Original German WWII Aluminum Fitted Luftwaffe Officer Sword by Rare Maker F. & A. Helbig Original Items

Original Items: Only One Available. This is an excellent example of a German WWII Luftwaffe Officer’s Sword from a rare maker with great aluminum fittings. This is mid-war produced example as early war examples were silver-frosted nickel alloy, however as the war continued they moved to the “air-age” aluminum material.

The reverse ricasso of this great sword is maker marked with a lightly etched oval trademark logo reading:

F. & A. HELBIG
* Gaesler *
STEINBACH (Kr. M.)

F. & A. Helbig, Messerfabrik in Steinbach Kreis Meiningen, was organized by Frieda & Alfred Helbig, succeeding F. & W. Helbig shortly after 1928. They prospered manufacturing daggers during the Third Reich era. They made daggers for the DLV, and made some crackle-finished Aluminum NSFK Glider Pilot’s Knives. They also made many swords and daggers for the Luftwaffe, They used several trademark logos, and the lightly etched version without borders was the one usually seen on the Luftwaffe Swords. For more information please see GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS by J. Anthony Carter.  There is also a Luftwaffe Weimar eagle inspection stamp next to the maker mark.

The 26 1/2″ blade is bright steel, and looks great, though the factory cross grain is faint in areas. It does look to have been polished, removing some surface staining, which has made the trademark somewhat faint. There are no chips or nicks in the edge on the blade, and it was never sharpened, correct for a dress bayonet. Truly an very nice example of WWII production blade from a rare Solingen maker.

The fittings of this sword are bright aluminum, and show light wear and some scratching, especially around the edges. The pommel still has good, mostly crisp edges and the oak leaves on the sides are in excellent condition. The “broken sun cross” swass on the pommel and cross guard also retain almost all of their original gilding, and look great. The cross guard arms are the downward sloping type being in three tiers and carved with lines to simulate feathering. These quillon arms still have good, crisp edges, though there is somewhere. The pommel has no movement, so it may have been soldered or glued in place at some point.

The grip is a fine blue Moroccan leather covered carved wood base. This leather is in good condition throughout and still has its original graining in the surfaces, with some areas that have wear through the leather. The grip is wrapped with double strands of silver coiled wire, which is in excellent condition.

The leather-covered metal scabbard of this example is straight throughout. The leather covering is very good, with some tears and small areas of missing leather. The scabbard is equipped with upper and lower matching bright aluminum mounts. These mounts are in fine condition and are retained by headless, flush mount screws which are all in place. The original matching leather crescent hanger is also in place with no signs of rot, just a bit of finish wear. This crescent hanger is equipped with a closed matching nickel box clip.

An excellent Luftwaffe Officer’s sword by a rare maker, that has passed the test of time with flying colors. Ready to display!

Specifications:

Blade Length: 33 1/4″
Blade Style: Single Edge w/ Fuller
Overall length: 38 1/4“
Guard dimensions: 5″ width x 5” length
Scabbard length: 34”