I've got a few vintage Solingen marked knives by various German makers. They are pretty average steel IMO.

Was there ever any magic in Solingen steel and I just did not get the makers that knew how to heat treat it?

great question and one i have also always wondered about but didn't want to show how ignorant on steels i am. (not that you are though) i'll be interested in the answers as they come rolling in.

My first encounter with Soligen blades was 1962 I was 12 and my first knife it was THE Premium steel at the time and Ive never forgotten it If anyone finds out different please dont print it . That would ruin a boyhood dream:)

carbon12
What measures are you using to say it is "pretty average steel"??

Just my thinking here, but--
I think the steel out of the Solingen region was good quality high carbon steel. I don't think that the production blades were heat treated much more than the mid 50s Rc. That way outdoorsmen could set around the campfire, open a can of beans with their knife without breaking off the tip and then tell stories while sharpening their knives with some spit and a soft Arkansas stone.
I have never tested the Rc of any old production knives, but I would be interested in hearing results if someone has. I have one such knife on hand, maybe I should get it tested.
I did purchase some "Solingen" blades for knives around the early 1990s. I should get one of them that I kept tested too. They were pretty easy to sharpen ----and easy to rust.

When I say average, They perform on par with vintage Old Hickory and vintage Case carbon steel kitchen knives. Not great but not bad either. Easy to sharpen but need a swipe of two on a steel after a few cuts. And like you say, easy to rust.

Up until a certain point, which passed a VERY long time ago, they did make some of the very best knife steel IMO. This reputation dates back some 200 years now.

That said, around the turn of the 19th century, U.S. cutlery companies started producing steel that was just as good IMO. Then the war pretty much shut down foreign markets for Solingen, as even more U.S. makers continued to perfect their art.

Seki City also made some of the best, but the Jap stuff was less popular and the market not flooded with it like the German knives once were. That later changed, of course.

Then you had custom makers in the 1970s, like Bob Loveless and Bill Moran, start using different steels like 154, ATS-34, Damascus(Moran),etc. This pretty much started a whole new knife "revoulution". Before guys like them, knives were pretty much designated as either carbon or stainless, and that's about it.......

Just check the RC on a Soligen blade. An old two blade eye brand. Checked in three places on the blade. Averaged 54 RC. Not bad for factory and I happen to think its a heck of a knife.

I have a small fixed blade "Solingen knife", it is a York brand. Has the stag antler handle. Very thin, flat ground carbon steel blade of 4 inches. I there is any magic in it that is it.....most knives today are made IMO way too heavy and thick....I suppose, so grown up boy scouts can "baton" with them...Ie use them for hatchets to cut wood and not break them. Anyway, the knife cuts like a demon and yes, is easy to sharpen on a Soft Arkansas stone to the point that it just melts through deer hide. Picked it up for 12 bucks on Ebay several years ago....in like new condition. They go for about $40 now which is still a steal compared to most of the overpriced crap out there....IMO of course.

These knives are from before my time. Only reason I knew about them is that my Dad had one that I grew up cleaning fish with, and I always liked it. Steel is on a par with Case CV.....maybe a little softer. Case needs to make one of their stacked leather handled knives in CV but they evidently think everyone wants stainless and maybe they do.

I only have one Solingen steel knife. An old Charles Johnson single blade Barlow. From what I could find it was made somewhere between the 40's and early 60's. I'd compare the steel to D2, which I happen to like.

I have a Carl Schlieper EYE BRAND fixed
blade that I really like. It is old carbon
steel, just the way I like 'em.