Original German WWII Army Officer Dove Head Sword with Scabbard by Max Weyersberg – WMW Waffen Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This Army Dove Head Sword is a very nice example, made by the firm Max Weyersberg of Solingen, the legendary “City of Blades” in Western Germany. It features a very nice nickel plated blade, and comes complete with the correct steel scabbard.

The design of the hilt on this example 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, and onto the ferrule, which in this case is integral to the cross guard. There are lots of hand enhancing visible, and it is possible that the entire designs were done by hand, and not cast.

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). It has a bit of a “gothic shield” profile that matches the chappe, with the shoulders being the widest part of the eagle. The other chappe is blank and would often be used for the officer to add a monogram, however this example is still unmarked. It has the same “gothic shield” profile, narrower in the middle. We’ve definitely never seen this kind of crossguard on an Army Officer sword before, and it has a lovely mustard patina on the brass overall.

The grip of this example is a black celluloid over a carved wood base. The celluloid is still in very good condition, with some bubbling and deterioration on the left hand side. There is also a small sliver missing at the very bottom. The grip is wrapped with 2 pairs of twisted aluminum wire, which are both the same size, and fully intact. There is some dirt and oxidation around the wires, which looks to be from various cleaning agents and polishes used over the years. We cannot feel any play or movement of the hilt on the tang, a definitely rarity.

The nickel plated blade is 32 1/4 inches long, made of high quality spring steel. The plating is still in very good condition, with some areas of scuffing and light oxidation. The edge has some dents and nicks in it, consistent with being used to hit another blade, which most likely happened in the post war period after capture. The blade otherwise still has the original factory blunt edge, as is correctly. The original leather blade buffer is no longer present, most likely having deteriorated due to age.

The reverse ricasso is stamped WMW Waffen trademark logo, which is unfortunately covered by the chappe/rainguard:

WMW
WAFFEN

Max Weyersberg, Waffenfabrik (Weapons Factory), was founded by a member of the larger Weyersberg family of blade makers. The company was located at Katternbergerstrasse 176 in Solingen Germany, the legendary “City of Blades” in Western Germany. Per J. Anthony Carter’s fine work GERMAN SWORD AND KNIFE MAKERS, this company was founded in 1920, and registered with authorities in 1933 as a maker of cutlery, hunting/sporting knives, and edged weapons. WMW WAFFEN was their main trade name, and was originally pierced with a sword. However later in the period the WMW / WAFFEN marking with the enlarged “M” was used.

The black paint of this scabbard is still in good shape, though it definitely does show wear and oxidation from age. There is some scuffing and flaking, especially on the inner side of the scabbard, which has now oxidized. The scabbard is straight and dent free, and still retains the original hanger ring and loop to hook on the belt hanger.

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

Specifications:

Blade Length: 32 1/4″
Blade Style: Single Edge w/ Fuller
Overall length: 37 1/4“
Guard dimensions: 5″ width x 5” length
Scabbard length: 34 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.