Original German Early WWII SA Dagger by Rare Maker F. Eduard Ohliger of Solingen with Scabbard & Hanger – McSARR Rarity Rated 9 of 10 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is an very good condition early pattern SA Dagger, made by the exceedingly rare firm of F. Eduard Ohliger, Messerfabrik, located in Solingen, Germany. This company is known for making early pattern SA daggers, but only made them in limited numbers. It is rated 9 out of 10 for rarity on the McSARR (McAlvanah SA Rarity Rating) scale, assembled based on 18,000 daggers as seen by Mike McAlvanah. Makers of this rarity are extremely desirable and sought after by collectors. It comes comes complete with an original scabbard, which is in very good shape, with an attached hanger and belt loop.

The dagger has solid nickel silver fittings throughout, and is a very 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 just a bit of light denting and scratching. The lower reverse guard is Gruppe/Gau marked Nrh, for Niederrhein (Lower Rhine Region), which encompassed a relatively small border area north of Cologne along the Rhine. This feature was only seen on daggers produced 1935 and prior.

The grip is a fine product having a lovely mahogany red color, with medium center ridge construction, with some light wear and a few small dents. The grain is lovely on this example, with some great color variation. This grip is in excellent condition and fits the crossguards nicely, with no cracks or chunks missing, and a lovely polished glow. The pommel nut does show some light turning on the outside, and the grip is still tightly secured, with no wiggle.

The SA symbol button is still nicely set, and still has most of the translucent enamel intact, with the nickel plating showing some oxidation. 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).

The blade is in very good condition, still showing some of the original factory final grind cross grain on both sides. This texture is iconic, and is the definitive identifying characteristic for a real WWII German Blade. Unfortunately much of it has been removed by cleaning and polishing of the blade, so it is only visible near the ricasso or in reflection. The acid-etched Alles für Deutschland (Everything for Germany) SA motto is crisp, with the factory darkening still very well retained.

This fine example was produced by very rare maker F. Eduard Ohliger, Messerfabrik (Knife factory) of Solingen, the legendary “City of Blades” in Western Germany. The rear of the dagger is marked with the company’s trademark “hand holding a flashlight” logo inside an circle, with the maker name and address:

F. ED. OHLIGER
• (Logo) •
SOLINGEN

According to J. Anthony Carter’s book, GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS, this company operated from 1900 into the 1930s under the ownership of Frz. Eduard Ohliger Jr. and Carl Ohliger. They were two of many members of the family in operation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Only a few early SA daggers were made or finished during the Third Reich period, with the round trademark seen on this example. The company closed during the 1930s, making any Third Reich items extremely rare. This is the first edged weapon of any kind that we have had by this maker.

The scabbard shell is straight throughout and is the early-war style, which were produced with a brown “anodized” finish on the steel, which was then lacquered. This example has lost almost all of the lacquer finish, with traces left near the fittings. However it still retains much of the original anodized finish, and this is definitely one of the better examples we have seen, with no dents on the body we can see. The upper and lower fittings are solid nickel silver, with a great look and some dents and scratches showing typical wear. The chape is dented at the end, though not split (the black lines are brazing seams), as the nickel alloy is somewhat soft, making this a common thing to see. The throat nicely matches the crossguards, and all fittings have their original dome headed screws.

Attached to the hanger ring on the scabbard is a very nice early pattern leather belt hanger, which has the correct solid nickel alloy hardware. The leather shows light wear to the finish, with a bit of dry rot to the surface, but the spring clip is fully functional. The clip itself is marked with a “barred A” followed by D.R.G.M. (Deutsches Reiches Gebrauchs Musterschutz) – meaning it is a protected patented design under the Reich Government. This design was registered to the owner of the “Barred A” trademark, F. W. Assmann & Söhne of Lüdenscheid, a large maker of belts, buttons, and other accoutrements. Attached to the hanger is a sturdy later pattern belt loop with a plated steel D-Ring. Usually these would be attached with the clip attached to the D ring, but some preferred to use it this way.

A great early war SA dagger from an exceedingly rare maker, complete with a great original scabbard and hanger. 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.