What is a Castle?

A lock is essentially a mechanical device for locking a protected area. Locks are usually found in doors and are used to close off access to a house, an apartment, or a room. However, such a “protected area” can also be a drawer, a mailbox, or, of course, a safe.

A lock is opened with a unique key. Access to the protected area is only granted to those with a key to the lock. In this sense, a lock is an important element of security technology.

Overview of the most important lock types

There are several common lock types that are used for different purposes depending on their security.

The Warded Lock

A warded lock is usually used to lock a room within a house or apartment. Warded locks are not particularly secure; they can be easily opened with simple tools such as a lock pick and a little skill and expertise. Even a bent wire is sometimes enough to pick a warded lock. This also explains why it’s often used for interior doors but not suitable for exterior doors: You generally don’t need to protect yourself as intensively from the people you share your home with as you do from everyone outside your home.

A warded lock isn’t “colorful” in the sense of colorful, but it is certainly “diverse” in the sense of “diverse.” Hence its name: It comes from the approximately 70 different common key bit shapes used in warded locks. These keys aren’t unique. You just need to know the shape of the keyhole, and then you can simply buy a replacement.

A normal warded lock works simply: As soon as the key can be inserted, you can use it to open the lock by turning the key. The key bit then engages the teeth of a deadbolt and rotates it out of the lock – the door is open.

Certain elements can make a warded lock a little more secure, such as side slots in the key bit or a mortise lock, a small locking cylinder specifically designed to increase the security of a warded lock.

The Chubb Lock

The Chubb lock is a further development of the warded lock. It takes its name from its inventor, Jeremiah Chubb, who invented the lock in 1818.

The key of a Chubb lock has notches at the bottom of the bit, and the lock only opens when the notches raise the lock’s tumblers to a certain height. Chubb locks were once often used for entrance doors to houses and apartments because they were more secure than warded locks, but they have now been almost completely replaced by cylinder locks – at least in Germany. Modern versions of the Chubb lock are common in Great Britain and Scandinavia, however.

There are very complicated versions of the Chubb lock, which are so complex that they are considered the most secure locks of all. They are used in prison cells or safes.

The Cylinder Lock

The cylinder lock is the standard lock used today for entrance doors, whether for apartments, houses, or office buildings. It meets high security requirements, and a locked cylinder lock cannot be easily picked, for example, with a lock pick.

To open a door, the key with its unique profile must be inserted into the keyhole of the locking cylinder. If the door is not locked, only the latch needs to be moved, which is usually achieved by a quarter turn of the key. If the door is locked, the key must be turned completely one or two times. With most locks, the key must be turned twice (two locking turns) for the bolt to completely retract into the forend.

The profile of the key fits exactly to the tumbler pins in the cylinder core of the locking cylinder, whose springs are displaced when the key is inserted. The spring-loaded locking pins then release the blockage in the cylinder core, allowing the key to be turned. If a key with the wrong serrated profile is inserted, the locking pins will not release the blockage, preventing the cylinder core from being turned.

Locked yourself out? Herbert Pichelmaier & Co. open any lock!

If you’ve locked yourself out of your apartment or house and now need a professional locksmith to open your lock for you, Herbert Pichelmaier’s Locksmith Service is the right place for you. We are a reliable, traditional family business serving Munich and the surrounding area and will help you immediately. All you have to do is call us, and we’ll come to you to open the locked lock or the closed door. Even if your key breaks off in the lock, it’s no problem for us. We have high-quality specialized tools that offer a solution for virtually every problem.

Sometimes it happens that we have to drill because the lock cannot be opened any other way. But our brand-name drill bits are so precise that the small holes are barely visible. To drill, you remove the door hardware, and once it’s been professionally reinstalled, you won’t see any trace of our work.

We work at fair, fixed prices, which we are happy to communicate transparently to you at any time before placing your order. With us, there are no exorbitant prices and no nasty surprises!

There for you 24/7: Your reliable locksmith service for Munich and the surrounding area

We see ourselves as an emergency locksmith service that always and immediately rushes to help people in unpleasant or even threatening situations where they can no longer get into their home. And we really mean always – every day of the year, around the clock! Even on every single Sunday and public holiday. We have no waiting lists or appointment scheduling; we only have locksmiths who are always on call, at least one of whom is available right now and can arrive immediately to help you.

Operating as an emergency locksmith service with no limited opening hours is very important to us. Because in our opinion, anything else makes no sense in the locksmith industry. You can’t leave someone who’s locked themselves out waiting in front of their apartment door all weekend! Some situations can even become downright (life-)threatening if a locksmith isn’t on site as quickly as possible. We’ve seen many of these – from the young mother who quickly took out the trash and locked herself out while a toddler was crawling around at home, to the housewife who went to a neighbor’s house to borrow an egg and then found herself standing in front of the closed door while the food was baking in the oven, to the son who needed to quickly administer medication to his bedridden father but couldn’t get in because the key broke off in the lock. In all of these situations, lightning speed is essential, and we’re the right contact for that. We can usually be with you within 30 minutes, and the callouts themselves rarely take longer than a few minutes.

Is your lock not enough? Contact us for solid burglary protection

Burglary is unfortunately a reality, a bitter but undeniable one. If you sometimes fear that someone might break into your home, we would be happy to advise you on burglary protection. We will visit you, inspect your home, and analyze it for any weak points where a burglar might have an especially easy time.

If you wish, we can create a customized burglary protection plan for you based on high-quality security technology from reputable manufacturers with whom we cooperate. This can include security locks, deadbolts, or lockable door and window handles, depending on what we professionally assess as being most appropriate for your needs.

If you like our concept, we will be happy to order the technology and install it in your home. This won’t completely prevent a burglary, but it will make it as difficult as possible. Almost every burglar who sees that a house or apartment is well-protected and equipped with high-quality burglary protection technology will quickly flee to find another, easier victim.