I frequently get interested in the history of a gun I get, and then I research it and organize the information I find. For anyone who is interested in this sort of this, here is the historical information I had gathered on this builder of this gun:
Handcrafted in Ferlach
This Ludwig Borovnik Sporting Double Rifle was handcrafted in the Ferlach region of Austria.
Some people mistakenly believe that Ferlach is a trademark – it is not. Rather, Ferlach is a small village where a gun guild was started as early as 1558.
Ferlach (in Slovene:
Borovlje) is the southernmost town in Austria, about 17 km south of the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt. It is situated in the Rosental Valley of the Drava River, at the base of the northern slope of the Karawanken mountain range. Just south of these mountains is the country of Slovenia.
Thanks to the nearby natural resources of iron and timber, water from rivers cascading down the Karawanken mountains and an already well-established workforce of skilled iron- and metalworkers, a weapon industry evolved that would soon become world famous. Nowhere else on earth is such a collection of gun-smithing talent as there is in this little town in southern Austria. Neither is there anything that compares to the gun-smithing school (
Höhere Technische Bundeslehranstalt Ferlach) where a young man or woman at the age of 15 to 16 can enter a four-year course in firearm design that makes it possible to build a rifle from scratch with hand tools and graduate with a four-year degree, or five-year course in engineering. Upon completion of the four- or five- year course a graduate can build a rifle, any rifle, be it sidelock, boxlock, double rifle, over-and-under, drilling, bolt-action, side-by-side – you name it – with any stock design and then engrave it or provide inlays of gold or silver. If any gunsmith in the U.S. can compete with the average graduate of Ferlach’s gun-smithing school, there is a good chance he graduated from Ferlach.
The history of the town is depicted in its coat of arms: it features a tree, bee cone, two crossed silver nails and a rifle. Since the 15th century, Ferlach was known for its firearms manufacturers, the main armorer of the Habsburg Monarchy.
In the sixteenth century, it was absolutely necessary that all the people involved in fabricating a firearm were located together in close proximity. This enabled the barrel maker, the stock maker, and the lock mechanism maker to work together closely to ensure that everyone was performing their task(s) correctly, effectively and efficiently.
In 1558, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I (who was also the King of Bohemia and the King of Hungary and Croatia) assigned 100 gunsmiths from the Habsburg Netherlands to Ferlach for the purpose of producing arms. According to legend, two Schaschl brothers left Liege, Belgium and were the first to settle in Ferlach to start a gun factory, which was in operation until 1818.
Subsequently, during the 30-Year-War (1618 – 1648) arms production in Ferlach went through its first “boom” and capacity expanded. Weapons from Ferlach soon became renowned throughout Europe based on a strict quality control which has been practiced since 1631 is the foundation of the town's enduring success.
As the individual skills became better and more refined, more and more firearms were manufactured. Eventually, individual gunsmiths began to put their name on the barrel or frame of those guns which they had either manufactured solely or with the help of their fellow Ferlach craftsmen.
Since all Ferlach firearms are essentially hand-made per individual special order, very few are exactly alike. In the past, the gunsmiths of Ferlach have produced almost every type of shoulder arm imaginable, including such modern weapons as superposed and juxtaposed rifles and shotguns, hammerless drillings, repeating rifles, 3 barrel rifles, combination guns, four-barrel combination guns (called vierlings), hammer guns of every type, etc. Some of these specimens represent the highest refinement in the gun-makers trade.
In 1946, there were 56 gunsmith companies in Ferlach (at one time there had been over 100), but the numbers dropped continuously.
By 1989 only 16 gunsmiths remained and in 2008 only seven active gunsmiths continued producing guns, although this number has increased slightly in the last few years.
Most guns manufactured in Ferlach today are by individual special order with a wide range of calibers/gauges and other special features and options. As of this writing, these existing gunsmiths in alphabetical order appear to be: Ludwig Borovnik (1848), Johann Fanzoj (1790), Wilfried Glanznig, Josef Hambrusch (the oldest firm beginning in 1752), Karl Hauptmann, Christian Hausmann, Gottfried Juch, Josef Just, Jakob Koschat, Peter Michelitsch, Johann & Walter Outschar and Herbert Scheiring. Legendary firms that are no longer in business include Josef Winkler, Franz Sodia and Johann Sigott. Top engravers who have lived in Ferlach and who work on individual pieces for the gun-makers have included such names as Mack, Krondorfer, Orou, Schaschle, Singer, Maurer, Widmann, Stogner, de Florian, Plucher and Oblitschnig.
Each of the master gun-makers does some things a little differently from the other and they might also offer some things, which the other gun-makers do not. All use
Böhler Antinit,
Böhler Blitz and
Böhler Super Blitz steel, which are so strong that they allow the thickness of the barrels to be reduced, thus reducing the final weight of the weapon.
The gun-makers also make their own actions (with the exception of bolt-action rifles). They tend to be a little secretive about some of their processes and methods of manufacture, even from each other. A customer, who decides to visit Ferlach to have a gun made, should allow a week in the village to visit every gun-maker, if the client has not already picked out a gun-maker.
Ferlach received town privileges in 1930 and today remains a center for the production of hunting rifles.
Currently the town has 7,377 inhabitants.
The Ferlach Guild (
Genossenschaft) represented most of Ferlach’s gun-makers until it was dissolved in 2004.
Current prices reportedly range from $25,000 to $500,000 per piece, which take six to ten months to produce; at the higher end, production can take two years.
Only Beretta has been making guns longer than Ferlach.
The gun-making industry in Ferlach brings in $8,500,000 to $10,000,000 to the town annually.
The House of Ludwig Borovnik
The house that manufactured this gun is Ludvig Borovnik. Today, Ludwig Borovnik’s shop in Ferlach is:
Ludwig Borovnik KG, Präzisionsjagdwaffen Gewehrschäfte Aller Art, at Bahnhofstrasse 7.
The Borovnik family looks back on a long history. The name Borovnik has developed out of the name of the town of Borovlje and, translated from the Slavic, means “from Ferlach”.
In 1848, Ludwig Borovnik I turned his passion into a career and set up business as an independent gunsmith. The company that he founded was later taken over by his son, Ludwig Borovnik II, and remained a small, family-run enterprise well into the 1930s.
The first period of prosperity for the business under the leadership of Ludwig Borovnik II started in 1890. Just before the turn of the century, the company employed more than 50 gunsmiths who manufactured hunting weapons. Four product catalogues in two languages were sent out every year, describing the company´s extensive range of weapons, ammunition and hunting accessories.
In 1925, Ludwig Borovnik III was born and enjoyed a happy, carefree childhood with his parents and two sisters.
However, by 1942 the Borovnik family began living through their darkest hours. On 14/04, 1942, the family fortunes were undone by their mother tongue and patriotism. In the dead of night, all members of the family were deported to Germany on cattle wagons by National Socialist henchmen.
After the end of the war in 1945, the family returned to Carinthia and found it in ruins. Just a few years later, Ludwig Borovnik II died of ill health that had never improved since his return from Germany. It was now down to his son to prove himself worthy of the role of head of the family and to rebuild the business from scratch.
Starting in 1950, Ludwig Borovnik III made use of his language skills to import and sell on timber from Yugoslavia. Having got the business off to a good start, he was the first one in Ferlach to start trading stock wood and rose to become one of Europe´s largest walnut wood traders.
In 1960, Ludwig Borovnik III first met passionate hunter Helmut Horten and his wife Heidi. Their relationship should blossom into a friendship and business partnership that would last 25 years. A great many hunting trips to Yugoslavia were organised, facilitated by Ludwig Borovnik III\\u2019s excellent relations to Marshal Tito, giving rise to hunting adventures that remain unforgettable to this day.
In 1986, Ludwig Borovnik IV joined the business and continues to head it proudly and respectfully to this day.
In 2001, Ludwig Borovnik IV received Juan Carlos de Borbon, King of Spain, in his rooms. The King personally inspected the guns that had been ordered for him and was delighted with the manufacturing and precise handiwork of the guns.
In 2010, the Ferlach gunsmithing industry, and therefore also the Borovnik company, was included in the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage an important step towards protecting the outstanding reputation of their craftsmanship for future generations.
