ice skates - The virtual ice Skates museum - German curled ice skates 1

German ice skates with curled runners (1)

Fig.1: German ice skates, 3rd quarter 19th century
Beautiful skates with curved prows and inlaid brass heel plates.
Manufacturer: Carl Wilhelm Wirths, Remscheid
Mark:

Technical data:
total length: 42 cm ; height over ice: 8.3 cm;
platform: 30 cm long, 6 cm wide;
runner blade: 13 mm high, 5 mm thick;
weight: 330 g.

Fig.2: German ice skates, 4th quarter 19th century
Sturdy skates with curved prows and inlaid iron heel cup. The slot in the end of the runner blade and the heel inlay are noticeably. They mark a marriage of wooden and wholly metal ice skates. The wide slot at the front of the wooden platform hints in the direction of a toe strap with two or three buckles.
Manufacturer: Hermann Wirths & Sohn, Remscheid.
Mark:

Technical data:
total length: 36 cm; height over ice: 6.9 cm;
platform: 26 cm shoe length, 6 cm wide;
runner blade: 12 mm high, 2.5 mm thick;
weight: 360 g.

German ice skates
The German forging and metalworking industry was (and still is) concentrated in the vicinity of Cologne and Düsseldorf. This is because iron could be digged here relatively easy and there was also plenty coal for the fires.
Places like Remscheid, Solingen, Essen and Wuppertal became famous for their metal products.
Most manufacturers of ice skates (and parts for them), however, were located in Remscheid.
From the middle of the 19th century lots of ice skates have been made and mainly exported to countries like the USA, England, the Netherlands, France and Scandinavia. Of course ice skates were also produced for domestic use, but the amounts were neglectably compared to those destined for abroad.