Item Description
Original Item: Only One Available: The SS (Schutzstaffel) was originally formed in 1925, ostensibly to act as a small, loyal bodyguard unit to protect the Führer, Adolf AH. Under the direction of the Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, the SS grew to be the most ruthless and feared organization of the 20th century. They were the vanguard of Germany eventually controlled nearly every function of German life and much of Occupied Europe. The SS dagger was introduced in 1933. Early on, members of the SS were awarded their daggers during a ceremony at the Feldherrnhalle Memorial in Munich. The annual ritual, charged with mysticism and meant to evoke the traditions of medieval Teutonic knights, was held on 9 November, the date of the unsuccessful Munich Putsch of 1923. Both officers and enlisted men wore the identical dagger until 1936. After this time, only enlisted men wore the M1933 dagger.
The SS Dagger was originally equipped with nickel crossguards with an ebony wood grip. The black grip contained a National eagle with swas insignia recessed in the center area and an SS sigrunne button inset at the top. On early examples the scabbard shell surface was factory blackened using a metal bluing process. The scabbard had nickel mounts. The SS blade was a polished type containing the SS motto, Meine Ehre Heisst Treue (My Honor is Loyalty). Early examples were mostly hand-fit. Production of later examples was more standardized, using cheaper, nickel-plated fittings with black painted scabbard shells. They could be held with a standard belt hanger, or a much rarer vertical hanger.
The blade on this nice mid-war production dagger remains partly bright, and is quite attractive. It has the original factory cross grain retained to some degree on both sides of the blade. The rear is marked with the RZM and SS contract information:
((RZM))
1052 / 38 ᛋᛋ
This marking indicates the dagger was made by SS RZM Dagger contractor "1052" in 1938, which research indicates is 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 blade still shows quite a bit of the original factory final polish crossgrain, and is much better than the typical examples that we see. It has not been sharpened like some were by USGI's, and still has the original edge. There is some runner wear, as well as staining on the blade flats towards the tip, but SS daggers we see are usually in very worn condition. We would consider this blade to be in very good condition. The etched SS motto, Meine Ehre heißt Treue (My honor is loyalty) is crisp with almost all of the factory blackening in the black letter fonts in the backgrounds. The blade shoulders perfectly meet the lower crossguard contour, and has just a bit of wobble.
The crossguards of this dagger and tang nut are in good condition throughout, and are of the mid war plated construction, with an aluminum base metal. Unfortunately the plating has flaked off over a majority of the guards, leaving a faintly oxidized patina behind. The pommel nut is also aluminum, and is pretty much devoid of plating. As these are mid-war, there is no district numeral stamped into the cross guard.
The ebony grip is a very nice example, with some chipping and cracking by both the pommel and blade side guards. The black dyeing process for the grips unfortunately causes the wood to become brittle, so damage is common. The ruSSnes button is positioned well and the enamel surfaces are intact. The silvered SS and double circles around them have a nice matching patina with the nickel still intact. The aluminum grip eagle is the "high-necked" type with the beak pointing slightly up. It remains in good condition, showing very little wear, just a bit of light scratching and a few dents.
The scabbard shell is a solid example, completely straight and undented, with very little damage of any kind. It is the correct black enamel paint finish, with the expected crazing and checking from age. There are are only a few small scrapes through the finish. The matching nickel plated steel scabbard mounts are in very nice condition. The lower ball is dented in, which is quite common, even on the steel fittings. All four dome head screws are intact, and do not look to have been messed with. There is definitely some light wear and staining on the fittings, but nothing major.
This is a great chance to own a very good condition SS dagger from the mid-war period made by a highly desirable maker! Ready to display!
Specifications:
Blade Length: 8 3/4"
Blade Style: Double Edged Dagger
Overall length: 13 3/4”
Crossguard: 3”
Scabbard Length: 10”
The RZM, Reichzeugmeisterei, (National Equipment Quartermaster), was officially founded in June 1934 in Munich by the NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker's Party), as a Reich Hauptamt, (State Central Office), and was based on the earlier SA Quartermaster's Department. The registry was was based at the Brown house in Munich and NSDAP party headquarters in Berlin.
The functions of the RZM were not only to procure and distribute items to Party formations, but also to approve chosen designs and to act as a quality control supervisor to ensure items manufactured for the Party met required specification and were standardized. Starting in late 1934 items manufactured for the SS came under the quality control of the RZM and as a result were to be marked with the RZM/SS approval/acceptance mark. The M7 in the code stands for daggers, with Gottlieb Hammesfahr & Co. AG being contractor number 67.
Shortly after this, the SS started using a separate listing of contractors, and in 1943 the Waffen-SS assumed full control over their uniform item production and no longer fell under the authority of the RZM.
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