An apparatus for grinding hand knives, in particular for meat processing, with at least one grinding tool is proposed, by means of which a knife ground finish, in particular during the reconditioning of hand knives after use, is made possible in a repeatable manner with reproducible grinding quality. This is achieved according to the invention in that a knife magazine (6, 7) for accommodating at least one hand knife is provided, in that a driven manipulating device (3, 4, 5) having at least one knife gripper (5) is provided, in that at least one sensor unit (22) for at least partly recording the knife contour is provided, and in that an electronic evaluating and control unit for evaluating the sensor data and for activating the manipulating device (3, 4, 5) is provided.