Lock Sources in Frankfurt or Prague?

[MacGyver101]

I'll be travelling to both Frankfurt and Prague on business next week, and am interested in picking up some typical/interesting locks. (I'm based in Canada -- and while I'm familiar with US and Canadian locks, I've not had an opportunity to work on any European locks.)

I was curious if anyone had any good suggestions of local stores that would be worth checking out... or, alternately, suggestions of locks to look for and locks to avoid? My hotels are in the downtown core of both cities, and I'll be relying on cabs and buses to get around, so I'd be looking for something fairly central.

Many thanks, in advance...

[p1ckf1sh]

I'll be travelling to both Frankfurt and Prague on business next week, and am interested in picking up some typical/interesting locks. (I'm based in Canada -- and while I'm familiar with US and Canadian locks, I've not had an opportunity to work on any European locks.)

For "typical" locks you can go to any DIY hardware store. Here in Germany common store chains are OBI, Max Bahr, Praktiker, etc. Any taxi driver will be able to take you to one, the hotels will be able to tell you where the nearest one is. If you are a halfway good picker I would stay away from the really cheap locks, they are usually so badly manufactured that it's not even funny anymore. Those will be around 8-12 Eurobucks for an europrofile double cylinder. You can get an Abus C83/C73 there for probably 18-22 bucks, this is the VW Beetle of the locks, very many people have this on their doors. It is a pretty good model, 4spools and one serrated pin. For Abus Dimple locks you should be prepared to pay around 30-40 bucks. Usually the DIY stores only carry the cheapo brand and ABUS. The locks of the many, many other manufacturers are mainly sold by locksmith companys. I have not seen BKS, Wilka, CES, Winkhaus, FCV, ..., in DIY stores. Be prepared for a fat price tag when purchasing from a locksmith. Padlocks will be available in the DIY store as well, common brands will be Abus, Burg-Wächter, maybe some more quality brands and of course their cheapo brands again.

Hope this helps.

I don't know which Frankfurt you'll be going to, we have Frankfurt(Main in the southern part of west germany and Frankfurt/Oder in the former east block part of germany.

For Frankfurt/Main there is an OBI store near the airport, but the airport is certainly not very central to the city, at least it does not look like it on the map.
http://www.obi.de/de/markets/maerkte/Fr ... index.html
Map at 1:100000
Maybe you can swerve there on your way to/from the airport, if you are going there at all, I seem to remember that FF has multiple airports in the area.

Whatever, if you need any more info feel free to ask, I can't really help you on Prague though. It is said to be a beautiful city, steer clear of the working ladys, that's all I can say about that.

[MacGyver101]

Many thanks! (And my apologies: I should have specified... I am going to Frankfurt Main.) Having the names of a few hardware stores will be most helpful.

[greyman]

Why not have a look online for local locksmiths in Frankfurt and Prague before you go? You may be disappointed if you turn up and what you are asking for is out of stock and will take 2 weeks to get in. I would be inclined to do as much as possible to plan the trip before leaving. Make sure you know when the public holidays are, that can really ruin your shopping trip. It is surprising how difficult it can be to locate a locksmith shop in a foreign city, especially in big cities where the lockies tend not to be on the main streets of the urban centre.

Another tip, be sure to know what the taxation laws are (you are in Canada right?) for importing locks or the customs people might try and slug an import duty on you.

[mh]

What did you bring back?
mh

[greyman]

Yes - please tell us if you managed to find anything interesting (locks I mean ) during your trip.

[MacGyver101]

My apgologies for the delay in replying: I just returned yesterday. Thanks to everyone who offered their tips and suggestions. Based on p1ckf1sh's recommendation, I was able to find a cheap Abus C83 in a hardware store in Prague, and picked up a slightly-overpriced Winkhaus cylinder (an AZ, I believe) from a locksmith in Frankfurt.

Despite the name of "Schlusselzentrale", I was slightly disappointed by the selection in the Frankfurt store... but I'm sure the shop-keeper is still telling the story about the crazy tourist: his English was about as good as my German -- and it took me about 3 minutes to convince him that I really didn't care how long the cylinder was...

I haven't had a chance to play much with either of them yet... but I have determined that (for the Winkhaus keyway in particular) I'm going to need to make some slimmer picks... so it should be worth it, if for nothing more than the fun of designing some new tools for my collection.

[mh]

Despite the name of "Schlusselzentrale", I was slightly disappointed by the selection in the Frankfurt store...

"Schluesselzentrale" http://www.schluesselzentrale.net/
means that she offers a lot of keys... Which she probably had... You should have searched for the "Schlosszentrale"

I hope you had a good time around here, though

mh

[greyman]

A word I found useful in Germany/Austria was "schusseldienst" which seems pretty much the right word for locksmith. Perhaps schlosser too?

[mh]

A word I found useful in Germany/Austria was "schusseldienst" which seems pretty much the right word for locksmith. Perhaps schlosser too?

Well, as usual, the devil is in the detail with foreign languages

A Schussel is someone who makes a lot of mistakes, is not careful; in general, it's a very light form of an insult. I accidentially hit on your drink and spill it over you, you might call out "Du Schussel!!". Well, that word isn't used very often, but still...

A Schuessel (with u-umlaut = ue) is a bowl.

And a Schluessel is a key. "Dienst" means service, so
"Schluesseldienst" is the right word.
They might specialize on key duplication, not selling locks, though.

A Schlosser is usually someone who works with metal. My great-grandfather was one, at that time, it did involve locks, as they were made from metal anyway.
These days, a Schlosser would usually work on cars, or maybe on machines, usually not on locks.
Although "Schloss" can be a lock. (Or a castle...)

So much for German-for-locksmiths-101

mh

[greyman]

Hey mh, gimme a break

I couldn't find the umlaut key on my keyboard (the one that puts two dots on the "u" of schlusseldienst. But I did have the right word.

I think schlosser is actually blacksmith.

Cheers
greyman

[mh]

I couldn't find the umlaut key on my keyboard (the one that puts two dots on the "u" of schlusseldienst. But I did have the right word.

Same here Brought the keyboard back from the U.S., and it doesn't have that. I would always have to switch the laguage on that icon somewhere down there... ahh - äöüßÄÖÜ, here we go.

I know you had the right word! Just be careful when calling somebody "Schussel" -
"Schusseldienst" sounded somehow like "Schussel vom Dienst", and that's really an insult

I think schlosser is actually blacksmith.

yep.

Cheers,
mh

[p1ckf1sh]

Same here Brought the keyboard back from the U.S., and it doesn't have that. I would always have to switch the laguage on that icon somewhere down there... ahh - äöüßÄÖÜ, here we go.

You actually go thorugh a bunch of mouseclicks to change your keyboard layout everytime you need an umlaut?

[mh]

You actually go thorugh a bunch of mouseclicks to change your keyboard layout everytime you need an umlaut?

Yes, but I don't need them that often...

[p1ckf1sh]

You actually go thorugh a bunch of mouseclicks to change your keyboard layout everytime you need an umlaut?

Yes, but I don't need them that often...

Hmm.

Why don't you just keypad them in? You just press and hold ALT and type the three digit ascii code for the char on the keypad. That's faster than clickety click through oh how many screens, even if you don't need them that often.

ü=129
Ü=154
ä=132
Ä=142
ö=148
Ö=153
ß=225

Just a suggestion, many people don't know about this function. I loved confusing people with symbols totally uncommon to german/US keyboards back in school... 10, 12, 14 years ago¿ At least. Those were times...¡