Original German Early WWII SA Dagger by Carl Eickhorn with Factory Personalized Blade Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is an excellent early pattern SA Dagger,  made by the legendary firm Carl Eickhorn, 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 grip is a fine product having a nice 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 light scratches showing typical wear. The throat nicely matches the crossguards and all four dome headed screws are still present.

The blade is in excellent condition, with full factory cross-grain front and back, with minimal runner wear. The edge is unsharpened and the tip is perfect. The acid etched Alles für Deutschland  (Everything for Germany) motto is beautifully executed, with full darkening present.

The reverse ricasso is etched with a 1933-35 Eickhorn trademark logo: a double oval surrounding a seated squirrel with a smoothly rounded tail over C.E., with CARL EICKHORN / SOLINGEN surrounding the squirrel trademark.  J. Anthony Carter’s book GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS, this firm used this specific “round tail” trademark on early SA and NSKK daggers, as well as Himmler signed SS daggers.

The best part of this dagger by far however is the etched personalized engraving on the back of the blade. We cannot tell if it was purchased and then returned to the factory with this, or ordered that way, but the back of the dagger has full factory polish grain, and the etching has full darkening, so it is not possible to tell. The etching, as far as we can tell, reads:

In herzlicher Kameradschaft
Karl Silverzne

This would roughly translate to “In warm companionship, Karl Silverzne”. We are not entirely sure about the last name, and we have not been able to find any information on this person, making this an excellent research opportunity.

This etching is very similar to the inscription used by Ernst Röhm before he was killed, and it is possible that this dagger is in fact an early Röhm-marked dagger, that was returned to the factory, in this case to add a new edged design. There are some darkened marks on the spine that may be the remnants of this.

An incredible early war issue SA dagger by a legendary maker, with a personalized blade! Ready to research and 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.