Solingen

Solingen (German pronunciation: [ˈzoːlɪŋən] ; Limburgish: Solich) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr. After Wuppertal, it is the second-largest city in the Bergisches Land, and a member of the regional authority of the Rhineland. Solingen is called the Klingenstadt (City of Blades), and has long been renowned for the manufacturing of fine swords, knives, scissors and razors made by firms such as WKC, P.D Rasspe Söhne, DOVO, Wüsthof, Zwilling J. A. Henckels, Böker, Güde, Hubertus, Diefenthal, Puma, Clauberg/Klauberg, Eickhorn, Linder, Carl Schmidt Sohn, Dreiturm, Herder, Martor Safety Knives, Wolfertz, Ralf Aust and numerous other manufacturers. The medieval swordsmiths of Solingen designed the town's coat of arms. In the late 17th century, a group of swordsmiths from Solingen broke their guild oaths by taking their sword-making secrets with them to Shotley Bridge, County Durham, in England. In the local dialect the Solinger Platt, a variety of the Limburgish language, the city is called Solich or Zóóliech.