Anselm Littschwager

Knife maker

Mesmerised by the art of knife making

Anselm fell in love with his craft at a young age
He feels that tradition is today’s innovation
His works reflect his travels

Two little boys are standing at the window of a kitchen shop smiling with amazement as their eyes follow the shape of a damask steel knife in the display. One of the boys was Anselm Littschwager and this moment was the beginning of his fascination with the art of forging knives. “I was mesmerised, and the only thing I could think of was: when I grow up, I am going to do this.” After years of training as a silversmith in Neugablonz and Vienna, the dream of starting his own forge was already in reach. “But I was lacking experience in craft as well as in life in general.” So he spent the next three years travelling from Germany to Scandinavia gathering experience and impressions along the way, all of which are reflected in his works today.

Interview

How did it feel to make your very first knife?: It is very special to make something for the first time, the first spoon, the first beaker, the first knife, they always remain in your memory. It is very uplifting to form a useful object out of nothing with your own hands.
What's your approach to tradition and innovation?: I think both concepts are excessively overused and are by no means a guarantee for quality in themselves, but I am especially wondering if they are really the counterparts we tend to treat them as.
So they equal each other?: They could, depending on the socio-cultural context. I mean, is it traditional to work by hand and to produce unique pieces with passion, or isn’t it rather innovative because a large number of people today are unable to produce anything with their hands themselves?
What is the most intriguing part of your creation process?: I love working with fire. It allows the metamorphosis of iron ore, as dust and earth, into precious steel and then even further to a tool that perhaps will last for generations.

Anselm Littschwager is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2008