The legendary Passau Wolf blades

From the 15th century onwards, the Passau district of Innstadt evolved into a remarkable "industrial location". 

The blacksmiths and many other craftsmen who worked with fire and used hydropower left the old town. 

To support the manufacturing processes - forging and grinding blades - the craftsmen now operated iron hammers and mills at the streams Haibach, Mühlbach and Beiderwiesbach.

The use of hydropower and the existence of the major waterways made Passau a center of commerce and industry and an important transshipment point for goods. 

The town was located on the important trade routes of the time: the rivers Danube and Inn, as well as the "Goldene Steigen" – the name given to the mule trails leading to Bohemia. These routes were used to transport salt from Tyrol, grain from Hungary and iron from the mines near the town of Steyr.

The staple right (Niederlagsrecht) ), conferred by King Wenceslaus in 1390, obliged merchants to offer their goods for sale in Passau for three days. This helped Passau to become an important trading town in the Middle Ages.

For the swordsmiths and bladesmiths of Passau, the iron traded in town was therefore a constantly available raw material in their production of melee weapons.  

Powerful guilds emerged, with well-known masters. In around 1513, the guild was headed by the masters Haimeran Deterholczer and Jeronimus Fryckell. On the glass window you can see a banner bearing their names, their master marks inside the shields, and their patron saints, Saint Emmeram and Saint Jerome.

The seal of quality of all Passau blades was the wolf that was borrowed from the prince-bishop's coat of arms. This led to the legendary name "Wolfsklingen" (wolf blades), which became world-famous. 

During the production process, the swordsmiths would free-handedly cut the wolf shape with several chisel blows and then line it with brass wire (= damascene).

The political significance of the Passau prince-bishops and their supra-regional contacts with courts promoted the spread of the Wolf blades. They were a luxury item that was extremely popular with dukes and princes. 

One of the most exquisite swords of the late Middle Ages has a Passau blade: the electoral sword of Frederick the Warlike. He received it as a gift from Sigismund, King of Hungary and Bohemia, when he was enfeoffed with the Electorate of Saxony in 1425. 

The Passau prince-bishop Georg Graf von Hohenlohe was a close confidant of the king and was also his court chancellor from 1417 to 1418. King Sigismund stayed with him at the Passau Residenz on several occasions. In view of these close relations, there can be no doubt about the authenticity of the wolf and the origin of the blade from Passau.

New trade routes for grain, salt and iron led to the decline of the trading town of Passau in the 17th century. The production of Passau's craft products was impaired by a lack of raw materials. 

The popular export "Wolf blade" was replaced by weapons produced elsewhere that were increasingly being pushed into the market. 

Alongside Styrian products, blades from Solingen were very popular: epees and sabres were produced entirely in the fashionable baroque style and in accordance with the latest weapons technology.

In the early 17th century, there were still five bladesmiths in Passau. They produced the impressive two-handed swords with flame-shaped blades.  

However, the bladesmiths no longer made these wolf blades as battle swords but as parade weapons for the prince-bishop's guards. 

Two of the parade weapons, dated 1595 and 1604, can be attributed to the swordsmith Wolfgang II Stantler (ca. 1552-1617).