Original German WWII Police Style Long Dress Bayonet by WKC Waffenfabrik with NSKOV Emblem Stag Grips and Scabbard

Original Item: Only One Available. The National Socialist War Victim's Care (Nationalsozialistische Kriegsopferversorgung or NSKOV) was a social welfare organization for seriously wounded veterans as well as frontline fighters of World War I. The NSKOV was established in 1934 and was affiliated to the NSDAP Party. The headquarters of the organization was in Kreuzberg, Berlin (at the time called the SW 68 district) and employed the architect Willy Muehlau to design cheap residential complexes for NSDAP war veterans. These complexes emerged some time between the late 1920s and early 1930s and are protected according to the City of Berlin's Denkmalliste (monument list).

This is a lovely Police Style Long Dress "Walking Out" Bayonet by the legendary Weyersberg Kirschbaum & Co. of Solingen. which has had the stag grip plate fitted with an NSKOV National Socialist War Victim's Care insignia on the right side. It comes complete with scabbard, and we assume that the emblem was applied by the retailer. We have seen other examples of NSKOV dress bayonets, but they are rather rare.

The handle of the bayonet is lovely solid nickel plated brass alloy, featuring a lovely decorated "Birds Head" pommel without a bayonet slot, and an upswept cross guard decorated with oak leaves. The grip scales are made of beautiful stag horn with an antiqued NSKOV insignia firmly attached on one side. These are held with solid aluminum rivets and show no wiggle at all. There are small holes in both scales next to the cross guard, something we often see, but no cracking or other damage. Both cross guard and eagle’s head are in very good condition, with most of the original nickel plating still intact, showing wear and oxidation on the contact areas.

The bayonet has a very nice approximately 33 cm (12.75 inches) long nickel-plated steel blade, which was forged "cut-down" style, with the fuller running to the tip. The nickel plating is still in relatively good shape, showing the expected wear from the runner and cleaning. There is speckled oxidation over much of the remaining plating, and some areas of lifting. The tip area has lost a good amount of plating from runner wear. The leather blade buffer is still present, but definitely shows some wear.

The blade ricasso is maker marked WEYERSBERG / KIRSCHBAUM & CIE / SOLINGEN with the firms trademark "Knights-Head" (Ritter-helm) logo on the opposite side of the ricasso. This company is a famous manufacturer of military swords and cutlery in Solingen, Germany - a city famous since the middle ages for its metal-working and craftsmanship in sword making. Per J. Anthony Carter's fine work GERMAN SWORD AND KNIFE MAKERS, the traditional manufacturing of swords at WKC dates back to the year 1774 when the Weyersberg first registered the ''Kings head'' as their trademark. Later in 1883 the company merged with the Kirschbaums and the company Weyersberg Kirschbaum & Cie was formed, which continued into the Weimar Period. It then rebranded as W.K.C. Waffenfabrik GmbH, and produced many edged weapons during the NSDAP Period. The company is still in operation today.

The scabbard is made of fine black leather, fitted with nickel plated brass, and is in good condition, with the drag fitting having been lost long ago. The leather shows age and wear to the finish, though the stitching is still intact. The scabbard is held by a very nice black leather frog, which has lost most of the original finish.

This is a very interesting NSKOV marked police style bayonet by WKC, the first time we have had an NSKOV marked bayonet. Complete with scabbard and frog, this bayonet is ready to research and display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 13"
Blade Style: Single Edged with Fuller
Overall length: 17 1/2”
Crossguard: 2 1/4”
Scabbard Length: 12 1/2” (incomplete)