Original German Early WWII SA Dagger by Lauterjung & Sohn PUMA-Werk of Solingen with Scabbard Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a great example of an early pattern SA Dagger, made by the by the well known firm of Lauterjung & Sohn PUMA-Werk of Solingen, the legendary “City of Blades” in western Germany. This company had made SA daggers since the Röhm era, and continued to produce early pattern knives after that period. It comes comes compete with an original scabbard, which is the correct early war pattern.

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 lightly aged patina. There is some age to these mounts but there is no lifting anywhere, showing that they are solid and not plated. They show only light wear with almost no denting or scratches. The lower reverse guard is Gruppe/Gau marked Wm, for Westmark, which encompassed the area around Saarbrücken, in the extreme West of Germany. This feature was only seen on daggers produced 1935 and prior.

The grip is a fine product having a lovely red mahogany color, with medium center ridge construction, with just a bit of wear and a few small dents. The grain is lovely on this example, with some very interesting patterns. This grip is in very good condition and fits the crossguards nicely, with no cracks or chunks missing, and a lovely polished glow. The pommel nut shows no turning, however there is a bit of wobble in the handle.

The SA symbol button is still nicely set, and still has all of the translucent enamel intact, with the nickel plating intact. The grip eagle is a fine example being the style with beak that points straight. It has just a bit of verdigris on it, showing that it is solid nickel alloy, and it has patinated nicely. The details are still there to the eagle to include the beak, breast feathering, wing feathering, talons, wreath and mobile swas (hook cross).

On the rear of the blade, there is a clear puma’s head in a diamond above PUMA over SOLINGEN, the trademark logo of Lauterjung & Sohn, Puma-Stahlwarenfabrik / Puma – Werk of Solingen, Germany, the legendary “City of Blades”. This is a known producer of SS, SA, and NSKK daggers during the Pre-WWII period and after. This company was originally founded on a small scale in 1796, Nathanael Lauterjung officially opened a cutlery and knife making workshop in Solingen during 1855. After his death, the name was changed and registered as “Puma-Werk”, to avoid confusion with the other Lauterjung-owned workshops in Solingen. For more information, please see J. Anthony Carter’s work GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS.

The blade is in excellent condition, with a wonderful bright steel finish. It still shows almost all of the original factory final polish cross grain on both sides, and just a few small areas of staining. There is no sign of sharpening on the blade edge, though there definitely is some runner wear, as with most German daggers. The acid-etched Alles für Deutschland (Everything for Germany) SA motto is crisp, with the factory darkening retained almost completely.

The scabbard shell is straight throughout and is the early-war style, which has a brown “anodized” finish on the steel, which was then lacquered. It still retains some of the original finish, though the lacquer is only present hear the fittings, which has allowed the brown finish to fade. It has not oxidized however, and still looks great. The upper and lower fittings are solid nickel silver, with a great look and just some light wear. The chape is lightly dented at the end, though not split, as the nickel alloy is somewhat soft, a common thing to see. The throat nicely matches the crossguards, and all fittings have their original dome headed screws, which do not show any signs of turning.

A great early war SA dagger from a very desirable Solingen maker, complete with a very good original scabbard. Ready to display!

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

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.