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

(Luftwaffe Dolch für Offiziere mit Gehänge). A well-preserved Luftwaffe Officer’s dress dagger, measuring 43 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 both the edges and tip. The reverse ricasso is maker marked with the logo of Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Cie, Solingen. It 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 brown celluloid composes the handle grip, with the ribbing retaining an original twisted and rolled wire cord. It culminates in an aluminum pommel which takes the form of a double-sided wreathed and gilded 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 and nickel-plated magnetic metal shaft. Integral oak leaf rings are set into the upper third of the shaft, each retaining a loop for the inclusion of a hanger. Issues consistent with age and wear are evident, and include running marks and tarnishing to the blade with sporadic and scarcely-visible chipping to the edges, the replacement of the crossguard ring with a later zink exemplar, and loss of plating to the scabbard shaft. It remains in a very fine condition.

Also accompanying the dagger is a matching hanger, consisting of a functional zink spring clip with dual loops emanating from the lower edge. Each loop retains a dark grey doeskin strap which is topped by a layer of dark grey threading, in turn flanked by machine-embroidered silver aluminum wire tresses. The loops are adjusted with functional zink buckles, and culminate in functional zink spring clips to lock onto the scabbard’s loops. Measuring 24 cm in length as presented, the zink fixtures demonstrate near-total loss of silver finish to the base metal, but the hanger remains in an overall near extremely fine condition.