A 1781 census showed that there were 203 master gunsmiths in the village. In 1750, having moved to the valley (known as the Dale of Roses) from Holland, the name Fanzoj appeared in the chronicles for the first time as a local gunsmith this was the same year as Holy Roman Empress of the Habsburg Dynasty Maria Theresa created the first set of guild rules for the gunsmiths of Ferlach. Master gunsmiths learned the trade from their fathers, and passed the knowledge on to their own sons. Every master gunsmith had a specialized skill and a weapon went through many a master gunsmith’s hands before it was offered for sale. In the early days, weapon production was organized as a “house industry.” The manufacturing process was divided strictly into several different tasks. For more than nine generations the Fanzoj family has played a significant role in shaping this proud tradition. 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. Max decided that he needed an arms industry that would trump the Trompia Valley center that supplied the Venetian Republic. To defend the valuable area, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I ordered that a powerful arsenal be built in the major town of Klagenfurt the project was completed in 1566 by his son Maximilian II. Austria’s southernmost province, Carinthia, became threatened by periodic attacks from the Venetians to the southwest and the Turks from the southeast. The art of gun-making in Ferlach dates back to the 16th century. Johann Fanzoj Combination 16 gauge/7x57R over-under
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