Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely example of a rare Kriegsmarine Navy Lion Head Officer's Sword, made by the firm E. & F. Hörster of Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in Western Germany. We have very seldom had examples of naval officer swords, as they often went down with the ships, and also were not something that would be picked up on the battlefield or during a surrender. The navy also took a lot longer to adopt NSDAP symbols, which meant that their swords and other items could be displayed and kept much more easily.

This lovely example features a lovely nickel-plated "Pipeback" blade, also called a "quillback", which are quite decorative, and comes complete with an original leather and brass fitted metal scabbard, along with an original portepee knot. This is really the full setup, and would be very hard to improve upon!

The hilt on this example is the classic gilt brass alloy, not the later war plated aluminum, and unlike most we see, the gilding still looks to be over 80% intact, with just some light patination on the exposed brass where it has worn away. Some areas have matured to a darker patina, but this is really a great hilt. It has a fold down "clamshell" portion on the outer side, which has a fouled anchor, and the other side has a small area that folds down as well, locking onto the small tab on the scabbard throat. The "Lion" on the pommel has a mane that extends down the entire length of the back strap, while the ferrule has the classic German oak leaves and acorns motif on it. The rest of the guard shows some lovely floral motifs. There are lots of hand enhancing visible, especially on the cross guard area.

As this is a naval sword, the grip of this example is a ivory white celluloid over a carved wood base, instead of the black seen on the army swords. The celluloid is still in great shape, showing just a bit of staining and wear, and there is no cracking or other damage to the covering. The twisted brass wire grip binding is still intact, with most of the st rans still in place. There is some oxidation around the grip binding, and what looks to possibly bee some polish. The hilt is still tight on the blade, with no wobble we can detect. Wrapped around the end of the guard is a very nice silver aluminum bullion portepee, which is in very good matured condition.

The nickel plated blade is 33 inches long, made of high quality spring steel. The plating is in very good condition, well retained overall but with some small scattered areas of flaking and oxidation in areas. The pipe-back blade is very attractive, and the edge is still correctly unsharpened, and does not have any major dents or nicks that would suggest it was abused after capture. The original felt blade buffer is still present, showing some wear from age.

The right ricasso of this blade is stamped with maker name E. & F. HÖRSTER / SOLINGEN  with no trademark emblem around it. E. & F. Hörster & Co Gmbh, is a well-known maker from Solingen, the famous "City of Blades" in Western Germany, which marketed many fine edged weapons. This is the type of logo they usually used on custom ordered swords and "walking out" bayonets, so it is absolutely correct for this Naval Officer Sword. Originally founded in 1850 as "Friedrich Hörster" in 1850, the company was renamed to E. & F. Hörster in 1870 at the behest of Friedrich Emil & Fritz Hörster. The firm lasted long after WWII, finally being declared insolvent in 1996. For more information please see GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS by J. Anthony Carter.

The included scabbard is still in very good condition, and looks to be made from a non-magnetic metal such as brass, which then was covered with black finished leather and fitted with gilt brass. It does have some dents in the scabbard body, particularly about 3 inches above the drag, where there is a dent on both sides. The leather has wear to the finish, and it also has come apart along the seam on much of the scabbard, possibly due to the base metal oxidizing. The throat and middle fitting have brass hanger rings in serrated ferrules, and overall the metalwork still shows much of the original gilding.

Overall a lovely example of a rare German Kriegsmarine Navy Officer Lion Head sword by a desirable maker, complete with scabbard and portepee. Ready to display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 33"
Blade Style: Single Edge w/ Fuller
Overall length: 38 1/4“
Guard dimensions: 4" width x 5” length
Scabbard length: 34 3/8”

WWII Kriegsmarine
In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, the Kriegsmarine grew rapidly during German naval rearmament in the 1930s. The 1919 treaty had limited the size of the German navy and prohibited the building of submarines

Kriegsmarine ships were deployed to the waters around Spain during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) under the guise of enforcing non-intervention, but in reality supported the Nationalists against the Spanish Republicans.

In January 1939, Plan Z, a massive ship-building program, was ordered, calling for surface naval parity with the British Royal Navy by 1944. When World War II broke out in September 1939, Plan Z was shelved in favour of a crash building program for submarines (U-boats) instead of capital surface warships, and land and air forces were given priority of strategic resources.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine (as for all branches of armed forces during the period of absolute NSDAP power) was AH, who exercised his authority through the Oberkommando der Marine ("High Command of the Navy").

The Kriegsmarine's most significant ships were the U-boats, most of which were constructed after Plan Z was abandoned at the beginning of World War II. Wolfpacks were rapidly assembled groups of submarines which attacked British convoys during the first half of the Battle of the Atlantic but this tactic was largely abandoned by May 1943 when U-boat losses mounted. Along with the U-boats, surface commerce raiders (including auxiliary cruisers) were used to disrupt Allied shipping in the early years of the war, the most famous of these being the heavy cruisers Admiral Graf Spee and Admiral Scheer and the battleship Bismarck. However, the adoption of convoy escorts, especially in the Atlantic, greatly reduced the effectiveness of surface commerce raiders against convoys.

Following the end of World War II in 1945, the Kriegsmarine's remaining ships were divided up among the Allied powers and were used for various purposes including minesweeping. Some were loaded with superfluous chemical weapons and scuttled.