Gräfrath Monastery: The World’s Most Expensive Knife and the Relic of Saint Catherine

Architectural Monuments

Gräfrath, founded in the XII century, is still called a monastery, although no novices have lived there for 200 years. One of its buildings houses the church with the treasure trove of relics of more than a hundred Christian saints, including St. Catherine. The Augustinian monastery received these relics for centuries as a gift from noble families from all over Europe: after all only daughters of noble families became its nuns.

The other part of the monastery building is given over to the German Blade Museum (Deutsche Klingenmuseum). Not only swords and other weapons of all time, but cutlery and cutting tools are exhibited here. The world’s most expensive folding knife with a handle made of white gold and with 486 diamonds, worth about 40 million euros is the gem of the collection. Some of the exhibits can be touched: they include the dagger of the XVII century, a XIX century sword and a police sword blade dating to the start of the past century. A craftsman’s shop is also open at the museum, where you can watch how weapons were made in the past.

Gräfrath Monastery: The World’s Most Expensive Knife and the Relic of Saint Catherine

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