Germany, Luftwaffe. An Officer’s Dress Dagger, by Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Cie

(Luftwaffe Dolch für Offiziere). A Luftwaffe Officer’s dress dagger, measuring 42.5 cm in total length when inserted into the scabbard. It features a 26.5 cm-long, nickel-plated, magnetic steel blade which retains factory-original sharpening to the edges and tip. Unmarked, the blade sits securely within an aluminum crossguard, the obverse of which bears a raised Luftwaffe eagle clutching a mobile swastika, with an intact blackened leather buffer pad covering the seam. A single piece of ribbed off-white celluloid composes the handle grip, with the ribbing retaining a rolled wire cord. It completes with an aluminum pommel in the form of a double-sided wreathed mobile swastika, screwing in to maintain the dagger’s structural integrity. Wrapped around the handle is a matching portepee, consisting of a stylized silver aluminum wire acorn suspended from a cord of identical construction. Accompanying the dagger is its original scabbard, constructed of a pebbled magnetic metal shaft. Dual integral loops are set in place just below the throat, each retaining a loop for the accommodation of a hanger. A functional catch within the throat holds the dagger in place during storage. It demonstrates evidence of late-period manufacture by the firm of Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Cie, Solingen (including an often-encountered raised circle in the centre of the pommel swastika). It displays issues consistent with age and wear, including running marks and tarnishing to the blade, some cracking and chipping to the handle grip, fatigue of the portepee, and surface oxidation throughout the scabbard with a dent at the upper third of the shaft rendering insertion and extraction difficult. This well-worn example remains in a very fine condition.

Also accompanying the dagger is a matching hanger, consisting of a functional aluminum spring clip with dual loops emanating from the lower edge. Each loop retains a slate-grey doeskin strap which is topped by a layer of slate-grey rayon threading, in turn trimmed with silver aluminum wire tresses. Functional aluminum buckles adjust the straps, each completing in a functional aluminum spring clip. Unmarked, the hanger measures 27 cm in total length as presented. Material fatigue is visible to the straps, in addition to some softening of the features of the aluminum fixtures. It remains in a very fine condition.