The only info site on Kain-Abel, Elsine, and Bromeso straight razors

After the end of the first world war, the Solingen razor blade industry experienced a great upswing. This opportunity was taken up by many men with a blacksmith experience, establishing small family manufactories. The stories of some emerging companies have been passed on from generation to generation, often having been written down in the years after, and are still known today. Other manufactories disappeared with the beginning of the second world war, and were simply forgotten. The only things that remain are their products, which have lasted the time.

One of these companies is the razor blade factory of Emil and Willy Broch. Emil Broch was a blacksmith and made straight razors under the three brand names of »Kain-Abel«, »Elsine«, and »Bromeso«. Even to this day, many of these razors exist, and especially the »Kain-Abel« razors are coveted collectibles. From time to time they appear in online auction houses. But so far, nobody in the whole community knew who had stood behind these brands.

With this website, I would like to put an end to this. These pages are intended to serve as a small monument to Emil Broch, who produced high-quality and visually appealing razors which have not deserved to be forgotten forever. The information on these pages have been gathered over many months. If you either are an owner of a razor by Emil Broch, or have more information about Emil and Willy Broch, or even are a descendant of them, I would be grateful for a message to dirk[at]kain-abel-razors[dot]com. This way, this page could grow steadily and be of assistance to fellow collectors.

Note: This page is bilingual. If you accidentally hit a German subpage during your visit, you can easily return to the English Version via the language switch in the sidebar.

BromesoElsineKain-Abel
Period of origin1920s1930s1930s - 1940s
Spreadinglowmediumhigh
Sales marketGermanyEurope (esp. GB)worldwide
known models44>20