Original German WWII Army Officer Lion Head Sword by Max Weyersberg with Scabbard - WMW Waffen

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a beautiful classic Lionhead German WWII Army Officers sword, made by Max Weyersberg - WMW Waffen, of Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in Western Germany. The blade example of this sword actually looks to have seen a good amount of use and cleaning, and we cannot tell whether it was originally nickel plated or not. It comes with the correct black enameled steel scabbard, and even has a leather belt hook attached to the hanger ring.

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, a good amount of which is still retained. The design of the hilt on this example is a bit of a departure from the other examples we have seen, which mostly take after the "Field Marshall" series of Carl Eickhorn. The Lion is fitted with lovely blood red faceted "jewel", both of which are in fantastic condition. There is nice detail throughout his whiskers, chin, and muzzle. The handwork is beautifully rendered throughout the hilt. The backstrap is embossed with the classic German oak leaves and acorns motif, which extends onto the side tabs. The "flat" P guard has the same motif, and onto the ferrule, which in this case is integral to the cross guard. There are lots of hand enhancing visible, and it is possible that the entire designs were done by hand, and not cast.

The chappe/langet features a raised out "closed wing" National eagle, which shows excellent detail to his beak, eye, breast feathering, wing feathering, talons and mobile clutched swas (hook cross). It has a bit of a "gothic shield" profile that matches the chappe, with the shoulders being the widest part of the eagle. The other chappe is blank and would often be used for the officer to add a monogram, however this example is still unmarked. It has the same "gothic shield" profile, narrower in the middle. We've definitely never seen this kind of crossguard on an Army Officer sword before, except on other WMW Waffen examples, and it has a golden color to the gilt brass overall.

The grip of this example is a black celluloid over a carved wood base. The celluloid is still in very good condition, nice and shiny with no deterioration or cracking we can see. The grip is wrapped with 3 pairs of twisted aluminum wire, all the same size, and the wrapping is just a bit loose. The hilt is still firmly attached to the blade, with no wobble like we usually see.

The blade is 32 1/4 inches long, made of high quality spring steel, and does not look to have been nickel plated, though it is possible that it originally was and was removed by oxidization and cleaning. Looking at the blade, it definitely looks to have been sharpened and used, also showing some nicks and dents on the edge. The blade surface shows signs of past staining, now cleaned away, but no major pitting or other rust issues. The leather blade buffer is still present, now compressed against the cross guard.

The reverse ricasso is stamped WMW Waffen trademark logo, which is unfortunately covered by the chappe/rainguard, making it impossible to photograph:

WMW
WAFFEN

Max Weyersberg, Waffenfabrik (Weapons Factory), was founded by a member of the larger Weyersberg family of blade makers. The company was located at Katternbergerstrasse 176 in Solingen Germany, the legendary "City of Blades" in Western Germany. Per J. Anthony Carter's fine work GERMAN SWORD AND KNIFE MAKERS, this company was founded in 1920, and registered with authorities in 1933 as a maker of cutlery, hunting/sporting knives, and edged weapons. WMW WAFFEN was their main trade name, and was originally pierced with a sword. However later in the period the WMW / WAFFEN marking with the enlarged "M" was used.

The steel scabbard is free of dents and bends, and still retains lot of the original black enamel lacquer. There is wear and scratching commensurate with age and service, as well as a lot of checking and crazing in the lacquer, confirming the age, and there is a bit of oxidation where the finish is now missing. It also shows overall deterioration and pin pricking, as the steel may be oxidizing a bit under the lacquer due to the checking. It still retains the original hanger ring and loop to hook on the belt hanger.

Overall a very good example of a German Army Officer Lion Head sword by a known maker, complete with scabbard. Ready to display!

Specifications:

Blade Length: 32 1/4"
Blade Style: Single Edge w/ Fuller
Overall length: 37 1/4“
Guard dimensions: 5" width x 5” length
Scabbard length: 33 3/8”

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.