Greetings from Düsseldorf
Hi everyone! I'm from Düsseldorf and have been shaving with a straight razor for about a month. Bought a Dovo Bismarck and a Schlüter in Solingen - so far so good!
I've been lurking around a couple of forums before buying my first straight razor, trying to see which one would be recommended. For a couple of years I was using a Timor Butterfly, which is a great razor, but somehow didn't feel like the real thing yet. Also I didn't want to keep buying razor blades. (some good ones in my opinion are the japanese Feather and the german Merkur; both quite expensive)
In the end I just went with the Bismarck, because I liked how it looked. Turns out it's a great shave and I'm glad I took that leap. Came shave-ready, too.
Since then I've acquired two other razors, both pre-war Solingen: one is a Bockla Nr.39 and the other a Carl Ernst Ebel. Got them for a steal on ebay and use them to practice sharpening, so I won't totally destroy my Bismarck once I try to sharpen that one.
Yeah, that's about it. I'm hoping for a very interesting time in the forums and I look froward to learning a lot.
Cheers, Max