Germany, Heer. An Officer’s Dress Dagger, by Weyersburg, Kirschbaum & Co.

(Heer Offiziersdolch). A very well-preserved Heer Officer’s dress dagger, measuring 400 mm in total length when inserted into the scabbard. It features a 265 mm-long polished magnetic steel blade with a sharpened tip and edges. The blade is fully unmarked with the exception of a maker’s mark on the reverse ricasso reading “W.K.C., SOLINGEN” for the firm of Weyersburg, Kirschbaum & Co., topped by the company’s classic knight’s helmet logo. It sits firmly within a silvered alloy upper crossguard, the obverse of which presents with a finely-detailed Wehrmacht eagle clutching a wreathed mobile swastika, with the seam covered by an intact black leather buffer pad. The handle grip is composed of a single piece of ribbed light brown celluloid. It completes with a rounded pommel bearing an oak leaf design around the outer circumference, screwing in to securely maintain the dagger’s structural integrity. It is accompanied by its period original scabbard, constructed of a pebbled magnetic metal shaft. The upper third of the shaft features two integral oak leaf bands completing in loops for the accommodation of a hanger. The throat retains a functional spring catch, firmly holding the dagger in place during storage, and is held together by a single side rivet. Also accomplaying the dagger is a matching hanger, consisting of two field-grey doeskin wool straps. Each strap is topped by a silver aluminum wire tresse, and descend from dual silvered alloy loops emanating from a ring for uniform suspension. Each strap is adjusted with a gilded zink buckle and completes in a functional gilded spring clip for attachment to the scabbard’s loops. The hanger measures 255 mm in length as presented. Minor issues consistent with age and wear are evident, and include some oxidation to the blade, loss of finish to the silvered metal elements, and some material fatigue to the hanger. It is in an overall near extremely fine condition.