Original German Early WWII SA Dagger by Rare Maker HACO Werk of Berlin with Scabbard and Hanger

Original Item: Only One Available. This is an very good condition early pattern SA Dagger, made by the very rare firm of Haco-Werk, located in Berlin, Germany. This company is known for making early pattern SA and NSKK daggers, but only made them in limited numbers, being rated 5 of 10 on the McSARR (McAlvanah SA Rarity Rating) scale, assembled based on 18,000 daggers as seen by Mike McAlvanah. It comes comes compete with an original scabbard and hanger, both of which are in lovely condition.

The dagger has solid nickel silver fittings throughout, and is a very good example. The crossguards and tang nut are in very good condition throughout with all fittings having a nice lightly aged patina. There is some age to these mounts but there is no lifting anywhere, showing that they are solid and not plated. They do not really show any damage, but they do show wear from cleaning, which has given them a bit of a brushed matte finish. The lower reverse guard is Gruppe/Gau marked B, for Berlin-Brandenburg, which encompassed Berlin and western part of Brandenburg province. This feature was only seen on daggers produced 1935 and prior.

The grip is a fine product having a lovely dark reddish brown color, with medium center ridge construction, showing wear from service, including some scratches, small chips, and pressure dents. There is definitely some cracking to the wood near the cross guards on both sides, top and bottom, caused by the pressure the fittings exert on the wood. There is also some chipping around both the eagle insignia and the SA symbol. The alloy pommel nut does show turning, and the grip is still tightly secured, with no wiggle. The SA symbol button is still relatively nicely set, and still has a good amount of the dark translucent enamel intact, with the nickel plating showing minor oxidation. The grip eagle is a fine example being the style with beak that points straight. It has just a bit of verdigris on it, showing that it is solid nickel alloy, and it has patinated nicely. The details are still there to the eagle to include the beak, breast feathering, wing feathering, talons, wreath and mobile swas (hook cross).

The blade is in very good condition, still showing traces of the original factory final grind cross grain on both sides, particularly near the crossguard. This texture is iconic, and is the definitive identifying characteristic for a real WWII German Blade. It looks to have suffered light oxidation and some water staining on both sides, which was then polished out, showing some light past pitting in areas. The tip looks to have been reprofiled a bit due to a dent or chip, but otherwise the edge is great, still correctly unsharpened and dent free. The acid-etched Alles für Deutschland (Everything for Germany) SA motto is crisp, but the darkening does look to have been possibly retouched at some point.

This very nice example was produced by rare maker Haco-Werk, Berlin, located at the Güterbahnhof Halensee, right next to the railroad. It is marked on the ricasso with their concentric circle logo, which features two diamond-shaped separators:-

H A C O
◆ 〇 ◆
BERLIN

According to J. Anthony Carter's book, GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS, this company marketed SA and NSKK daggers during the third reich, made from blade supplied to the company. Per Wittmann, the style of the blades and tang is distinctive to HACO marked daggers, indicating that the blades were all supplied by the same maker, which has never been identified. We also heard that this company often marked the hilt fittings with a serial number, but we did not see any present.

The scabbard shell is straight throughout and is the early-war style, which were produced with a brown "anodized" finish on the steel, which was then lacquered. This example has lost almost all of the lacquer finish, however the anodization is still well-retained, with just a bit of wear and facing, as well as some oxidation in spots. The upper and lower fittings are solid nickel silver with a great look, showing wear from use and cleaning. The chape lower ball shows just a few small dents, definitely a rarity, as often these are crushed to the point that the brazed seam splits. The throat nicely matches the crossguards, and all fittings have their original dome headed screws.

Attached to the hanger ring on the scabbard is an early pattern belt hanger, with solid nickel hardware and brown finished leather. The leather is in somewhat delicate condition, showing a wear and wrinkling to the finish, and the leather keeper loop is also missing. The spring clip on the end is fully functional, and the hardware has a lovely patina.

A very nice early war SA dagger from a rare maker, complete with an original 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.