Sorry. Your last question is most interesting. The Nazis took over everything and F Herder was left to make bayonets, knives, etc for them.
Lots of fine German makers are extinct because they lacked the volume of a few others. I have to say the late 30's.
Big makers like F. Herder and Ern were used to make cutlery....or else, I expect.
Somewhere in the bowels of the factory (which survived the war and is a museum now) Lay displays, knives, razors, Lots of unfinished blanks.
Seemingly there was a PILE of #'s 25, 49, and 76 finished blades.
They plugged along for decades making knives and such after the war's end. Straight razors were not so popular.
As I know it, Smoky Mountain knife works bought all the old inventory as F.Herder became insolvent in 1993 and the name became a GMBH and sold products from the Malay Peninsula. This stuff has been sitting forever. 80+ years, I think.
So it is finally getting out here.
The guys have had someone make a pile of inlay-ed bone scales, natural and black in an effort to sell them for more.
Not quite done right and too many being sold at once has the prices silly!
On the really rare side, display boards are getting stripped and sold as well. One of a kinds.....
Excellent stuff.