The Kalthoffs were a prominent Danish-German family of

gunsmith A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very ...

s during the 17th century, best known for the

Kalthoff repeater The Kalthoff repeater was a type of repeating firearm that was designed by members of the Kalthoff family around 1630, and became the first repeating firearm to be brought into military service. At least nineteen gunsmiths are known to have m ...

— a rapid fire

flintlock Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking lock (firearm), ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism its ...

repeating rifle A repeating rifle is a single-barreled rifle capable of repeated discharges between each ammunition reload. This is typically achieved by having multiple cartridges stored in a magazine (within or attached to the rifle) and then fed individually ...

that could reach a

rate of fire Rate of fire is the frequency at which a specific weapon can fire or launch its projectiles. This can be influenced by several factors, including operator training level, mechanical limitations, ammunition availability, and weapon condition. In m ...

of 20–30 rounds/minute. Signed specimens of their guns can be found kept in the

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

, the

Danish War Museum The Danish War Museum ( Danish: Krigsmuseet) is a museum of military history and arms on Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in Christian IV's Arsenal (Danish: Tøjhuset), from which it takes its former name. On 1 July 2018 ...

, the Swedish Royal Armoury and the

Kremlin Armoury The Kremlin ArmouryOfficially called the "Armoury Chamber" but also known as the cannon yard, the "Armoury Palace", the "Moscow Armoury", the "Armoury Museum", and the "Moscow Armoury Museum" but different from the Kremlin Arsenal. () is one of ...

collections. The family was founded by Herman Kolthoff from Kultenhof Estate in the Danish

Duchy of Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig (; ; ; ; ; ) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km (45 mi) south of the current border between Germany and Denmark. The territory has been div ...

(now Kaltenhof, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany), who had several sons that went on to fame across Europe. * Peder Hermansen Kalthoff — Served

Frederik III of Denmark Frederick III (; 18 March 1609 – 9 February 1670) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death in 1670. He also governed under the name Frederick II as diocesan administrator (colloquially referred to as prince-bishop) of the ...

as Head of Armory, 1600–1672 * Matthias Hermansen Kalthoff — Gunsmith Denmark, 1608–1681 *

Caspar Hermansen Kalthoff Elder The Kalthoffs were a prominent Danish-German family of gunsmiths during the 17th century, best known for the Kalthoff repeater — a rapid fire flintlock repeating rifle that could reach a rate of fire of 20–30 rounds/minute. Signed specimens ...

— Served

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. Charles was born ...

, 1606–1664 ** Caspar Kalthoff Younger — Served

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

Alexis of Russia Alexei Mikhailovich (, ; – ), also known as Alexis, was Tsar of all Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. He was the second Russian tsar from the House of Romanov. He was the first tsar to sign laws on his own authority and his council ...

and

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...

* Henrick Hermansen Kalthoff — Founded Foundries in Sweden and Norway, 1610–1661 * William Hermansen Kalthoff — Patented repeating gun in France Their guns have been described as advance clockworks centuries ahead of their time as seen in this disassembly of one shown her
Kalthoff 30-Shot Flintlock: The First Repeating Firearm Used in War (1659) - Forgotten Weapons

Descendants

The Kalthoff name is a single

family name In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

, and spelling name was recorded as Kaldtoft, Kalthof, Kaltof, Kaltoft, Koldtoft according to local pronunciation and spelling habits. All of the families with these names in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

are descendants. The original seed Kalthoff in each country shared the "Hermansen" name indicating a common father, was famous for advanced metallurgic skills (iron manufacturing, advanced steel formula for repeating rifles, etc.), and were born within a decade of each other.

References

* * * * * *

External links

Bibliography of the Kalthoff family in SwedenHerman Kolthoff Family Tree
* Raadvad Mill * Gut Kaltenhof Gunsmiths {{firearms-stub