery from being taken away and scrapped by the Interallied Control Commission after WW1.

Vlim · 01-22-2016, 09:04 AM

Some period DWM / BKIW marketing material from 1928-1929, as well as a close-up of the BER-KA marking with the little 'bombe' on the spoon.

Edward Tinker · 01-22-2016, 09:14 AM

I was talking to a friend in California the other day and he specifically brought up about this same fact. He used to own a carbine and it was inside of a cutlery box! He almost parted them, but did not - I do not have pictures..

01-14-2016, 10:54 AM	#1
Vlim Moderator Lifetime LugerForum Patron Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Europe Posts: 5,048 Thanks: 1,034 Thanked 3,948 Times in 1,198 Posts	Weird tale - DWM and Cutlery A while ago, I found a nice, but refinished 1918 DWM pistol. The pistol is somewhat interesting, as it only has one military acceptance marking, instead of the normal set. The pistol surfaced in Oberndorf and was placed in a box that clearly wasn't a pistol box. I couldn't make out what the box had contained and I decided to leave the pistol and box together. Recently I discovered that one of the side businesses that DWM turned to after WW1, was the production of luxury cutlery. They did this under the name 'Ber-Ka', referring to 'Berlin-Karlsruher Industriewerke', while at the same time winking towards the Germany cutlery town Berka. One of those cutlery sets from the 1920s was offered for sale and to my surprise the box had all the hallmarks of my 'pistol box'. Same materials, type of finishing, inlay around the edges and lock work... I now feel better that I kept both the pistol and box together and did not discard the box. Although not a pistol box, it has a shared history with this pistol and the company that produced both of them in the past A funny detail is that DWM/BKIW kept using their 'bombe' logo on the cutlery as well. Attached Thumbnails

01-22-2016, 09:04 AM	#3
Vlim Moderator Lifetime LugerForum Patron Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Europe Posts: 5,048 Thanks: 1,034 Thanked 3,948 Times in 1,198 Posts	Some period DWM / BKIW marketing material from 1928-1929, as well as a close-up of the BER-KA marking with the little 'bombe' on the spoon. Attached Thumbnails Attached Images

01-14-2016, 11:16 AM	#2
Vlim Moderator Lifetime LugerForum Patron Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Europe Posts: 5,048 Thanks: 1,034 Thanked 3,948 Times in 1,198 Posts	DWM wrote about this chapter in their history in their company history: The first items that DWM produced after the restart in 1919 were balls and ball bearings in Berlin and several items from aluminum in Karlsruhe, mainly kitchen tableware. ... the tableware was very good and heavy, but too expensive for most of the buying public. This was also caused by the fact that it was very uneconomical to produce these items on existing extracting and pressing machines built for 200 to 300 tons of pressure, when only 20 to 30 tons were needed. DWM mainly used this 'trick' to be able to keep their heavy production machinery from being taken away and scrapped by the Interallied Control Commission after WW1.

01-22-2016, 09:14 AM	#4
Edward Tinker Super Moderator Eternal Lifer LugerForum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: North of Spokane, WA Posts: 15,916 Thanks: 1,992 Thanked 4,507 Times in 2,081 Posts	I was talking to a friend in California the other day and he specifically brought up about this same fact. He used to own a carbine and it was inside of a cutlery box! He almost parted them, but did not - I do not have pictures..