Germany, Imperial. An Imperial German Navy Officer’s Lion Head Dress Sword, Third Reich Reissue, by Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Cie

(Kaiserliche Marine Säbel für Offiziere). An interesting and well-preserved Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) Officer’s dress sword, measuring 90 cm in total length when inserted into the scabbard. It features a 75 cm-long, nickel-plated, magnetic steel blade with a gentle curvature, retaining factory-original sharpening to the tip and lower edge, and with a rounded spine. 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, with an intact wool buffer pad covering the seam. The hilt features a gilded brass crossguard with a retractable clamshell-style medallion on a functional hinge, bearing a raised fouled anchor. A gilded brass backstrap culminates at the pommel in a detailed lion head, with a D-shaped hand guard emanating from the lion’s mouth and linking with the crossguard. Stamped onto the reverse of the crossguard is a serial number of “2699”, alongside a Kriegsmarine acceptance stamp, indicating a rare example of an Imperial sword repurposed for ceremonial wear by an Officer whose service bridged the period through to the Third Reich. The handle grip is constructed of a single piece of ribbed off-white celluloid, with the ribbing retaining an original twisted and rolled wire cord. Accompanying the sword is its original scabbard, constructed of a boiled and blackened leather shaft with ornate gilded fixtures secured to the tip, mid-section, and throat, with the latter also retaining a functional interior catch to firmly hold the sword in place during storage. Loops emanate from the throat and mid-section fixtures for the inclusion of a hanger, while the throat is stamped with a matching serial number of “2699”. Some issues consistent with age and wear are evident, and include minor tarnishing and running marks to the blade, the loss of the crossguard’s reverse clamshell and locking device, some cracking to the handle grip, fatigue of the scabbard leather, loosening of the fixtures, and throat friction which renders insertion and extraction of the sword difficult. This unusual example of a multi-issue Navy Officer’s sword remains in a very fine condition.