Original German WWII Army Officer Dove Head Sword by F. W. Höller with Monogram on Hilt & Steel Scabbard Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This Army Dove Head Sword is a very nice example, made by the firm F. W. Höller of Solingen, the legendary “City of Blades” in Western Germany. It comes complete with the correct steel scabbard, and unlike most, looks to have an un-plated steel blade. Either that, or it became lightly oxidized and was heavily cleaned, removing the plating. Right now it has a lovely bright steel finish, showing traces of past peppering and a surface texture from the polishing.

The hilt on this example is made from later war brass plated aluminum, which was then gilt, and this finish is actually very well retained. Much of the original gilding is present, and the brass plating is only worn away on the edges, giving the hilt a great broken in look. The overall design is a bit of a departure from the other examples we have seen, which mostly take after the “Field Marshall” series of Carl Eickhorn. The dove head and backstrap are embossed with the classic German oak leaves and acorns motif, which extends onto the side tabs. The “flat” P guard has the same motif, as does the brass ferrule. There are lots of hand enhancing visible, especially on the cross guard area.

The chappe/langet features a raised out “closed wing” National eagle, which shows excellent detail to his beak, eye, breast feathering, wing feathering, talons and mobile clutched swas (hook cross). The other chappe is marked with an overlapping W D monogram, which should be the initials of the officer who owned it. This was done post manufacture, so the aluminum base material is exposed.

The grip of this example is a black celluloid over a carved wood base. The celluloid is still in very good condition, with no chipping or cracking that we can see, and it is still tight on the blade tang. The grip is wrapped with three pairs of twisted brass wire, with the center pair being larger, and the wrapping is fully intact, showing a bit of oxidation from age and use. The grip and guard are still solid on the blade tang, while the back strap and ferrule have some play in them.

The blade is 32 3/4 inches long, and is still correctly unsharpened, with no dents or other issues on the edge. As mentioned before, it now shows a polished bright steel finish, with a bit of a “matte” finish from polishing with steel wool or something similar. It looks like a blade that has been cleaned repeatedly over the years. The original leather blade buffer is still present, showing some wear from age.

The reverse ricasso is faintly maker stamped with a “losenge” style trademark logo that reads F. W. HÖLLER / SOLINGEN, surrounding the trademark Höller “Thermometer” emblem. This is a well-known maker from Solingen, the famous “City of Blades” in Western Germany, which produced many fine edged weapons. F.W. Höller, Waffenfabrik (Weapons Factory), located in Solingen, the legendary “City of Blades” in western Germany. During the WWII Period they manufactured many SA and NSKK daggers, both with their “thermometer” trademark and later with the RZM code M7/33. They also produced numerous 98K bayonets and other edged weapons. The firm was founded in 1866, and registered in Solingen in 1883. By 1900 ownership had passed to Emil Höller, and it continued manufacture after WWII, finally closing in 1974. For more information please see J. Anthony Carter’s fine work GERMAN SWORD AND KNIFE MAKERS.

The black enamel finish of this scabbard is still in good shape, though it definitely does show some wear and oxidation from age. There is checking and crazing throughout, only possible due to years of age. There is a VERY slight bend to the scabbard body, and there are a few areas where the finish has chipped and worn away near the hanger ring. The finish is probably retained at about 85% overall. The scabbard still retains the original hanger ring and flat loop to hook on the belt hanger.

Overall a very good example of a German Army Officer Dove Head sword by a desirable maker, complete with scabbard. Ready to display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 32 3/4″
Blade Style: Single Edge w/ Fuller
Overall length: 37 7/8“
Guard dimensions: 5″ width x 5” length
Scabbard length: 33 3/4”

The German Army (German: Heer, was the land forces component of the Wehrmacht, the German armed forces, from 1935 to 1945. The Wehrmacht also included the Kriegsmarine (Navy) and the Luftwaffe (Air Force). During World War II, a total of about 15 million soldiers served in the German Army, of whom about seven million became casualties. Separate from the army, the Waffen-SS (Armed SS) was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. Growing from three regiments to over 38 divisions during World War II, it served alongside the army but was never formally part of it.

Only 17 months after AH announced publicly the rearmament program, the Army reached its projected goal of 36 divisions. During the autumn of 1937, two more corps were formed. In 1938, four additional corps were formed with the inclusion of the five divisions of the Austrian Army after the Anschluss in March. During the period of its expansion by Adolf AH, the German Army continued to develop concepts pioneered during World War I, combining ground (Heer) and air (Luftwaffe) assets into combined arms teams. Coupled with operational and tactical methods such as encirclements and the “battle of annihilation”, the German military managed quick victories in the two initial years of World War II, prompting the use of the word Blitzkrieg (literally lightning war, meaning lightning-fast war) for the techniques used.

The German Army entered the war with a majority of its infantry formations relying on the horse for transportation. The infantry remained foot soldiers throughout the war; artillery also remained primarily horse-drawn. The motorized formations received much attention in the world press in the opening years of the war, and were cited as the main reason for the success of the German invasions of Poland (September 1939), Norway and Denmark (April 1940), Belgium, France and Netherlands (May 1940), Yugoslavia (April 1941) and the early campaigns in the Soviet Union (June 1941). However their motorized and tank formations accounted for only 20% of the Heer’s capacity at their peak strength.