Original German Early WWII SA Dagger by Gustav Voss of Solingen with Broken Vertical Hanger Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is an excellent early pattern SA Dagger,  made by the small firm of Gustav Voss, Messerfabrik, based in Solingen, Germany. It comes comes compete with an original scabbard, which is in great shape. The dagger has solid nickel silver fittings throughout, and is a nice example. The crossguards and tang nut are in very good condition throughout with all fittings having a nice aged patina. There is a little age to these mounts but there is no lifting anywhere, showing that they are solid and not plated.

The lower reverse guard is Gruppe/Gau marked P, for Pommern (Pomerania), a district in the far north of Germany, along the Baltic Sea Coast near Stettin.

The grip is a fine product having a nice red brown color, with having medium center ridge construction, with just a bit of wear and a few small dents. This grip is in good condition and fits the crossguards nicely, without any cracking. The symbol button is still nicely set, and still has all of the enamel intact.  The grip eagle is a fine example being the style with beak that points straight. The details are still there to the eagle to include the beak, breast feathering, wing feathering, talons, wreath and mobile swas. The nickel plating on both insignia is fully intact, with just a bit of oxidation.

The scabbard shell is straight throughout and is the early-war style, with a brown “anodized” finish on the steel, which was then lacquered. Most of this is still intact, making this one of the nicest early war scabbards we have seen. The upper and lower fittings are solid nickel silver, and have a nice patina, with some dents and scratches showing typical wear. The bottom fitting is dented in a bit, typical of the softer alloy. The throat nicely matches the crossguards, and the bottom fitting has original screws, but they are somewhat chewed up.

Wrapped around the top of the scabbard is a rare brown leather vertical hanger. It has two loops, and a strap on the back. The attachment clip on the end however has unfortunately been lost, as the leather loop holding it broke. Also, to install this hanger, the throat screws and hanger loop were removed. 

This fine example was produced by Gustav Voss, Messerfabrik, a known producer of this knife during WWII. The rear of the dagger is marked:

GUSTAV VOSS
(FOX HEAD LOGO)
SOLINGEN

Gustav Voss began operations in 1901, as a maker of Bags and Pocket knives, but by 1929 they had moved entirely to knife production. Their trademark logo is a highly stylized geometric fox’s head with eyes, which looks almost like a triangular tool. The company mostly made pocket knives during WWII, but also made early SA and NSKK daggers, per J. Anthony Carter’s GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS. 

The blade is very good condition, with the usual runner marks as well as light oxidation in places. The dagger blade has been cleaned and polished numerous times, so the factory cross grain is very faint. The acid-etched Alles für Deutschland (Everything for Germany) SA motto is a bit worn, and most of the factory darkening is unfortunately worn away.

A nice early war SA dagger, with a great original scabbard and damaged hanger. Ready to display!

History of the SA-

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.