Original German Early WWII SA Dagger by AESCULAP of Tuttlingen with Wartime Scabbard

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice early pattern SA Dagger, made by the rare maker Aesculap-Werke AG of Tuttlingen, a company much more known for their surgical instruments than their blades. They only made these daggers for a short period of time, as the company was much more needed for its ability to make surgical instruments during the war, a business they continue to excel in. It comes complete with an original scabbard, which is a replacement mid war type.

The dagger has solid nickel silver fittings throughout, and is a really nice example. The cross guards and tang nut are in very good condition throughout with all fittings having a nice lightly aged patina. There is no lifting or scratching, showing that they are indeed solid alloy. The lower reverse guard is Gruppe/Gau marked Sw ,for Sudwest (South West) a district in far South West Germany, with the principal city being Stuttgart. This feature was only seen on daggers produced 1935 and prior.

The grip is a fine product having a nice dark brown color, with a medium center ridge construction. AESCULAP seems to have commonly used much darker wood for the trips than other makers. The wood is still in very good shape, showing only light wear, and no missing chunks or cracks are present. It was however varnished at some point, which is relatively well retained, but has deteriorated a bit with some areas lifting and looking lighter along the grain. The SA Symbol button is nicely set, and still has almost all of the translucent enamel intact, however the plated metal has oxidized and is now quite dark. The grip eagle is a fine example being the style with beak that points straight. All the details are still there to the eagle to include the beak, breast feathering, wing feathering, talons, wreath and mobile swas. There is a bit of wear and oxidation, showing that is the correct solid nickel silver for an early pattern eagle. The handle is mostly tight on the blade, with just a bit of wobble.

The blade of this example is in very good condition, with the factory final polish grind cross grain still visible throughout the blade. This texture is iconic, and is the definitive identifying characteristic for a real WWII German Blade. It is still strong in most areas, however it is worn away by runner wear, and there is also some past oxidation staining closer to the tip, which was polished out, making the cross grain very hard to see. The original factory edge, which is a bit sharp on AESCULAP daggers, shows no signs of past sharpening, and the only edge issue is a miniscule dent at the very tip. The acid-etched Alles für Deutschland (Everything for Germany) SA motto is still crisp, with the factory darkening very well retained.

The rear of the blade bears the etched trademark logo of Aesculap-Werke AG of Tuttlingen in Württemberg, a company that still exists today as a major maker of surgical instruments. Their logo is the well-known "S-form" serpent coiled around a ball-headed staff, the "Rod of Aesculapius", the Greek God of medicine, under a crown. This trademark is on the back of the blade, surrounded by:

AESCULAP
(CROWN)
+ (Rod of Aesculapius) +
TUTTLINGEN

Per J. Anthony Carter's book GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS,this firm was originally founded by Gottfried Jetter in 1867, and in 1887 he partnered with the Scheerer brothers to form Jetter & Scheerer. By 1895, they recognized the limitations of a family business, and formally incorporated. They built a new factory and registered the trademark Aesculap. The company used this particular "round" trademark on very early SA and NSKK daggers, which they made only made a small number of. They were a known maker of early Ernst Röhm signed daggers, however this example shows no evidence of ever having the signature.

The scabbard is a replacement mid-war produced example. The shell is straight and dent free throughout and is the wartime pattern, with a brown enamel finished steel body and nickel plated steel fittings. The finish is very well retained on both sides, showing some areas of wear through, but no major oxidation or damage. The enamel has some lovely checking and crazing, confirming the age and that it has not been repainted. The scabbard shell is equipped with matching plated steel mounts, which show some wear and oxidation from use and age. The bottom ball shows some denting, which is common even on steel fitted examples. The fittings nicely match the crossguards and are complete with all four dome head screws.

A very nice early war SA dagger by a very rare and desirable maker, complete with a very nice original replacement scabbard. Ready to display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 8 3/4"
Overall length: 13 3/4”
Crossguard: 3”
Scabbard Length: 10”

History of the SA-
The SA or Brown Shirts, were a private political formation which Adolf AH and the NSDAP used to maintain order at organized Party meetings and demonstrations. The group was formed in 1921, and grew to a huge force of nearly 3,000,000 men by the later 1930's. To instill esprit de corps, as well as create employment for the Blade City of Solingen, it was decided each SA man would carry a dagger with his Brown Shirt uniform. Huge quantities needed to be produced to accommodate the demand. The dagger initially was produced of hand-fitted nickel mounts with attractive finished wood grip and brown anodized (a bluing process) finished scabbard.

The blade was etched with the SA motto, Alles für Deutschland. Examples produced prior to 1935 were stamped with the German sector of the SA group on reverse lower crossguard. Later examples underwent standardization through the RZM ministry. These pieces were produced of cheaper plated zinc-base fittings and scabbards were simply painted brown.

Prior to his "unmasking" as a traitor, Ernst Röhm was the leader of the SA. In 1934, he distributed approximately 100,000 SA daggers with his personal inscription on the reverse blade. These daggers were to honor individuals who had served with the SA prior to December, 1931. Other than the inscription, these pieces were identical to the standard M1933 SA dagger. After the Röhm purge, the inscription was ordered to be removed. Many examples were returned to the factory for grinding. Others were simply ground in the field by whatever means were available. Examples will occasionally be encountered with remnants of the original inscription remaining on the blade, but mostly none will remain. Some blades exist with an intact inscription, reflecting only the removal of the Röhm signature. Very very rarely is an example seen with a full, untouched inscription, as the holder would have surely risked a charge of treason.