Original German WWII Heer Army Officer's Lion Head Sword by Emil Voos of Solingen with Steel Scabbard

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a beautiful classic Lionhead German WWII Officer sword, made by the legendary firm of Emil Voos in Solingen, Germany, complete with its original 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, much of which is still retained. The design consists of a finely detailed lion head cat with engraved backstrap and "P" guard. The Lion is fitted with blood red faceted "jewel" eyes. There is nice detail throughout his whiskers, chin, and muzzle. The handwork is beautifully rendered throughout this brass. The backstrap consists of high relief Oak leaf and Acorn designs, which extends onto the side tabs. The "P" guard has a lovely raised out oak leaf and acorn motifs, as does the grip ferrule.

The crossguard has a open wing art deco style eagle which looks to the viewer's left. The breast area of this eagle, as well as the wings, have been hand-enhanced. The reverse has a small plate where a monogram might be added, however it is blank. The hilt still retains much of the original gilding, and really looks great! The grip is an outstanding black celluloid-over-wood base, still shiny with no cracks or other degradation we can see. It is wrapped with a skein of 4 wires, the center two of which are twisted, and all show some light oxidation. The grip and hilt fittings are still tight on the tang, definitely a rarity!

The 31 5/8 inch blade of this example is in excellent condition, made from spring steel with the highest quality nickel plating. This is still very well retained, with no flaking or oxidation we can see, just some light scuffing on the surface. There is just the tiniest dent on the very tip, and the edge is correctly unsharpened and shows no dents or other damage.

The reverse ricasso is stamped with the Emil Voos trademark logo with a "Serpent around a stump", next to the makers name:

EMIL VOOS
SOLINGEN

This is unfortunately completely covered by the chappe/raingaurd, so photography is not possible. Emil Voos, Waffenfabrik (Weapon Factory), also known as a Spezialfabrik für Jagd- und Sportmesser (Special Factory for Hunting and Sporting Knives), was a Solingen-based knife maker founded in 1925. The "Serpent-and-Stump" logo next to the company name and location was used on Officer Swords, as well as some early Luftwaffe Daggers in the WWII period, per J. Anthony Carter's work GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS. The original leather blade buffer is still present in the cross guard.

The scabbard of this example is still in great shape, with the steel body still straight, and there is a small dent on one edge, which looks to be from being hit by an edged weapon. This does not interfere with the sheathing of the blade, and the original black enamel finish is in excellent condition, over 90% complete. There is some crazing and checking, particularly near the drag, as well as some small chips and scratches. The hanger ring and loop for "hitching up" the sword show some finish loss as well.

Overall an excellent condition high quality sword from a well-known German sword maker, based in Solingen, the "City of Blades" in Western Germany.

Specifications:
Overall length: 36 5/8”
Blade length: 31 5/8”
Blade Style: Single Edged with Fuller
Guard dimensions: 5" width x 4 1/2” length
Scabbard Length: 32 3/4"

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.