1946-2025

H.P. Klötzli

H.P. grew up on Mühlegasse, in the old town of Burgdorf, together with his brother Ueli and sister Monica. H.P. (not even his mother ever called him «Hans Peter») was already very curious back then, he knew every workshop in the neighborhood, the mill, carpentry, shoemaking, painting. His independence and self-reliance often meant that his parents had to look for the young boy in town when he preferred to explore the neighborhood instead of coming home.

He attended school in Burgdorf. This was followed by a year at boarding school in Cornamusaz, in the french part of Switzerland. He completed his apprenticeship as a knife smith at Victorinox in Schwyz. Since the founding of the Swiss Knifemakers' Association in 1891, the Klötzli family had a business relationship and friendship with the Elsener family of Victorinox, which meant a lot to H.P..

At the age of 16 he was already traveling by car to Italy and Scandinavia, at 20 in a Fiat 500 via Vienna to the Russian border. At 24, he embarked on a 9-month trip around the Mediterranean together with a childhood friend from Burgdorf. However, H.P. ended up in prison in Istanbul for 3 nights for possession of a Klötzli knife. The fine costs him almost all his travel money. Nevertheless, he continued from there to Israel, first to the banana plantations of a kibbutz, then as a ship's cook on the Red Sea between Eilat and Sharm El Sheikh.
To earn money for the onward journey, H.P. and his friend had cleaned the oil-smeared engine compartment of a wrecked freighter. The owner and employer was Captain Ike, the man who broke through the British naval blockade with his ship in 1946 and brought over 4,000 refugees to Palestine. The book 'Exodus' by Leon Uris is about his story. H.P. was particularly proud of the very personal dedication with a thank you from Captain Ike in his copy of 'Exodus'.
With his pockets full of money, he continued on to Africa, mostly by hitchhiking, riding a motorcycle from Senegal to Mali and finally ending up on the Ivory Coast, where he lived on the beach eating bananas and crabs for several weeks. For his journey home, he was able to find a job on a freighter. He made it from rust-buster to helmsman. He steered the 134-metre-long ship through the Strait of Gibraltar at sunrise, an unforgetable experience.

After his trip to Africa, he and three friends founded a fashion boutique in Burgdorf's old town called «Guru». Unfortunately, it was only a short-term success, but they had all the more fun shopping clothes and records in London to sell in the store.

In 1971, H.P. took over the family business in the 5th generation. The knife smithy he took overfrom his father employed a saleswoman and a knife smith. Soon afterwards, he took over a cutlery shop in Bern as a branch.

H.P. Klötzli and Bea Misteli married in 1981. In their wedding year, H.P. heard about an exhibition for knifemakers in the USA. He wanted to travel to this exhibiton as their Honeymoon. But this was not quite what his wife Bea wanted. She in turn heard that China opened the borders for individual tourists that year. An agreement was reached to the satisfaction of both: H.P. would pursue his passion for knives in the USA and Bea would travel to China. The actual honeymoon was a rainy night in the camper van in the Swiss alps. Nevertheless, H.P. and Bea became a good team.
Their children Nina & Samuel Klötzli were born in 1983 and 1985. Bea joined the business in the 1990s and from then on supported H.P. in bookkeeping, advertising and administration.

H.P. was enthusiastic about his first visit to a knife exhibition and subsequently visited exhibitions in the USA, Europe and Japan on a regular basis. He organized the first European knife exhibition in Switzerland. Knifemakers from all over the world exhibited their unique handmade pieces. Together with a colleague, he published the first European knife magazine, the “European Blade”, also based on an American predecessor.
These trips resulted in many business relationships worldwide, which became friendships that lasted for decades. Business friends invited H.P. to family celebrations in Pakistan, Japan and South America. They visited each other's workshops - they learned from each other. H.P. built up a professional network all over the globe and aquired a reputation as an outstanding knifemaker.

In the 1990s, H.P. produced the first high-end folding knives in his workshop in Burgdorf.  On behalf of the US knife manufacturer Spyderco and with the help of the renowned knifemaker Michael Walker, a folding knife with carbon handle scales was created in series production, a world premiere! These high-end folding knives set new standards in the field of “semi-custom” knives and made it onto the front page of magazines and books with 'Swiss Precision'.
As a result, the entire business gradually expanded. All in all, it can be considered a success story. But a hard-earned one: the recession in the 1990s was a major challenge. H.P. and Bea managed to lead a traditional cutler business through a time when craftsmanship was generally in a difficult position and cheap mass products were in demand.

H.P. was also very active in Burgdorf's trade association and in 2013 he was awarded the Burgdorf «Old Town Prize» for his services to the town.

From 1999 to 2017, H.P. was President of the Swiss Knifemakers' Association. In this role, he was involved in a Federal Council commission, as a counsil for the revision of the knife laws in 1999. He also succeeded in upholding the profession of the «knifesmith»  as a federal aprrenticeship in Switzerland.

In 2015, Nina and Samuel took over the management of a healthy business with 23 employees. Many of them had worked with H.P. for decades to help him realize his visions. These employee relationships were extremely valuable to him. The Klötzli team has also supported H.P. and his family with great understanding and care in the recent years. This gives the term «family business» a further dimension.

In 2021, to mark the company's 175th anniversary, the company museum was opened in the house the company was founded and H.P.'s grew up in. H.P. took this opportunity to showcase the achievements of 6 generations of  the Klötzli family and guided numerous visitors through the exhibition. This gave him great pleasure.

During the last 16 months of his life H.P. faced some extremely challenging phyiscal conditions. Knowing full well that he had experienced and achieved a great deal, he left this life self-determined. He has now been released from his physical suffering, and we are happy for him.

The Klötzli family would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who have accompanied H.P. and the family over the past year. He received a great deal of support.
From the bottom of our hearts: Thank you!