BACKGROUND: Traditionally German Army Officer’s had worn a saber as part of the uniform dress and this tradition was carried on through the Weimar era and on into the Third Reich. In an attempt to build morale and curry favour within the Army, Hitler introduced the dress dagger for optional wear with the walking out dress, and retained the saber for wear on more formal occasions. The dress dagger was designed by Berlin graphic artist Paul Casberg and was officially approved for wear on May 4^TH 1935 along with specifically styled dagger hangers and a new pattern portepee. Production of the dress dagger was to be discontinued as per regulations of May 27^TH 1943 and further wear of the dress dagger was prohibited by order of September 5^TH 1944. Additional regulations of December 23^RD 1944 indicated that officer ranks were to wear a pistol in place of the dress dagger. The removable pommel was an integral component of the Officer’s dagger.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: The roughly, 7/8" tall, silver washed, cast alloy construction pommel has a roughly, 1 1/16" top diameter tapering down to a roughly, 3/4" bottom diameter. The pommel has a slightly domed top and the sides have an embossed, repeating, vertical, oak-leave and acorn pattern. The interior bottom of the pommel has a central bar with a screw threaded port to secure it to the blade’s tang. The pommel only retains hints of its silver wash and has mostly reverted to the flat matte grey of the base alloy. The pommel has no visible manufacturer’s markings.

GRADE ***                             PRICE $72.00