Item Description
Original Item: Only One Available. This is a nice example of an East German National People's Army (NVA) General’s Dagger with the correct scabbard, hanger, and presentation case. The generals/admiral daggers of the DDR were adopted for wear in 1960. They made their first public appearance during the May Day Parade of 1961. The majority of these daggers are identical in appearance, being of lacquer-coated polished brass. However, some presentation daggers were gold-plated and this one appears to be an example of one. This gold plating was discontinued after 1983.
These gold-plated presentation daggers were boxed in white goat skin-covered cases, with a gold colored DDR crest, with the motto “For the Defense of the Workers and Peasants Power”, embossed on the lower right of the case lid. Some were also found being presented in cases similar to this red/blue velvet example.
Some of the gold dagger scabbards were engraved and some were not like this example. The only two types of engravings now known to be legitimately documented and accepted for DDR daggers are “Presented by the Minister for National Defense of the DDR”. Regular officers' daggers are also documented as having these same presentation inscriptions from the minister of defense. Some of these were engraved after the collapse of the DDR. An example of this post-collapse engraving would be an inscription with a West German Spelling. We believe this dagger to be an “after the wall” engraved example, one of thousands ordered by dealers to sell to unsuspecting customers, most of which were US/Allied personnel stationed in the vicinity.
The following information comes second-hand from the managers of two warehouses which supplied daggers for the DDR. Approximately 100 Stasi engraved daggers, complete with Stasi colored hangers, were ordered ‘after the wall’. In addition, leftover white cases, which were made for the gold-plated daggers, were sold containing the polished brass daggers. When the existing inventories of cases were depleted, some additional cases were constructed. Also, in addition to the Stasi “fakes”, there were nearly 1,000 daggers engraved for the other four branches of service.
Keep in mind that this is an original dagger but just has the added Überreicht vom Minister für Staatssicherheit, “Presented by the Minister for State Security” engraving on the double fullered blade. Many additional things were also done to promote sales, including the numbering of unnumbered blades with lower serial numbers which, like the addition of fraudulent certificates to cases, were thought to increase the desirability of the item. The blade ricasso bears no manufacturer marking but does have the serial number 0745 present which could very well have been added as well. In a sense, these daggers have dual history showing how hard it was for people to recover after the fall of the Berlin wall and the reunification of Germany.
The overall condition is quite nice and definitely displays in the case quite nicely with great contrasting colors. The case itself measures approximately 17"L x 6 3/4" x 2". Comes more than ready for further research and display.
Specifications:
Blade Length: 9 3/4"
Overall length: 14 1/4"
Crossguard: 4 1/4”
Scabbard Length: 11”
- This product is available for international shipping.
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