Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very good condition mid war period SA Dagger, produced by the rare maker Heinrich Kaufmann & Söhne KG of Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in Western Germany. While the company output was prolific, they were very focused on export, and did not make many edged weapons for the NSDAP Era German Military.

The dagger is made with nickel-plated fittings throughout. The crossguards and tang nut are made from alloy, most likely zinc-based, and still have most of the original plating intact. There is some oxidation and plating lifting, as well as areas where cleaning has worn through the plating. The steel end nut does show some tightening to keep the hilt secure.

The grip is a fine product having a fine brown colored mahogany tone in the surfaces and having medium center ridge construction. This grip is in good condition with nice grain, and fits the crossguards well. It does however have chipping next to the crossguard, a common occurrence due to the design and pressure from the tang nut. There is some more advanced cracking and chipping near the pommel guard. The SA symbol button is nicely, with intact enamel, and the plating intact with overall light oxidation. The details are still there to the inlaid eagle, including the beak, breast feathering, wing feathering, talons, wreath and mobile swas (hook cross). It looks to be a mid-war nickel eagle, which shows some oxidation.

The blade of this example is in good condition, though it has been cleaned and polished to remove oxidation, which has all but removed the factory final grind crossgrain. There are still areas of light peppering visible on the surface, having been cleaned by polishing. The acid-etched Alles für Deutschland (Everything for Germany) SA motto is still quite crisp, however the factory darkening is almost completely removed.

The rear of the blade is etched with the Heinrich Kaufmann & Söhne KG trademark, showing the "Crowned Shield charged with three lily booms on a single stem" logo:

Per J. Anthony Carter's fine work GERMAN SWORD AND KNIFE MAKERS, this company was founded in 1856, but not officially registered in Solingen until 1928. The firm was a large and important one, originally concentrated on exporting metalware to the East and West Indies, which is why the factory was called "India-Werke". They manufactured blades under many different brand names, which were exported all over the world. During the Third Reich period, they manufactured SA and NSKK daggers with the "crowned-lily charged shield" trademark during the early and mid war period. the company survived the war, and continued trading until 1995.

The scabbard shell is straight throughout and has very good original brown enamel paint. There are a few areas of chipping and degradation to the finish, with one area that may show a paint touch up from long ago. The scabbard shell is equipped with fine matching plated steel mounts, which show only light wear and oxidation. They nicely match the crossguards and three out of four dome headed screws are present, with the throat missing one.

A very good example of a mid war pattern SA dagger from a rare maker, complete with scabbard. Ready to display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 8 3/4"
Overall length: 13 3/4”
Crossguard: 3”
Scabbard Length: 10”

History of the SA-

The SA or Brown Shirts, were a private political formation which Adolf AH and the NSDAP used to maintain order at organized Party meetings and demonstrations. The group was formed in 1921, and grew to a huge force of nearly 3,000,000 men by the later 1930's. To instill esprit de corps, as well as create employment for the Blade City of Solingen, it was decided each SA man would carry a dagger with his Brown Shirt uniform. Huge quantities needed to be produced to accommodate the demand. The dagger initially was produced of hand-fitted nickel mounts with attractive finished wood grip and brown anodized (a bluing process) finished scabbard.

The blade was etched with the SA motto, Alles für Deutschland. Examples produced prior to 1935 were stamped with the German sector of the SA group on reverse lower crossguard. Later examples underwent standardization through the RZM ministry. These pieces were produced of cheaper plated zinc-base fittings and scabbards were simply painted brown.

Prior to his "unmasking" as a traitor, Ernst Röhm was the leader of the SA. In 1934, he distributed approximately 100,000 SA daggers with his personal inscription on the reverse blade. These daggers were to honor individuals who had served with the SA prior to December, 1931. Other than the inscription, these pieces were identical to the standard M1933 SA dagger. After the Röhm purge, the inscription was ordered to be removed. Many examples were returned to the factory for grinding. Others were simply ground in the field by whatever means were available. Examples will occasionally be encountered with remnants of the original inscription remaining on the blade, but mostly none will remain. Some blades exist with an intact inscription, reflecting only the removal of the Röhm signature. Very very rarely is an example seen with a full, untouched inscription, as the holder would have surely risked a charge of treason.