Original German Early WWII SA Dagger by Rare Maker Gebrüder Berns with Replaced Scabbard and Hanger

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely early pattern SA Dagger, made by the rare maker Gebrüder Berns, Otterwerk Stahlwarenfabrik AG of Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in Western Germany. This is a very rare maker, and this is the first item of any kind that we have had by them. It comes complete with an original scabbard, which is a replacement mid war type, fitted with a leather hanger.

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. The lower reverse guard is Gruppe/Gau marked Wm, for Westmark, which encompassed the area around Saarbrücken, in the extreme West of Germany. This feature was only seen on daggers produced 1935 and prior. The nickel alloy definitely shows some turning, and is tight to the tang, but there is still a bit of wobble in the fittings due to the wood shrinking.

The grip is a fine product having a lovely honey brown color with medium center ridge construction. It shows only light wear, with no chips or cracks we can see, just a few small pressure dents. The grip fits the guards nicely, and the SA symbol button is nicely set, and still has most of the enamel intact with minor loss. The grip eagle is a fine example being the style with beak that points straight. Most of 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 light oxidation, showing that this is the correct solid nickel silver for an early pattern eagle.

The blade of this example is in very good condition, looking to have been cleaned and polished during its live to remove dirt and light oxidation. This has however made the factory final grind cross grain faint in most areas, and now it is really only easily visible on the half inch near the cross guard, while the rest of the blade shows traces in the right light. This texture is iconic, and is the definitive identifying characteristic for a real WWII German Blade. The edges are correctly unsharpened, and the tip is intact, but the blade definitely shows signs of past overall light staining. The acid-etched Alles für Deutschland (Everything for Germany) SA motto is still crisp, however cleaning has removed much of the factory darkening, which was then "touched up" with paint.

The ricasso of the blade has a double oval trademark logo surrounding a "otter with a fish in its mouth", with the address surrounding it between the ovals:

GEBR. BERNS
(Otter with Fish Logo)
OTTER
SOLINGEN

Per J. Anthony Carter's fine work GERMAN SWORD AND KNIFE MAKERS, pages 96-97, Gebrüder Berns, Otterwerk Stahlwarenfabrik AG was located in the Höhscheid district of Solingen, a German city famous since the middle ages for its metal-working and craftsmanship in sword making. The company was founded in 1867 by the Berns brothers, and later registered with Solingen in 1926. It was owned by Edmund and Reinhard Berns in 1914, and by Reinhard along in 1939. The company specialized in pocket knives, but did make a few early SA daggers with an oval address marking surrounding the otter trademark.

The scabbard 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 well retained on the front, however the reverse shows loss from oxidation and subsequent cleaning off the scabbard body. It is now retained at about 25% on the reverse, with oxidation showing on the steel, and the red primer coat can also be seen. 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, and we also noted what looks like a hole drilled through the bottom fitting, which was then patched with inserted material and clear epoxy. The fittings nicely match the crossguards and are complete with all four dome head screws.

Attached to the hanger ring on the scabbard is a very nice later pattern leather belt hanger, with a plated steel hardware. The leather definitely shows wear to the finish, with a bit of dry rot to the surface, and the keeper loop is missing. The functional clip itself is marked with a "barred A" followed by D.R.G.M. (Deutsches Reiches Gebrauchs Musterschutz) - meaning it is a protected patented design under the Reich Government. This design was registered to the owner of the "Barred A" trademark, F. W. Assmann & Söhne of Lüdenscheid, a large maker of belts, buttons, and other accoutrements. The clip also has the RZM code M5/8 for Assmann, meaking this is a transitional belt clip as well, correct to the period.

A great early war SA dagger from a rare and desirable maker, complete with a very nice original replacement scabbard and hanger! 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.