(Kriegsmarine Dolch für Offiziere). A rare and owner-attributed Imperial-era naval Officer’s dagger, measuring 42 cm in total length when inserted into the scabbard. The dagger features a 27 cm-long, nickel-plated, magnetic steel blade with a sharpened tip and edges. It bears double-sided, acid-etched imagery consisting of central fouled anchors topped by German State Crowns, flanked by ships and naval weaponry interwoven with arabesque designs. The obverse ricasso is maker marked with the classic knight’s helmet logo of Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Cie, Solingen. The blade sits securely within a multi-piece hilt featuring a gilded bronze crossguard bearing double-sided central fouled anchors, with a functional push button spring release connecting to a clip emanating from the ricasso to release the scabbard lock. The handle grip is composed of a single piece of ribbed and lacquered bone presenting in a faintly marbled beige colour. The dagger completes with a gilded bronze pommel in the form of a German State Crown, screwing in to maintain the dagger’s structural integrity. It is accompanied by its original scabbard, constructed of a gilded bronze shaft with etched designs distributed around the outer circumference. Two integral rope rings set into the upper third of the shaft retain rings for the accommodation of a hanger. The throat retains a functional catch which locks onto the blade’s clip. An engraved name of “KLEIKAMP” is clearly visible on the side of the shaft, just below the throat. Minor running marks are visible to the blade, with some loosening of the hilt also palpable, but this scarce and owner-attributed dagger remains in a near extremely fine condition.
Footnote: Gustav Kleikamp was born on 8 March 1896 in Mülheim an der Ruhr. He entered Imperial German Navy service on 1 April 1913 as a Seekadett on SMS Vineta. He initially served as a communications officer on SMS Derfflinger during the First World War, and was promoted to Leutnant zur See in 1915. Kleikamp attended U-Bootschule (U-Boat Academy) in March 1918 and finished the war as a watch officer on SM U-9. He subsequently remained in the postwar Navy and served in the Freikorps with Marine-Brigade Ehrhardt, later holding a variety of commands with minesweepers and other Reichsmarine surface vessels throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and was promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 October 1932. He was assigned as First Officer to SMS Schleswig-Holstein, and later given command of the ship which was initially fated to be used as a target ship, but was instead used to bombard coastal targets in Poland at the outbreak of the Second World War, and later used in the occupation of Denmark. Notably, Kleikamp was involved in the planning stages of Operation Sea Lion (the canceled seaborne invasion of the United Kingdom). He was promoted to Vizeadmiral on 1 October 1943, and later held a variety of uneventful positions . Kleikamp survived the war and spent a brief period as a prisoner of war (POW) in British custody before dying on 13 September 1952 in his hometown of Mülheim an der Ruhr.