How it all began

My enthusiasm for metal detectors began long before today's online shop. More than three decades ago I held my first detector in my hands – and the hobby has never let go of me since.

Every detectorist knows the feeling: you get a good signal, start digging and do not yet know what awaits you. It is exactly this mix of curiosity, history and technology that still fascinates me today.

Technology has always been part of my life

Professionally, too, technology has been with me from the very beginning.

I trained as an office information electronics technician and then worked for many years as a network technician – at a time when computer networks were still in their infancy in many companies.

From 1992 to 1997, at Versicherungskammer Bayern I played a key role in setting up the field-service information system. I then moved to Direkt Anlage Bank (DAB) where I worked as network and security manager until 2002.

This technical background still shapes my work today. I want to understand technology – and explain it so that others understand it too. Without unnecessary jargon and without making simple things complicated.

When the hobby became a profession

From 2002 to 2005 I worked as a self-employed web designer. During this time technology, the internet and design came together – and my private passion for metal detectors moved ever closer to my working life.

In 2005 I finally started working for Jochen Reifenrath , one of the best-known specialist dealers in the German detecting scene. I worked there for 18 years.

During this time I not only got to know a great many detectors, but above all learned what really matters in practice: which detectors work reliably, where their strengths and weaknesses lie, and which detector suits which user.

You can only learn this kind of experience from data sheets to a limited extent. Much of it you only understand once you have been out in the field yourself and have dealt with customers, manufacturers and other detectorists for many years.

How metalldetektoren.de came about

I had actually never planned to build up my own specialist shop.

When Jochen Reifenrath went into well-deserved retirement, however, the question arose of what would become of the range and the expertise that had grown over decades.

I therefore decided to take over large parts of his range and continue the work in my own way. This is how abenteuer-schatzsuche.de gradually turned into metalldetektoren.de.

Today we are an authorised dealer for well-known brands such as XP, Minelab, Nokta, Garrett and Quest. In addition, I have built up an area of my own: as DACH distributor for Golden Mask we look after the brand in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Our customers range from beginners looking for their first metal detector to very experienced detectorists and professional users.

What matters to us