Original Item: Only One Available. This Army Dove Head Sword is a very nice lightly patinated example, produced by the rare firm of Rudolf Büchel, located in the Merscheid district of Solingen. It comes complete with its original matte black finished steel scabbard, which is in very good shape.

The hilt on this example is the classic gilt brass alloy, not the later war plated aluminum. Originally gilt, it now has lost most of the gold finish, and shows a lovely oxidized "mustard" patina, with some areas of verdigris oxidation present. Really a lovely looking hilt, with all of the details still there. The dove head hilt on this pattern is plain, showing high-relief embossed German "oak leaf and acorn" motifs on the back strap, side tabs, and guard. The crossguard has a lovely spread wing Reichsadler eagle, which looks to the viewer's left. There is lots of hand enhancing and the backgrounds all show a pebbled texture.

The grip of this example is a black celluloid over a carved wood base. The celluloid is still in very good condition, showing very little wear, but there is some scratching and a crack near the bottom. The grip wrapping on the handle is unfortunately completely missing. The grip is still tight to the blade, while the guard shows a bit of wobble.

The blade is 31 inches long, with the original leather blade washer in place, showing cracking from age. The blade of high quality steel with the nickel plating relatively well retained, showing speckled oxidation throughout. There are also some areas where the plating is flaking away, allowing the steel to oxidize, a process that is likely to continue slowly as the sword ages. The edge is still blunt with no chips or major dents we can see, though there is just a bit of a bend at the very tip.

The rear ricasso of the blade is stamped with the trademark logo of Rudolf Büchel, Stahlwarenfabrik, which is partly obscured by the rain guard. The mark shows their trademark "Eight Pointed Star" Logo, surrounded by:

(RBS Star Logo)
RUDOLF BÜCHEL
SOLINGEN-MERSCHEID

Per J. Anthony Carter's book GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS, this firm was founded and registered in 1923 in the Merscheid Neighborhood of Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades." Rudolf Büchel was the son of a pocket knife maker, and had been a salesman for Gebrüder Weyersberg in South America. He founded his own company, and registered the trademark of RBS in a circle within an 8 pointed star. Most of the daggers produced were for the SA, but there were some rarely found Army daggers, possibly assembled from components contracted out. The company continued after WWII into the 1970s, run by his son and daughter.

The steel scabbard of this example is very good shape, mostly straight and dent free save for a bend towards the middle, which does not interfere with sheathing the scabbard. It still retains about 95% of the original factory black matte finish, which shows just a bit of wear and chipping, mostly around the hanger ring. We can see some paint flaking and checking, confirming the age. It still retains both throat screws, the hanger loop, and the slot for hitching up the sword to the belt when indoors.

Overall a lovely example of a German Army Officer Dove Head sword from a rare maker, complete with scabbard. Ready to display!

Specifications:
Overall length: 35 1/2”
Blade length: 31”
Blade Style: Single Edged with Fuller
Guard dimensions: 5" width x 4 ½” length
Scabbard Length: 34 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.