This breed, also known as the Wirehaired pointing griffon in the USA, was named after its founder, K.E Korthals, a dutchman who lived in Germany during the second half of the 1800s, and created the breed through strict breeding of old gundog breeds. The breeding first started in 1879, using a german pointer-like bitch and a dutch male that showed clear heritage of the french griffons. Later, other french gundogs were added to the gene pool.
The korthals was first exported to the US in the 1900s, where the word 'griffon' is a synonym to 'korthals' and to excellent gundogs.

The korthals should be of medium size, powerful and robust. The body is somewhat rectangular in shape. The head is rather large with a square muzzle, somewhat marked stop and medium size ears. The back is broad and the chest deep, the legs well angulated. The paws are round and strong. The tail is often docked, when left natural it is carried like an extension of the topline, the tip curved upwards. The coat is hard and coarse and should resemble that of the wild boar. It must never be wavy of wooly. The brush-like eyebrows and beard are a breed trademark.