A short English Language Summation

The authors’ vision for this book was that it become a pictorial coffee table book, filled with the finest photographs of German Navy Daggers. Each photograph was professionally taken in the highest resolution in order for the reader to see and understand the artistry, use of rare materials, historical nautical design and beauty in each weapon shown. Every picture is in color to enhance the construction and skilled hand work of each piece as well. The book was not written just for collectors, but rather for anyone who appreciates the history of German seafaring men and their navy daggers which they carried for nearly 200 years.

Pages 14-19 introduce the Navy dagger of the time around 1800

As the authors of Deutsche Marinedolche were assembling ideas and daggers for this 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.

As we started to study these “early” daggers scientifically 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 a crossguard identical to 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.

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.

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.

The authors, quite frankly, were amazed to find so many variations. 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 max 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. There were a number of other schools that were initiated by shipbuilders, city fathers and Crown Heads that existed only for a short term. Prussia also developed Sea Mapping Schools in 1833, when mapping the Baltic Coast line was began.

Daggers would also have been worn by a large number of officers and cadets associated with the protection of the mercantile trade. Prussia had a large merchant trade covering much of the world. 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. The small merchant schooner “Christian”, 118 tons was sunk in the West Indies after a pirate attack. This incident caused increased security and armament on merchant ships

Daggers may also have been worn by officers and men of the Royal Flotilla of 1807, the schooner “Stralsund” and later the training ship “Amazone”. When looking at all of the above, 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.

Pages
20-23 The Earliest German Navy Dagger around 1800.
24-29 Dagger, most likely from the time of the Schooner “Stralsund”. 1817
30-37 Dagger of 1800 with sidearm carry lug. 1840 *
38-47 Early Navy Dagger for young students, (This dagger shows the first appearance of the fouled anchor design on the
crossguard). 1830-50 *
48-55 Henry Murck curved dagger ca. 1820 (Some officers preferred this type)

Daggers from 1844 until 1871

58-63 Dagger of a young student from the time of the School Ship “Amazone”. 1844
64-69 Dagger-like Hirschfanger of a navy officer from the time of the “Amazone”. 1859 *
70-77 Dagger after the introductory regulations of 1848. 1849 *

Daggers from the German Empire, which covered the period of time from the proclamation of William I as German Emperor on January 1871 to 1918, when it became a German Republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of Wilhelm II (28 November 1918), represent the highest form of navy dagger art. Hundreds of designs were manufactured. Only the finest of materials were used, solid ivory for handles, gilded brass for hilts and scabbards, etched as well as genuine Damascus blades. These blades represent the highest order of blade manufacturing skill. Presentation blades were made in seemingly endless variations, many of which were etched, blued or gilded or all three. A collector can spend a lifetime just studying the daggers from this historical period.

The so called “heavy” dagger pictured on pages 100 to 106 is one of the finest examples from this period. These special order daggers were generally larger than others of that period, hence the name. The components of the hilt, the Imperial crown and fouled anchor crossguard are cast brass, with hand chasing and engraving and finished with the finest fire gilding. The ivory grip from the German colonies in Africa is bound with silver colored wire. The blade composed of hundreds of layers of folded steel is genuine Damascus. The scabbard represents skills learned by master chasers and engravers through decades of practice. If an edged weapon can be a masterpiece of art, this treasure is surely one of them.

80-85 Martin Schuman Applicants sidearm (U Boat Engineer). 1905
86-93 Cadet Sidearm from. 1872
94-99 Cadet Sidearm after the pattern of 1872 with iron mounts. 1916
100-109 Franz Geerdtz Dagger (Later became one of the first four pilots of the Prussian Air Corps). 1895
110-113 Hartmann Dagger (after the pattern from 1890 for Sea Cadets)
114-117 Carl Husmann Dagger ( Torpedo boat officer). 1913
118-127 Ralph Wenninger Dagger (Wenninger won the “Pour Le Merite” as a u-boat commander). 1907
128-135 Gerhard Stubenrauch dagger ( Naval Aviation Administrator). 1898
136-139 Wolfgang Wiesand Dagger ( Naval Fighter Pilot stationed at Zeebrugge, iron fittings. 1916
140-145 Commemorative Dagger for Sea Officers from the year 1901 (Service before 1872 required, private purchase). 1901
146-155 Naval Officer Dagger with Damascus blade by the maker Carl Kaiser & Co.. 1901
156-159 Imperial dagger with Damascus blade for Officers ( pictured with original flag from the warship S.M.S Preussen. 1910
160-161 Main mast flag from the Imperial line ship S.M.S. Preussen. 1905 *
162-165 Short dagger for Naval Officers. 1905
166-169 Short officer’s Dagger with Damascus blade .1908
170-175 Short officers dagger with etched blade. 1903
176-183 Officer’s dagger with shortened Damascus blade. 1910
184-193 Officers dagger with Damascus blade and deluxe scabbard. 1910
194-197 Officer’s dagger with blade produced by the smith Max Dinger. 1908
198-205 Officers dagger with iron mounts. 1918
206-209 Officers dagger salvaged from a sunken WW I u-boat in the English Channel. 1912, salvaged 1965.
210-215 Imperial Harbor Pilots dagger. 1905
216-217 Harbor Pilot dagger for children. 1912
218-223 Merchant Marine dagger. 1917 *
224-229 Dagger for volunteer navy pilots. 1916*

The Weimar Republic was the period from 1919-1933 when Germany established a parliamentary republic. Navy daggers from the early part of this time, 1919 until 1929 were low in quality and represented the difficult economic times of the period. Daggers produced after 1929 began to exhibit better craftsmanship.

232-235 Dagger for the “Provisional German Navy”. 1919
236-243 Dagger after the regulations of 1921. 1925
244-247 Dagger after the regulations of 1929 with Naval Base inventory stamping (The daggers were on loan for NCOs). 1929
248-253 Unusual Long Model Weimar Officer Dagger. 1929 *
254-259 John Bachmann dagger (First Officer on the Ship “Karlsruhe”. 1928
260-267 1929 Officer’s dagger with hammered scabbard. 1930

Time of the so-called National Socialists from 1933 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. The Nazi period produced a great many navy daggers. Scores of producers were involved. Blade and scabbard designs similar to the Imperial period were resurrected. The standard issue daggers reflect the uninspired design from the Weimar period with the addition of an eagle and swastika pommel. However, large firms like WKC and Carl Eickhorn produced a variety of daggers with exquisite Damascus blades and embossed and chased scabbards. Many of the beautiful presentation grade daggers are equal to those produced during the Imperial period in terms of high art design and execution.

270-273 Werner Bormann dagger (Chief Engineer on the U 86 during the sinking of the Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle,
27 June 1918). 1907 - 1938
274-277 Officer dagger from the regulations of 1938 with earlier Imperial scabbard. 1938
278-281 Officers dagger of the “War Navy” with hammered scabbard .1938
282-285 Officers dagger from the 1938 regulations, produced by the firm of Carl Eickhorn. 1938.
286-289 Dagger of Administrative Director Dr. Karl Helmut Sieber. 1938
290-293 Dagger from 1938 produced by Alcoso. 1938
294-297 Dagger from 1938 produced by the firm E.F. Horster. 1941
298-303 Dagger with special production U-9 etched blade. 1938

Navy Daggers of East Germany 1949- 1990. East Germany was established from the area of post World War II Soviet control. East Germany was granted sovereignty in 1954 and ended in 1990 with German unification, The navy daggers produced during this period reflected both German and Soviet design.

306-311 Honor dagger for the East German National People’s Navy. 1961
312-315 Honor dagger for East German Admiral. 1961

Miniature Navy Daggers

318-319 Miniature Daggers used as letter Openers and Decorations. 1910
320-321 Miniature Dagger of the 1901 officer Dagger with Ivory Grip. 1910
322-323 Miniature Dagger with grip of Mother -of –Pearl. 1910

324-327 One-half size Imperial navy dagger. 1912
328-331 Recognition or presentation dagger. 1936

* only example known
Date at end of description is approximate date of production

Appendix

334-335 Diehl Hampe Grading System
336-337 Acknowledgements and Authors
338-339 Naval knots and dagger components.
340-343 Glossary