The Otter company was founded around 1840 in Solingen, the German steel capital. Its name comes from the otters that lived on the banks of the streams and rivers of the Bergisches Land region at that time. The Mercator knife, created in 1867, equipped German soldiers during the First and Second World Wars. Still handcrafted and sharpened with the utmost care, more than 40 manual steps are required to make an Otter Mercator knife.