Austrian/German "Breitaxt" Hewing axe

Agent_H

Agent_H

Joined
Aug 21, 2013
Messages
3,898
Austrian/German “Breitaxt” Hewing axe.
It might go by a different name but “Breitaxt” came up often in translated reading.

5.5lbs, 13.5 inches heel to toe, 9.5inches from edge to poll.

The edge seems pretty much intact – that is what caught my eye. There is one spot on the collar that has about an eighth to a quarter of an inch push in of the metal.

LZC0GgS.jpg


ds4BXN3.png


Flat side/cutting surface
e5SWXqE.jpg


Eye/poll head on:
u68P1tH.jpg


Eye/collar base:
ffhVfN4.jpg


Repair? It seems solid enough. I’m sure it will outlive me even if used – guessing it has maybe twice or more already. Hard to say.

j7Ni1wM.jpg


ngM0XXO.jpg



This is a listing of some sort for the same looking axe:
https://www.the-saleroom.com/fr-fr/...0006/lot-3123b8c3-1dbd-4d50-9eee-a42e011beae7

Agent_H said:
Here is an auction from 2014 that mentions “An Austrian broad axe with faint mark of M SUSSMAN c1910 with 13"" edge”.
https://www.the-saleroom.com/fr-fr/...0006/lot-3123b8c3-1dbd-4d50-9eee-a42e011beae7

eP6wBGo.jpg
Click to expand...

Here is a closer view of the marking in the listing:


And here is what I can make out of the mark on the one here:
KlAE3zz.jpg



They look similar but I am not sure who made it for sure. I see a reference for a “winged dragon” here:
Geflügelter Drache mit Sense = Mayr u Wildenhofer, St. Gallen
“Winged Dragon with sign” - Mayr u Wildenhofer, St. Gallen
http://www.holzwerken.de/museum/hersteller/marken.phtml


I came across this “wiki” site dedicated to the makers of Austrian tools (scythes in particular), forge hammer dates, associated guilds/makers, tool markings, regions, history, etc:
http://www.wikiwand.com/de/Liste_der_Sensenwerke_in_Österreich#/Rottenmann_.28R.29


Guild:
New Sensen (scythe) hammer to St. Gallen (Mayer and Wildenhofer, Koller)

Character:
Flaming heart in the laurel wreath;Winged Dragon with Sense [1]

Place
St. Gallen

Waters
Bill Bach (Enns )

Founding to decommission:
1883-1958

Remarks:
Before stuffing - I don't speak German but I think that is a reference to forge/hammer process?

Sense seems to translate to Scythe. Not speaking German, I am assuming that “Sensehammer” translates as Scythehammer in English.

Anyone venture a guess as to what type/style of forge hammer that is?


Experience, input, resources, anecdotal info, and/or corrections are welcome.
 
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Great tool,Agent_H,thanks for posting this.

These,the so-called "goosewing" broadaxes,were very common in Northern Europe(and a number migrated over to the US with their germanic owners,but were subsequently soon traded in for the more common here,familiar broadaxe of the Colonial America,hard to say why....).

I must say that i've never seen one with an eye such as yours,so voluminous at the top.But,from their origins in Germany and Austria these have spread Very widely,east and south,to Poland,Hungary,even Ukraine and Belorus,and all throughout the Balkans of course....It's possible that it may have it's origins there somewhere,or else a regional variation...(here're a few photos of a similar ones,note the very narrow top of an eye(actually a technical detail stemming from specifics of the construction principles....http://rusknife.com/topic/22044-гуси-лебеди-традиционные-австро-германские-по/...

Anyhoo,great tool,enjoy using it!

(the arc-weld-appearing seam may or may not be that,could be just ground out forge-weld,or someone not liking the appearance of latter followed up with an electrode;it does look solid,as you say,in any event).
 
jake pogg said:
Great tool,Agent_H,thanks for posting this.

These,the so-called "goosewing" broadaxes,were very common in Northern Europe(and a number migrated over to the US with their germanic owners,but were subsequently soon traded in for the more common here,familiar broadaxe of the Colonial America,hard to say why....).

I must say that i've never seen one with an eye such as yours,so voluminous at the top.But,from their origins in Germany and Austria these have spread Very widely,east and south,to Poland,Hungary,even Ukraine and Belorus,and all throughout the Balkans of course....It's possible that it may have it's origins there somewhere,or else a regional variation...(here're a few photos of a similar ones,note the very narrow top of an eye(actually a technical detail stemming from specifics of the construction principles....http://rusknife.com/topic/22044-гуси-лебеди-традиционные-австро-германские-по/...

Anyhoo,great tool,enjoy using it!

(the arc-weld-appearing seam may or may not be that,could be just ground out forge-weld,or someone not liking the appearance of latter followed up with an electrode;it does look solid,as you say,in any event).
Click to expand...


Jake Pogg - thank you very much for the information and your take on the axe. What you are saying about the eye is interesting especially. I will have to look at it more closely to check for shape - whether there is some flair at the top or bottom. What I can say is that it has two small ridges running eye to poll lengthwise about half way along the eye - one on each side. You can kind of see one of them in this picture:

vfWtYXZ.jpg

*that pic came out a little big…

Square_peg said:
Loks like a user. Cool find.
Click to expand...

Square_peg, I think you’re right about it being a user and not a medieval museum piece.

Think it was priced as a user compared to what some go for given its state but that long clean edge kind of drew me in. Looking at things on the internet is different than handling them in real life I guess.

I’m convinced that most old axes feel bad if they aren’t used or at least handled to do so. :)
 
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The odd thing is...(Agent_H,sorry,more or less just thinking out loud...)...An axe for the fine/-er stages of finish work would not really require so much wood in the eye....A haft on these was generally short,the motion with which they were used-conservative....(heavy buggers!:)...

All that,unless,of course,someone needed to Really swing it....And here's a possible example:Old photos in the post # 1772 from here:http://rusknife.com/topic/9186-топоры-разные/page-60#entry516248
are peasants cutting rairoad ties in the Holmogor "county" of Archangelsk region of N.W. Russia(Karelia,practically speaking)....
 
My beams, directly over my head , have been squared by making a series of cuts in the pine perpendicular to the beam, then a finishing tool like yours is used to cut off pieces parallel to the beam. Off setting the
blade makes it easier to get a nice flat surface on the beams. I assume your axe has been abused maybe by cutting down trees ? cracking the blade. The crack was probably welded by the same amateur !!!
 
mete said:
I assume your axe has been abused maybe by cutting down trees ? cracking the blade. The crack was probably welded by the same amateur !!!
Click to expand...

Entirely possible mete !!!
 
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Based on the other listings and stampings, it looks like it's from
M. SUSSMANN
HIMMELBERG


tiebelhaus_umbau_01.jpg



This forum mentions the company, from 1904 until 1986:
https://www.landwirt.com/Forum/414187/Zimmermannsaxt-SUSSMANN.html

It looks like it stopped production there in 1986:
"Das letzte Hackenwerk der Firma Sussmann hat den Betrieb 1986 eingestellt."
http://www.kaerntenmachtsinn.net/branchen/undund-und/zeilinger-privatstiftung-himmelberg/

More information and photos near the bottom of this page:

Eine weitere ehemalige Schmiede in Himmelberg -- Die Objekte der ehemaligen „Zeug- und Hackenschmiede Sussmann“ in Himmelberg sind ebenfalls erhalten.
http://www.unterirdisch-forum.de/index.php?threads/ehem-sensenwerk-zeilinger-in-himmelberg-kärnten.11634/
 
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