Eduard Karel Korthals (1851-1896)

For centuries, rough-haired hunting dogs were bred in different European countries under varying names, such as Spinone in Italy, Russian Pointer in England and Smousbart in Holland. Henry IV of France used the name “Griffon” to describe his wirehaired dog in a 1596 letter. In 1683, J. E. de Selincourt, in his book Le Parfait Chasseur, described and divided pointing dogs into three groups: the Bracque (shorthaired), Spaniel and Griffon (wirehaired). The origins of the word “griffon” is likely the Latin “gryphus” (hawk), the old German “grif” (hook) and/or the French “griffe” (claw). It is difficult to say exactly what country started applying it to describe wirehaired dogs, but it has been used that way all over Europe since at least the sixteenth century.

 

By the middle of the nineteenth century, there were a few different versions of wirehaired dogs in Europe, including the Boulet Griffon (a rough-haired water specialist) and Guerlain Griffon (a mix between older world griffons and orange/white pointers) in France and the Stickelhaar (a mix of various wirehaired dogs, the German Setter and German Bracque) in Germany. In 1873, Eduard Karel Korthals, the son of a wealthy Dutch ammunition manufacturer, purchased four griffons of varying type in Amsterdam, moved to Germany, and began breeding his strain of griffons. Over the course of 12 years, using carefully selective matings and ruthless culling, he turned the wirehaired pointing griffon into a uniform breed that eventually came to be known as the Korthals Griffon.

 

In 1877, Korthals became the kennel master for Prince Albrecht of Solms-Braunfels in Germany. The prince was one of the great sportsmen of the day. He had all manner of dogs in his large Wolfsmühle Kennel and used them on his vast hunting grounds throughout Germany (including areas that are now Poland), but his passion was English Pointers. Eduard agreed to oversee the prince’s pointer breeding program in exchange for a furnished home in which to reside and the right to use the kennel facilities to continue creating his namesake griffons. It is also thought that Albrecht shared 50% of the costs of Korthals’ breeding. It is during this time that Eduard’s Ipenwoud Kennel became well-known in Germany and abroad. 

 

Korthals was an ardent hunter and an educated man of letters and ideas, who enjoyed sharing his passion for dogs with almost everyone. He spoke Dutch, French, German and English and was the author of many articles in these languages published in European dog magazines. His goal was to make a hunting dog for all terrains, climates and game by uniting the traits of the era’s Continental and English pointing breeds, thereby bridging the two. The continental dogs offered intelligence, robustness in all weather and terrain, a nice retrieve, and a love of water. The English dogs had better noses, more speed, longer range and a spectacularly long point. 

 

Korthals also sought a dog that maintained the look of the rough-haired continental dogs with correct anatomy, robustness, medium-size, watery-repellent coarse hair and beard, and a thick downy undercoat that ran close to the ground. He eventually narrowed 23 breeding dogs down to 8 (four males and four females), which he deemed the “patriarchs”. In 1886, Korthals wrote the first breed conformation standard (see link on webpage below) and, in 1888, along with 140 other members, he launched the first Griffon Club, which was international in membership, yet based in Germany. Initially, it also included many different types of wirehaired dogs. In 1889, as naysayers accused Korthals of mixing German Shorthairs into his line (a charge he vehemently denied), they created the Griffon Stud Book (GSB), formally deciding that only dogs able to trace their lineage directly back to these eight patriarchs could be called “pure blood Korthals.” In 1896, at the age of 45, Mr. Korthals, a life-long smoker, died of larynx cancer. It was 23 years after starting his Griffon breeding program, but he had already achieved broad international acclaim for his accomplishments.

 

Jean Castaing, writing in his book, Le Griffon d’arret, Historique, Standard, Elevage, first published in France in 1949 and widely considered to be the most important reference book on the breed, said Korthals’ dogs became famous and desirable because they had great success in field trials. (An English translation of the fifth and most recent printing of Castaing’s book, which was retitled Le Griffon d’arret A Poil Dur Korrhals, has been included on this website.) Hegewald, the pen name of Baron von Zedlitz and the creator of the German Wirehaired Pointer (Deutsch Drahthaar in Germany), wrote often about Korthals’ Griffons accomplishments. Korthals and Hegewald shared a belief that most breeding decisions should be based on performance. They even worked together to create a system of field testing of versatile dogs that was ultimately used as the underlying basis of North America’s current NAVHDA system.

 

During Korthals life, the Griffon Club was for all wirehaired dogs, and it was agreed they could be bred together, though they could only be called Korthals Griffons, if they came from the patriarchs. After his death, some breeders wanted to infuse more blood from German Shorthairs and other shorthaired pointers. In 1897, Pudelpointer breeders left to form their own club. Shortly thereafter, many German breeders left to form the Deutsch Drahthaar Club. Throughout this time, the Griffon Club maintained an international membership, with succeeding presidents coming from various European countries. 

 

Castaing wrote that “It would be a mistake to think that the improvement of the Griffon and the stabilization of its characteristics were propagated… only by using bloodlines from Korthals dogs.” In truth, paralleling the judicious use of his dogs, breeders across Europe began using his methods and breeding philosophy on their own wirehaired dogs. It is this unity of purpose and doctrine that allowed the breed to be stabilized so quickly and definitively.

 

Then came the first World War (1914-1918), during which most breeding stopped. After the war ended, several countries started their own national Griffon clubs, including France and Belgium. The French started their own registry called “Livre des Origines du Griffon a Poil Dur” (LOG). It included 201 Griffons. In Germany, after WWI, the individual wirehaired breed clubs (Drahthaar, Pudelpointer, Stichelhaar and Griffon) reassembled into one club, only to be forced apart again in 1933 by Germany’s National Socialist government. 

 

The original international Griffon Club did not survive the second world war (1939-1945). Today, around the globe, the wirehaired pointing griffon (Korthals Griffon) is represented by clubs focused on the breed in different countries. After WWII, the French club, Club Français du Griffon d’Arrêt a Poil Dur Korthals, took ownership of the original studbook and became the FCI parent club for the breed. It is by far the largest club with over 1000 members and it produces over 2000 pups each year.

 

The Wirehaired Pointing Griffon came to the United States as early as 1887, but they did not catch on broadly until after WWII. In 1951, Brigadier General Thomas DeForth Rogers formed the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Club of America (WPGCA) with 19 other charter members. This was the precursor to today’s AKC breed club the American Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Association (AWPGA). A deeply researched and in-depth history of Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, including their North American history, was written by Joan Bailey in 1996. Her wonderful book, Griffon: Gun Dog Supreme, greatly informed this summary and is required reading for all Griffon aficionados. Another extraordinary book not to be missed is Craig Koshyk’s Pointing Dogs, Volume One: The Continentals. It is an intelligent and complete guide to versatile gundog breeds of Continental Europe.

 

In 2022, we helped organize the Korthals Griffon United States club as the breed’s parent club under the auspices of the United Kennel Club (UKC). The club’s focus is on maintaining and developing the heritage and value of the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon as a versatile hunting companion in the fair pursuit of game.