Original German WWII Army Heer Officer's Dove Head Sword with Nickel-Plated Blade and Steel Scabbard

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a beautiful classic "Dove Head" German WWII Officer sword with a lovely nickel plated blade, complete with a its original black enamel steel scabbard.

This piece is a real treasure as the hilt is not constructed from the later war aluminum, but rather is made of solid brass, which was originally fully gilt, however now most is missing, and the brass shows a lovely oxidized patina. It may have been "mercury gilt", which evaporates over time. The dove head and backstrap are embossed with high relief oak leaves and acorns, a common decoration used on German ceremonial edged weapons, and these extend onto the side tabs as well. The "flat" P guard repeats this motif, which is present on the grip ferrule as well. The handwork is beautifully rendered throughout this brass. The crossguard has a spread winged eagle which looks to the viewer's right. The breast area of this eagle, as well as the wings, have been hand-enhanced. The reverse has a small plate where a monogram is sometimes added, though this example is blank.

The grip is a very good black celluloid-over-wood base, which shows no cracking or chipping, though it is a bit dull looking. It is wrapped with a skein of four brass wires, the center two of which are twisted, though they are a bit loose and out of place on the grip. The guard wobbles just a tiny bit, common for dress swords of this age, even though the original leather blade buffer is still mostly present. The grip itself is still firmly attached to the tang.

The 32 1/8 inch blade of this example is in very good condition, with no sharpening to the original factory blunt edge, just a few small dents. It is fully nickel plated, which is probably retained at about 90%. Most of the blade only shows light scuffing, but 8 inches from the hilt there is speckling, as well as a few small areas where the plating has flaked away, allowing the steel to oxidize. We do not know if the scabbard was only partially on the blade for a long period of time, or whether that part of the blade did not receive the same level of plating as the rest. The ricasso on either side of the blade does not bear any maker marks, but this is not uncommon. The large blade makers would often make just unmarked blades, which were purchased by retailers and artisans, who them built them into officer's swords.

The scabbard of this example is still straight and dent free, with the original black enamel lacquer finish retained at over 95%. There is some scratching, checking, and crazing visible, but overall it is well above what we usually see. It still has the correct hanger ring and loop for hitching up the sword against the belt vertically.

Overall an very good condition German Army Officer's sword from WWII, ready to display!

Specifications:

Blade Length: 32 1/8"
Blade Style: Single Edge w/ Fuller
Overall length: 37“
Guard dimensions: 5" width x 5” length
Scabbard length: 33 7/8”

The German Army (German: Heer, was the land forces component of the Wehrmacht, the German armed forces, from 1935 to 1945. The Wehrmacht also included the Kriegsmarine (Navy) and the Luftwaffe (Air Force). During World War II, a total of about 15 million soldiers served in the German Army, of whom about seven million became casualties. Separate from the army, the Waffen-SS (Armed SS) was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. Growing from three regiments to over 38 divisions during World War II, it served alongside the army but was never formally part of it.

Only 17 months after AH announced publicly the rearmament program, the Army reached its projected goal of 36 divisions. During the autumn of 1937, two more corps were formed. In 1938, four additional corps were formed with the inclusion of the five divisions of the Austrian Army after the Anschluss in March. During the period of its expansion by Adolf AH, the German Army continued to develop concepts pioneered during World War I, combining ground (Heer) and air (Luftwaffe) assets into combined arms teams. Coupled with operational and tactical methods such as encirclements and the "battle of annihilation", the German military managed quick victories in the two initial years of World War II, prompting the use of the word Blitzkrieg (literally lightning war, meaning lightning-fast war) for the techniques used.

The German Army entered the war with a majority of its infantry formations relying on the horse for transportation. The infantry remained foot soldiers throughout the war; artillery also remained primarily horse-drawn. The motorized formations received much attention in the world press in the opening years of the war, and were cited as the main reason for the success of the German invasions of Poland (September 1939), Norway and Denmark (April 1940), Belgium, France and Netherlands (May 1940), Yugoslavia (April 1941) and the early campaigns in the Soviet Union (June 1941). However their motorized and tank formations accounted for only 20% of the Heer's capacity at their peak strength.