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Wardaggers.com -
This page explains
many of the terms or phrases used on this website
and resources Worldwide regarding German Heer or
Army Daggers. The parts or makeup of most German
daggers changed in 1936 when select manufacturers
where granted Official Production Contracts. The
focus switched from using the highest quality
materials, base metals and labour intensive hand
enhancing to a more streamlined cost effective
German dagger design. If you study the comparison
pictures shown below you should clearly see the
savings in materials and manpower that could
ultimately be used in higher priority production. |
| Please note that
variations will be found from the examples shown
below, this page is intended as a guide and not as a
definitive resource. |
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GERMAN ARMY DAGGER TERMINOLOGY |
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The grip's on Period German Army Officer's daggers
have proved to be quite a contentious issue over the
years, with the collecting community divided. It was
suggested a few years back that the majority of
dagger grips fitted with the standard Trolon grip
material started off white and given time, changed
colour depending on exposure to light. I do not
intend to stir up a hornets nest going into the
rights and wrongs of this theory here and ultimately
each collector should draw his own conclusions, I
will however state that from a personal perspective,
I am a true believer.
The majority of German Army Officers dagger's in
collections today will be fitted with a Trolon grip,
however several variants where also produced as an
extra cost option or some as cheaper alternatives.
Not all are shown above ( I was too lazy ! ).
1)
The red grip on the far left is what is often
referred to as a 'slant' or slanted grip, the name
is basically taken from the steep angle of the
swirls compared to the later style grips. The Type A
or slant grip is normally only found on early
manufactured German daggers ( with the exception of Christianswerk ) prior to 1936 and matched in most
cases to a tapered tang blade.
2) The second grip
with the widest segments was also used relatively
early and throughout the production era, in some
cases this style of grip appears to have been used
by select manufacturers ( Heller for example ) as an
alternative to the slanted variety as early as 1935.
This Type B style grip was without a doubt the most
prolific.
3) The Type C was a later contribution and
is often found on daggers fitted with Generic parts
or German Officers daggers featuring later war hilt
fittings, the segments are slimmer than the earlier
type B.
4) Often termed 'glass' or 'amber' the
fourth grip pictured above is one of my personal
favourites, as the name suggests they were made
from a glass type material which often included
metallic flakes added to the mix. This combination
resulted in a translucent orange juice effect which
is very appealing, the only downside to this
material was the fragile similarity to glass,
it is extremely difficult today to find an
un-chipped or un-damaged example. Nearly always
matched with Generic fittings or mid to later war
configurations.
5) Probably the most desirable and
sought after grip types available, the Ivory handled
German Army Officers dagger was an extra cost option
available to the purchaser at double the going rate
of a standard dagger. This often meant that its use
was reserved for Presentation daggers or purchased
by Officers from a Noble or priveleged background.
It is also safe to say that a larger proportion of
daggers founds with Ivory grips are often
accompanied by other higher cost options such as
Damascus blades or highly engraved family motifs or
cartouches. On a side note, if anybody has one they
do not want, I will happily pay the postage and
guarantee it will be looked after :).
GRIP TYPES -
Other
GALALITH - Or milk-stone grips was a cheaper
alternative used later in the period and were derived
from casein ( milk protein ) and immersion in
formaldehyde. White in colour, the material is
relatively easy to spot today, the porous surface of
these grips often looks crazed or chalky in
appearance with fine lines or scratches as if
somebody has sanded the grip with a fine paper. The
material did not change colour, so all examples
found today will be white or cream in colour.
CELLULOID - The cheapest to produce featured a
plaster or wood cored grip that was coated with a
celluloid or plastic layer. Both the wood cored and
plaster filled grip will often show a seam running
up one side, I suspect this process would have
been achieved by heat application and is often
cleverly disguised. The plaster filled celluloid
grips would have been formed by applying heat to the
celluloid layer over a mould, possibly wood and then
cooled. The grips where then injected with a plaster
filler and while wet, assembled over the blade tang
and left to set in place ensuring a solid and tight
fit to hilt assembly. This fact that the wood cored
grips are rarely encountered may be because they
were never intentionally meant to be production,
instead and possibly because of a short life span as
a mould they were simply covered and shipped as
production and the mould replaced. I do not think
they would have used metal as a mould for the
celluloid layers as it would have expanded, wood
makes far more sense to me.....................just
a theory!.
PAINTED - Occasionally white painted German Army
dagger grips surface over a wood core, whether these
were intended as production or simply a case of
using up excess or redundant moulds for the plaster
filled grips is speculation on my part. They are
however quite scarce, especially ones with the paint
intact. Another anomaly that surfaces from time to
time is the use of the black funeral or railway
dagger grip, painted white. This paint was prone to
chipping and in the course of 60+ years, most cases
it is eventually fully removed revealing an army
dagger with a black grip. These daggers are
virtually always by the manufacturer Klaas.
WIRE-WRAPPED - This featured a grip of any
type ( exception of glass ) having a double twist
wire wrap that ran the length of the dagger using
the spiral twist. Possible legitimate examples will have a small
bore hole at either end of the grip and in a certain
fashion, located under the ferrule and again under
the pommel to secure and hide the ends of the wire.
This practice in my opinion was only used by certain
manufacturers and in a way that can be used in most
cases to determine authenticity. I have never seen
conclusive proof that this type of enhancement was
offered as a period private purchase option and no
period photographs of such a dagger in wear has yet
surfaced as far as I am aware, I am therefore split
when it comes to authenticity. The only possible
dagger I would accept personally would be
manufactured by Klaas. |
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Prior to 1936/7
the blades on German Army daggers featured the
forged tapered tang (upper) which was filed and
hammered to ensure a tight custom fit to both the
individual cross-guard and the grip. This task was
undertaken by skilled factory workers based in
Solingen factories, many of whom had been involved
with steel working for decades prior to the Nazi
Regime. This tapered style blade was normally solid
and heavy in comparison to the later shouldered
variety (lower) which was introduced in 1936/7. Hand finishing
each individual German dagger was very labour
intensive and once the firms had
achieved a manufacturing contract they quickly
adopted the later standard cast blades which reduced
the amount of steel required and also resulted in
limited finishing. Many tangs will also feature the
casters mark, most of which are unknown, the upper
blade tang for example is off an early Wingen German
Army Officers Dagger and bears a cast 'W' onto the
reverse, this could mean the twin circles shown
above is a Wingen trait. Pure speculation on my
part.
Another unique attribute sometimes observed on
nickel plated blade tangs especially by the
manufacturer Klaas was a circular hole in the centre
of the tang. This was used to suspend the blade in
the nickel dipping process and is a tell tale sign that the
blade should and would have been plated.
Note: The 'cross in the square' caster marks shown
on the lower blade tang is by far the most common
and is often found on Generic style daggers dating
to later in the period. The caster is unknown. Also
notice the clamp billet marks or seam still intact
and visible. This seam is a result of the blade
forging techniques and is often not visible on the
earlier tapered tang blades due to the filing and
grinding involved in the fitting process. |
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EARLY -
The cross-guards found on German Heer daggers
are in most cases unique to each manufacturer (
See
cross-guard Reference ). I do not intend to
delve into the intricacies of each pattern here
as that information is readily available on
other pages of wardaggers.com. The above two
pictures instead are aimed to show the
difference between early 1935/6 production (
left ) and post 1936/7 production ( right ). It
should be apparent from studying both
cross-guards why advanced German Army dagger
collectors Worldwide prefer the earlier hand
chiselled daggers. Using quality brass base
metals which are sometimes found with an overlayed copper layer to allow the thick silver
plate to adhere without lifting, the quality was
second to none. Many will feature some form of
hand finishing or chasing to enhance certain
areas of the cross-guard and this can vary
between manufacturers.
MID -
Most German Army Officers daggers manufactured
after 1936/7 and into the mid-period become
standardized, with firms choosing to opt for
cheaper streamlined moulds and casts that
required limited hand finishing and yet retained
a crisp and detailed cross-guard. It should also
be noted that several of the larger
manufacturers continued to use quality materials
even though much of the supply was being
earmarked for higher priority war effort
production. Hand finishing on these mid-late
period cross-guards in most general cases was
curtailed although several firms continued to
add personalisation to certain cross-guard
patterns purchased from rival firms. We also see
the introduction of the two Generic pattern
cross-guards, these basically were manufactured
in large quantities and made available mainly to
the smaller firms who did not produce their own.
Known today as the Generic Type A ( Shown above
right ) and the Generic Type B, they were based
on previous earlier cross-guard patterns by WKC
and Wingen. Several minor adjustments where made
to the mould and in particular the head area's
of both eagles which allows a collector today to
differentiate between them. Both designs proved
extremely popular and by far outweighs the
production of any other cross-guard design from
any maker of the mid-late period.
LATE -
As the War
progressed ( 1940-42 ) demands on materials
severely impacted the largely cosmetic German
dagger production with firms having to source
cheaper and more readily available alternatives
to stay in business. A select few of the larger
firms who probably held a large inventory of
stock were able to continue to produce or
assemble a relatively high quality product but
even several of the biggest companies are known
to have switched to the Generic cross-guard
designs at some point due to lack of resources (
manpower or materials ). Silver wash instead of
silver plate became commonplace and pot metal
and inferior base metals where the only option
for many companies. Hand enhancing was a luxury
long since dispensed.
Notes:
EISENKOPF
- Is a collectors term to describe a particular
cross-guard pattern used by Alcoso that trialled
the use of iron as a base metal quite early in
the period. These cross-guards will feel
extremely heavy in hand and react strongly to a
magnet.
SWIRLS -
Refers to the circular scrolls on either
quillion.
HI-LIFT -
The last ( 4th ) cross-guard design from Alcoso
that featured an eagle with an almost 3D
appearance, raising it from the base cross-guard
giving it an outward facing profile. |
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MOUSE OVER IMAGE > |
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< MOUSE OVER IMAGE |
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GERMAN ARMY DAGGER TERMINOLOGY |
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