Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely example of an early war transitional pattern NSKK Dagger, with nickel plated fittings throughout. These daggers are identical to the SA dagger, except they have a black finished scabbard. This example was made by the by the legendary firm Tigerwerk Lauterjung & Co. of Solingen, the "City of Blades" in western Germany. This company had made NSKK and SA daggers since the early 1933-1936 era, and continued to produce them throughout the war. It comes comes compete with an original scabbard, which is the correct wartime pattern. This dagger has a combination of early and middle production features, making it a very interesting piece!

This transitional NSKK Dagger has nickel-plated fittings throughout. The cross and pommel guards are nickel plated zinc alloy, and have most all of the plating intact, showing lifting and oxidation around the edges, particularly where they are in contact with the wooden grip, which is typical. There is not any major chipping or dents in the fittings, just the usual effects of age. The pommel nut is nickel plated steel, and does show turning. The hilt is still tight on the blade on this fine Tigerwerk example.

The grip is a fine product having a lovely mahogany red color, with medium center ridge construction, showing light wear and a few small dents. The grain is lovely on this example, with some great color variation. This grip is in excellent condition and fits the crossguards nicely, with no cracks or chunks missing, and a lovely polished glow. The SA / NSKK symbol button is still nicely set, and still has most of the brown enamel intact, with one panel having flaked away. The plating is worn a bit down to the base material, and shows overall oxidation. The aluminum grip eagle is a fine example being the style with beak that points straight. The details are still mostly there to the eagle to include the beak, breast feathering, wing feathering, talons, wreath and mobile swas (hook cross).

The blade is in very good condition, showing the original factory final polish grind cross grain throughout on both sides. This texture is iconic, and is a definitive identifying characteristic for a real WWII German Dagger Blade. There is some runner wear present, which is ubiquitous on these daggers, and there is also some light staining on both sides towards the half of the blade towards the tip, which has been left intact to avoid any damage to the cross grain. The blade has correctly not been sharpened, though the tip has a tiny chip, and the edge also shows roughness and minor damage in the last inch closest to the tip. The acid-etched Alles für Deutschland (Everything for Germany) SA motto is crisp, with the factory darkening mostly worn away.

The rear of this transitional dagger is marked with both the "Left Facing Tiger" trademark logo of Lauterjung & Co., as well as their RZM contract information:

(Trademark Logo)
TIGER
SOLINGEN

(RZM) M7/68

Later examples would only have the RZM information, and usually were dated. Lauterjung & Co., Tiger Stahlwaren- und Waffenfabrik is a famous manufacturer in Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in Western Germany. Their trademark was a Tiger, and their factory was thus often referred to as Tigerwerk (Tiger Works). The firm was founded in 1873 to make knives, scissors, and other steel ware, and survived until after the war. There were several different branches of the Lauterjung family involved in edged weapons, operating under different trade names to avoid confusion. Later in the war, this company would use the RZM code M7 / 68. For more information please see the definitive reference work GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS by J. Anthony Carter.

The Reichszeugmeisterei, or RZM, was was based at the Brown house in Munich and NSDAP party headquarters in Berlin. The RZM ensured that the manufacturers of military items were consistent in design, quality of materials and other characteristics of the items. It also defined standards of design, manufacturing and quality and published an authoritative color chart for textiles. The M7 in the code stands for knives/daggers, contractor 68 stands for firm Tigerwerk Lauterjung & Co. of Solingen.

The scabbard shell is straight throughout and is the mid-war style, which has a black enameled steel body. This is still in very good shape, with no major dents we can see, though the enamel is only retained at about 80%, showing crazing and checking from age, as well as chipping on both sides. This has allowed the steel body to oxidize, which has caused some bubbling of the finish. The upper and lower fittings are nickel-plated steel, with a great patinated look, showing wear and loss of plating consistent with use in service. The bottom ball of the drag is also slightly dented in, which is common even with the stronger steel alloy. The throat nicely matches the crossguards, and all fittings have their original dome headed screws.

This transitional NSKK dagger by Tigerwerk Lauterjung & Co. is especially notable for its combination of early and later production features, including nickel-plated alloy fittings and a blade bearing both the Tiger trademark and RZM M7/68 contractor code. The blade retains strong factory cross-grain finish and a crisp motto, while the minor tip and edge damage, runner wear, staining, enamel loss, plating wear, and oxidation are fully evident. Complete with its straight black-enameled scabbard and matching fittings, it presents a cohesive example of Tigerwerk’s transitional NSKK production.

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

History of the SA and NSKK-

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.

After the purge, the NSKK, which had been a part of the SA, was split off into a separate organization. They retained the same daggers as the SA, however now used a black painted scabbard, and their officer's daggers had a few differences as well. Many already had SA daggers, so these had the scabbards painted black over the original brown anodized finish.