Original Item: Only One Available. This Army Dove Head Sword is a lovely example, made by the firm F. W. Höller of Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in Western Germany. It features a great nickel plated blade, and comes complete with the correct black enamel painted steel scabbard and a lovely officer's troddel knot.

This piece is a real treasure as it is not constructed from the later war aluminum, but rather is made of solid brass. It really looks magnificent, retaining much of the finely gilded finish, particularly in the recessed areas. While many officer swords we see are reminiscent of the "Field Marshall" series of Carl Eickhorn, this example doesn't bear much resemblance to any of them. The dove head and backstrap are engraved and embossed entirely with lots of acanthus leaf motifs, including one in a "star" shape on the center of the back strap. The hand guard is not "flat", and displays other design motifs, and as a rarity, we cannot really see any "Oak Leaves and Acorns" designs, which are very common on these. The chappe/langet features a raised out "closed wing" National eagle looking to the left, which shows excellent detail to his beak, eye, breast feathering, wing feathering, talons and mobile clutched swas (hook cross). The other chappe is blank and would often be used for the officer to add a monogram, however this example is still unmarked.

The grip of this example is a black celluloid over a carved wood base. The celluloid is still in very good condition, showing some light wear, though there is a crack on the right side by the pommel. The grip is wrapped with a skein of 4 brass wires, the center two of which are twisted and wrapped with thin bullion wire, and the wrapping is mostly intact and in place, though many of the wires are loose. There is some dirt and oxidation around the wires, and they show a oxidized patina. The grip and ferrule are tight to the blade, while the guard and back strap have some wobble.

There is a very nice aged leather and bullion officer's troddel sword knot wrapped around the hilt. The leather does show wear and age to the finish, but there are no tears we can see, and the rows of bullion are well retained, but showing light verdigris over all. The end knot is still in good shape, showing overall oxidation from age.

The nickel plated blade is 32 3/4 inches long, made of high quality spring steel. The plating is in excellent condition, showing just a few spots of scuffing as well as oxidation right next to the cross guard. The edge is still correctly unsharpened, and does not have any dents or nicks. The tip is also fully intact and unbent. The original leather blade buffer is still present and in very good condition.

The reverse ricasso is maker marked with a "losenge" style trademark logo that reads F. W. HÖLLER / SOLINGEN, surrounding the trademark Höller "Thermometer" emblem. Due to the location under the langet we unfortunately were not able to get any clear pictures of this marking. This is a well-known maker from Solingen, the famous "City of Blades" in Western Germany, which produced many fine edged weapons. F.W. Höller, Waffenfabrik (Weapons Factory), located in Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in western Germany. During the WWII Period they manufactured many SA and NSKK daggers, both with their "thermometer" trademark and later with the RZM code M7/33. They also produced numerous 98K bayonets and other edged weapons. The firm was founded in 1866, and registered in Solingen in 1883. By 1900 ownership had passed to Emil Höller, and it continued manufacture after WWII, finally closing in 1974. For more information please see J. Anthony Carter's fine work GERMAN SWORD AND KNIFE MAKERS.

The included steel scabbard is in excellent condition and is mostly straight throughout, not showing major dents, though there is a bend about 8 inches from the bottom, which does not interfere with sheathing the blade. The black enamel paint on the scabbard is in very good shape, showing light wear as well as some checking and crazing, but no signs of refinishing. The scabbard still retains the original hanger ring and flat loop to hook on the belt hanger, which are missing some of the finish.

Overall a lovely example of a German Army Officer Dove Head sword by a desirable maker, complete with scabbard and portepee. Ready to display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 32 3/4"
Blade Style: Single Edge w/ Fuller
Overall length: 37 1/2“
Guard dimensions: 5" width x 5” length
Scabbard length: 33 1/4”

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.