Creation of the 1st Royal Blade Factory in KLINGENTHAL (translated as Blade Valley). Up until the early 17th century, there were no manufactures in France that forged blades for edged weapons. French suppliers imported most of their blade supplies from Solingen (Westphalia). On July 15th, 1730, the King issued letters patent for the creation of a Royal Blade Factory in Alsace, over a 30-year period, for the troops in the King's service, to Henri Anthès, who ran several forges in Upper Alsace (currently Haut-Rhin) and who was given the task of finding a location and setting up the factory. He decided on Klingenthal in the Ehn Valley upstream from Obernai for several reasons: - the presence of the river, providing the required energy to run the factories - numerous forests for the construction of the buildings and the production of charcoal - sandstone quarries for the construction of the buildings and for the grinding wheels - proximity from the Rhine river to transport the steel coming from Siegen and from the Arsenal of Strasbourg for the distribution of the weapons - proximity of the other raw materials - the use of the Alsatian dialect in the region, which allowed the first workers from Solingen to fit in better. The constantly improved working methods from Solingen, as well as an exemplary control system, earned the Klingenthal blades a notable reputation.