Rifka stands for Rheinisch-Westfälische Füllhalterfabrik Gebrüder Wippenhohn, founded in 1926 in Bonn; due to strong competition there, e.g. from Soennecken, the company moved to Westphalian Greffen (city of Harsewinkel, district of Gütersloh). The roots go back to a 1924 GmbH of head teacher August Schlickmann, who wanted to develop a fountain pen with metal pin instead of gold nib and a wooden holder with ink tongue under the design-protection name Fix. The own writing-instrument production was unsuccessful; the company took Pelikan products and other brands into its range and turned into a wholesaler. In altered form the firm still exists today.