Original German Early WWII SA Dagger by Rare Maker Wilhelm Weltersbach of Solingen with Scabbard & Hanger – McSARR Rarity Rated 8 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 Wilhelm Weltersbach, Stahlwarenfabrik, located in Solingen, Germany. This is the first example of any type of edged weapon that we have had from this maker. This company was known mainly for making HJ knives, though it did make a limited number of early pattern SA daggers. It is rated 8 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 hand executed The reverse crossguard is faintly on the right side Gruppe/Gau marked Ho, for Hochland (Highlands) a district in the far South German mountains, with the principal city being München (Munich). 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 dents. The grain is lovely on this example, with some great color variation. This grip is in very good condition and fits the crossguards nicely, with no major cracks or chunks missing, and a lovely polished glow. There is just one sharp dent on the reverse and some minor wear near the cross guard keeping it from being “excellent”. The non-magnetic pommel nut does not show any 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 much 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. There is some past light staining, now cleaned away, and also some swirl marks from cleaning. Both sides show runner wear as well, present on just about every dagger out there, however the cross grain is still visible in the light almost to the tip of the blade. The acid-etched Alles für Deutschland (Everything for Germany) SA motto is crisp, with the factory darkening still well retained. The edge has correctly not has any post-manufacture sharpening.

This fine example was produced by very rare maker Wilhelm Weltersbach, Stahlwarenfabrik (steelware factory), of Solingen, the legendary “City of Blades” in Western Germany. The rear of the dagger is marked with the company’s trademark “Double Spouted Village Pump” logo inside an circle, with the maker name and address:

WILH. WELTERSBACH
* (Logo) *
SOLINGEN

According to J. Anthony Carter’s book, GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS, this company was founded in 1882 and registered in Solingen 2 August 1910. It specialized in all types of hunting knives, as well as a large number of folding lock-knives. They were listed in Die Klinge during the NSDAP period as a maker of HJ knives, and only made relatively few early pattern SA daggers with the village pump logo. 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, with no dents on the body we can see. There is however some wear and oxidation present, as shown. The upper and lower fittings are solid nickel silver, with a great look and some dents and scratches showing typical wear. The chape is a bit dented at the end, 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 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. There are no markings on the leather or hardware that we can see.

A great early war SA dagger from a very 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.