The Evolution of Early Prussian Naval Daggers

As the authors of Deutsche Marinedolche were assembling ideas and daggers for our book, we started examining closely held judgments about groups of daggers and when they were produced and worn. As with all students of German navy daggers, we began our thinking with the accepted beginning of these Prussian naval sidearms dating from the 1840’s. But as we were looking at collections in Europe we started seeing a series of daggers that appeared to be German in form, but certainly seemed to be produced earlier than the mid 19th century, as we will see later.  As these daggers presented a puzzle to us, they became our focus. They were essentially “new” edged weapons  for our examination and enjoyment and we as collectors wanted to know everything we could about them. We sought them out world wide to either purchase for our collections or to photograph and study. We simply could not learn fast enough; it was an exciting time.

As we started to scientifically study these “early” daggers some characteristics became very obvious. These daggers went through design transitions that seemed to indicate a basic pattern that was worn for a couple of generations. The puzzle was starting to come together. We initially worked back from the established 1848 and so called “Amazone” daggers as their time periods were fairly well recognized. The 1848 and “Amazone” were established by regulation.

The first two early daggers we examined, coincidentally had identical crossguards as the 1848, but different handle wrappings, pommel, center anchor design, and of course the scabbard. The upper rounded pommel was basically the same, but contained a different base design instead of the cresting waves.  Fortunately one of the co-authors also enjoys early architectural design and recognized the figure as a type of neo-classical meander band used during the Napoleonic era. This design feature caused us to think these daggers were indeed earlier. Then other daggers started showing up, similar, but different; daggers with very crudely cast crossguards and pommels that looked even earlier. Then more of these early daggers were made known to us that appeared to be much later. The meander band was replaced with a real waves base just like the 1848 dagger. The crossguard became a large center block extended at the top and bottom, a design that lasted until 1945. Another dagger appeared that had a scabbard designed for vertical wear with a frog stud. Then a second dagger appeared that was worn by young students with the blunted blade.  The more daggers we looked at the more clear it became; here was indeed a group of daggers that seemed to be initially designed during the Napoleonic era and worn until the 1850’s. This series of daggers had one of the longest wear times of any German naval dagger.

The objective of this short study is to clearly show the reader the design changes these early daggers went through from the last quarter of the 18th century through the early 19th century which ultimately resulted in the 1848 naval dagger. The authors also want to demonstrate to the reader that the influence of these early daggers was great throughout the history of the German Naval Dagger.
Navy daggers have to withstand the harshest of environments, extremes of heat and cold, and the constant assault of sea spray with it corrosive effects. Early sailors quickly learned the corrosive protection of brass and copper, so dagger components exposed to the elements were produced from these metals.

Early in this study we consulted with German metallurgists who confirmed that the earliest of these daggers were produced from “Galmei” or Calamine brass. This type of brass has been known since ancient times. In fact near the village of Breinigerberg, in Germany, an ancient Roman settlement was discovered where a calamine ore mine existed.

The production and use of calamine brass was generally replaced by more modern techniques in the 18th century, however, some traditionalists continued using this brass into the 19th century as it is true with these early Prussian naval daggers.

In our book Deutsche Marinedolche we have labeled these earliest daggers as the 1800 naval dagger. When looking at these early daggers the distinctive pommel and crossguard stand out and their influence for over 100 years on German navy daggers is obvious.  There was a time in our study that we were thinking that these daggers may be earlier than even 1800, but further research on the decoration of naval daggers with such nautical symbols as an anchor, confirmed that such adornment  primarily happened after the late 1780’s.  Research in France regarding the use of nautical symbols on their early naval daggers provided the same dating information.

In Figure 1 we see one of the earliest of these naval daggers. This dagger as with all of the others that follow was originally covered with a gold wash that quickly wore away. The pommel of this dagger is the round reed bundle type which changes below the center to a flat base containing the meander band, an early representation of cresting waves. The pommel, as with those that follow, is peened to the end of the blade tang. The pommel rests on the top of an oak grip that has been wrapped with a double twisted copper wire. A wide brass ferrule separates the grip from the crossguard and also strengthens the grip. The ferrule is decorated with two horizontal lines that are punched to create the design. The early crossguard has well defined capstan ends even though they are without the typical grooves. The center crossguard block is nearly square and contains an anchor with a pointed crown and large flukes facing to the lower right. There is no butt plate and the blade is of a center ridge design without ricasso. The scabbards of all of these early daggers were brass decorated with chased chevrons and horizontal lines giving the look of scabbard bands. See our book as well as figures 2 and 5. This dagger is pictured on pages 21-23 of our book.  

Jan Pieter Puype in his early and important work “Der Marinedolch” published in 1974 in the Deutsches Waffen Journal, pictures one of these early daggers seen in figure 1 on pages 180-181.

Figure 2 shows some minor variations from Fig.1. The crossguard center block has become more rectangular and contains a larger anchor with pointed crown and large flukes. The capstan ends of the crossguard are grooved for the first time. This dagger is pictured in our book on pages 30-37.

Thomas Wittmann in his book, Exploring the Dress Daggers of the German Navy has pictured a long example of the dagger seen in Figure 2 on page 6.

Figure 3 represents a distinct departure from the preceding daggers. The pommel is only decorated in the lower section of the ball. This decoration takes the form of vertical grooves rather than the reed leaf design. The ball is separated from the flat panel base by a raised ring that surrounds the pommel. The meander band connects to this ring at the top of each wave creating a series of upside down arches. The crossguard arms have capstan ends but are not grooved. The center block design is squared and contains a large anchor with a very pointed crown and large decorative flukes. The components of the hilt of this dagger are so different from the preceding daggers that it may represent a completely different manufacturer. This dagger is in a private collection in the United States

As these daggers moved into the 1830’s and 40’s we start to see examples that appear to be “special order” custom designs, the same as with every other period of navy dagger production. The daggers in figures 4 and 5 represent bold departures from the earlier daggers. Both of these daggers have large block crossguards and well defined capstan ends without grooves. The center block of both pieces contains a large anchor design with a smooth crown and medium size flukes. In keeping with extra cost options, the grip ferrule is both chased and then additional handwork is done to create a pearl ring effect. Both daggers continue to be wrapped with double twisted copper wire. The pommels in both pieces exhibit the finest in craftsmanship.

The pommel in figure 4 still contains the meander band around the base. The top two-thirds of the pommel has been cast with raised leaf shaped, evenly spaced ovals over the entire surface.  The pommel is then hand worked to bring out the design. This oval leaf pommel would have been striking in appearance with its full gold wash. This dagger is in a private collection in the Netherlands.

The dagger in figure 5 shows a much different pommel. The meander band remains present but only decorates the obverse and reverse sections of the pommel. The pommel retains a reed bundle design, but the design is separated between the obverse and reverse by a rounded unadorned section that extends from the top of the meander band to the top of the pommel. The slightly flattened reed design on the obverse and reverse faces of the pommel creates a beautifully unique design. The dagger pictured in figure 5 belongs to Herr Peter Tamm and is proudly displayed in his Internationally famous Maritime Museum in Hamburg, Germany.

The scabbards for both daggers in figures 4 and 5 are the chevron type with minor changes in the chasing around the hanger eye and ring.

The dagger in figure 6 begins to show important design changes. The pommel retains the reed bundle appearance but the meander band has been replaced with a series of arches depicting waves. These waves are set on a double ring pommel base. The grip ferrule is chased with two sets of double lines and a single line above the crossguard. The crossguard is a large block design but as this is a student dagger the crossguard is somewhat smaller. The capstan ends are grooved. For the first time on a German naval dagger a fouled anchor design is present in the center block. The fouled anchor continues to face to the lower right. The crown is rounded and the flukes are large. The fouled anchor chain is somewhat indistinct. The crossguard rests on a brass butt plate. Below the butt plate is a large leather washer that secures the dagger in the scabbard. The blade on this dagger is a blunted student type. This dagger is pictured in our book on pages 38-47.

The figure 7 dagger demonstrates significant design changes from the earlier daggers. For the first time the 8 crested waves appear at the base of the reed bundle pommel. The pommel is identical to many that appear 100 years later. The waves sit on a large ring pommel base. This dagger from the late 1830’s has a thickened oak copper wrapped grip without grip ferrule. The block capstan crossguard with grooved ends contains a large fouled anchor in the center block. For the first time the crown of the fouled anchor faces to the upper right, a feature that is unchanging until 1945. The anchor has a pointed crown and medium size flukes. The fouled anchor chain is very tight on the shank. The crossguard rests on a heavy brass butt plate. This particular dagger is fitted with an early style Damascus blade with a very indistinct pattern. This dagger is part of the collection of the Marineschule Murwick bei Flensberg.

The final variation before the 1848 dagger is shown in figure 8. This dagger retains the reed bundle pommel with the 8 crested waves around the base.

 

The block crossguard retains the upper right facing fouled anchor. The anchor in this case is very distinct and in a very detailed design. The crown retains the point, but the flukes are more balanced. This dagger from the 1840’s takes advantage of the latest technology and wrapped the wooden grip with nickel plated twisted iron wire instead of the customary copper. This exact dagger is in a number of books and referred to as from the period of the ship, “Amazone”. The dagger represented here is a student dagger as in figure 6 and is fitted with a blunted tip blade. This dagger is pictured on pages 58-63 in our book.

The final early dagger variation is the 1848 naval dagger in Figure 9.

 

The pommel, crossguard, and fouled anchor are essentially the same as the preceding dagger in figure 8. The grip however, has been changed to a beautiful grooved carved ivory. A new scabbard design has been added, completely eliminating the chevron scabbards of the 1800 patterns, although the "V" shaped scabbard chape may be a design remnant from the 1800 dagger. The beautiful 1848 dagger is the final product of 50 years of design evolution. This dagger is pictured on pages 70-77 in our book. The dagger pictured here was most likely produced in 1849. Collectors should note that the dagger shown here has very early features and is a long pattern as specified by regulations. Long pattern 1848 daggers are seen being worn through the graduating class of 1872. Other 1848 daggers produced during the late 1850's through the end of wear are somewhat shorter with large block crossguards.

The authors, quite frankly, were amazed to find so many dagger variations. We are equally surprised to find multiple examples of the dagger seen in Fig. 2. It certainly seems like these daggers were developed during a period of high demand. Who could have worn a large number of daggers? The period from 1780-1840 was a fashionable "high point" for the wearing of naval daggers among maritime nations. A number of these daggers may have been worn by the naval officers and cadets associated with navigational schools at Papenburg (1842), Timmel (1846), Elsfleth (1832), Hamburg (1749), Geestemunde(1822) , Lubeck ( 1808), Wustrow (1846), and even later schools such as Leer (1855). While some of these schools were small, with rolls showing 15 to a maximum of 23 students, others became large with 90 to 100 students for the two year program. A number of these schools even had a pre-school for younger students, which may explain the blunted tip daggers.

Seefahrtschule Timmel

Prussia also developed Sea Mapping Schools in 1833, when mapping the Baltic Coast line was began. There were also a number of other maritime schools that were initiated by shipbuilders, city fathers and Crown Heads that existed only for a short term.

Daggers would also have been worn by a large number of officers and cadets associated with the protection of the mercantile trade. Prussia's Royal Company for Maritime Commerce was founded by Frederick II. The chief purpose of the state agency was the development of distant markets for goods manufactured in Prussia. A number of Prussia's ships circumnavigated the globe in quest of international markets after the war with Napoleon left the country devastated. The largest of the merchant ships like the "Mercur", 495 tons, the "Mentor", 337 tons, "Prussischer Adler", 480 tons, and the Brig "Princess Louise", 393 tons were armed with cannon and crew and set sail under the Prussian War Ensign. The white Prussian flag with black eagle used on the merchant ships did not contain the iron cross on the upper left of the field after 1835. The frigate ship "Mentor" and the "Princess Louise" both crossed the Pacific ocean a number of times in the 1820's stopping at the Hawaiian Islands bearing gifts to the Royal Hawaiian family from the Prussian king. The "Princess Louise" carried 11 guns, a fact recounted by a letter from Hawaii dated 1828 and listed in the Hohenzollern -Jahrbuch 1912.

Piracy was a constant threat to the Prussian vessels, the small merchant schooner "Christian", 118 tons was sunk in the West Indies, in 1829 after a pirate attack. This incident caused increased security and armament on merchant ships

Daggers most likely were also worn by Officers, NCOs and cadets of the Royal Flotilla of 1807, the schooner "Stralsund" and later the training ship "Amazone". When looking at all of the above ships and maritime schools, it reveals a large number of possible dagger wearers. This makes it a little easier to understand why so many daggers have survived and so many variations of these daggers exist. Certainly further study is needed and input from readers is most welcome.

While this concludes a brief examination of these early navy dagger variations, it does not in any way conclude our study of these early sidearms. Our research continues in Germany; with the visitation of historical sites and libraries associated with these early navigational schools, as well as examining early school and alumni society documents. Even thought many of these early navigational schools no longer exist as separate institutions, they did in most cases become part of larger institutions and in many cases their documents followed this consolidation We are also continuing to pursue early documents relating to the maritime trade and the Royal flotilla of 1807.

The authors, as with our site on German Automobile and Aero Corps daggers, http://www.germanautoandaerocorps.com, will update our findings as new material is found.