Original Items: Only One Available. This is a very nice early example of a German WWII Luftwaffe Officer's Sword, made by rare maker F. & A. Helbig, Messerfabrik (knife factory). Early examples such as this were fit with silver-plated nickel alloy mountings, with lovely brass "Sunwheel" style Hankenkreuz (Hook Cross or Swas) emblems. Later they would move to the "Air Age" aluminum material, which didn't develop the lovely patina that this sword has.

The reverse ricasso of this great sword is maker marked with a lightly etched oval trademark logo reading:

F. & A. Helbig, Messerfabrik in Steinbach Kreis Meiningen, was organized by Frieda & Alfred Helbig, succeeding F. & W. Helbig shortly after 1928. They prospered manufacturing daggers during the Third Reich era. They made daggers for the DLV, and made some crackle-finished Aluminum NSFK Glider Pilot's Knives. They also made many swords and daggers for the Luftwaffe, They used several trademark logos, and the lightly etched version without borders was the one usually seen on the Luftwaffe Swords. For more information please see GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS by J. Anthony Carter. There is also a Luftwaffe Weimar Eagle 5 inspection stamp next to the maker mark, the standard marking on Luftwaffe blades.

The 28 1/2" blade is fully nickel plated, and looks incredible, with a near mirror finish, with just a few areas of runner wear and scuffing. There are no chips or nicks in the edge on the blade, and it was never sharpened, correct for a dress sword. Truly an very nice example of WWII production blade from a rare maker.

This early Luftwaffe Sword has very nice plated nickel alloy mounts, possibly silver plated. This example has brass inserts for the "Sunwheel" swas designs on the pommel and crossguard. They do have the plating between the "arms" worn through for hte most part. The pommel has very nice rims, with just a few dents and scratches, and very nice stamping to the oak leaves and acorns which run around the circumference. The crossguards are nice and crisp and they both have good detail to the feathering of the downward pointing quillons, which still have a lot of the plating.

The grip is a wood based type, with original Moroccan blue leather covering. This leather is in good condition throughout, showing wear through the finish and down to the wood in places. The original double twisted bullion wire wrapping is intact, though the plating is worn, so much of the copper base can be seen, as well as oxidation. It definitely looks to have seen service during the war.

The scabbard shell is nice and straight, with no denting to the metal body. The original Moroccan blue leather however has definitely aged, as on the grips. One side has cracking through the finish as well as through the entire leather cover. There is one space where the underlying alloy body can be seen. The scabbard mounts are a fine matching nickel alloy with silver plate. The mounts are in good condition, with mostly intact plating with a great patina in places. The leather sword hanger is unfortunately absent.

A very nice early pattern Luftwaffe Officer's sword by a rare maker, that has passed the test of time with flying colors. Ready to display!

Specifications:

Blade Length: 28 1/2"
Blade Style: Double Edge w/ Partial Fuller
Overall length: 35 1/2“
Crossguard: 5 1/4"
Scabbard length: 30”