Original Item: Only One Available. This is a beautiful classic Lionhead German WWII Army Officers sword, made by the well known firm of Lauterjung & Sohn PUMA-Werk of Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in Western Germany. Unlike almost all dress swords we see, if features what looks to be a matte bright steel blade, and it comes complete with the correct black enamel painted steel scabbard. This is only the third example of an Army Officer sword we have had by PUMA, and it seems to be that they did not make a large number. We have seen these with "No" markings on the blade before from the PUMA catalog, however there is no marking on this example.

The hilt on this example is made from later war gilt aluminum, which definitely makes it quite lightweight. It still retains lots of the original gilding, and really looks great, with just a few places where it is worn through. The overall design takes after the "Field Marshall" series of Carl Eickhorn, in many ways the prototype for the Third Reich army officer sword. It features a finely detailed lion head cat with engraved backstrap and "P" guard. The Lion is fitted with lovely blood red faceted "jewel" eyes, both of which are in fantastic condition. There is nice detail throughout his whiskers, chin, and muzzle. The backstrap are embossed with high-relief classic German oak leaves and acorns motif, which extends onto the side tabs. The "flat" P guard has the same motif, as does the ferrule. There are lots of hand enhancing visible, especially on the cross guard area.

The chappe/langet features a raised out "closed wing" art deco Reichsadler 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 has foliate designs around a panel, 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, and is in very good condition, with no cracks or major damage. The grip is wrapped with a skein of 4 aluminum wires, with the center two twisted together. They are in great shape, with no damage or oxidation, though some of the strands are a bit loose and out of place.

The nickel plated blade is 30 inches long, made of high quality spring steel, and looks to have been produced in bright steel with a matte finish. We cannot see any signs that it was ever nickel plated. It does show signs of cleaning and polishing, probably to remove oxidation, and overall shows a bit of staining. It looks like it had a lacquer coating put on it to protect it, but this could just be dried grease. The edge is correctly unsharpened, and the tip is fully intact.

On the rear of the blade, there is a Puma's Head Logo in a diamond over PUMA / SOLINGEN, the trademark logo of Lauterjung & Sohn, Puma-Stahlwarenfabrik / Puma - Werk of Solingen, Germany, the legendary "City of Blades". This is a known producer of SS, SA, and NSKK daggers during the Pre-WWII period and after. This company was originally founded on a small scale in 1796, Nathanael Lauterjung officially opened a cutlery and knife making workshop in Solingen during 1855. After his death, the name was changed and registered as "Puma-Werk", to avoid confusion with the other Lauterjung-owned workshops in Solingen. For more information, please see J. Anthony Carter's work GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS.

The steel scabbard of this example is straight and dent free, with the original factory black enamel finish retained at about 50%. It shows much checking and crazing due to age, and also overall scratching to the finish. The end near the drag is almost completely devoid of finish, and it looks to have seen a good amount of service. The hanger ring is still intact, as well as the rectangular loop for "hitching up" the sword in close quarters

Overall a lovely example of a German Army Officer Lion Head sword by a desirable maker, complete with scabbard and ready to display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 34"
Blade Style: Single Edge w/ Fuller
Overall length: 39 5/8“
Guard dimensions: 5" width x 5” length
Scabbard length: 35”

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.