Original German WWII Army Officers Lion Head Sword by E. Pack & Söhne of Solingen with Scabbard Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a beautiful classic Lionhead German WWII Army Officers sword, made by the well known firm of Ernst Pack & Söhne of Solingen, Germany, complete with its original scabbard. The all brass hilt consists of a finely detailed lion head cat with engraved backstrap and “P” guard. The Lion is fitted with blood red faceted “jewel” eyes. There is nice detail throughout his whiskers, chin, and muzzle. The handwork is beautifully rendered throughout this brass. The backstrap consists of raised Acanthus leaf and other designs, with side tabs bearing flowers with 8 petals. The “P” guard has a lovely raised out oak leaf and acorn motifs, while the ferrule looks to have some type of art deco leaf design.

The crossguard has a closed wing art deco style eagle which looks to the viewer’s left. The breast area of this eagle, as well as the wings, have been hand-enhanced. The hilt has a some the original gilding, but most around the grip has faded to a lovely aged brass patina. The reverse has a small plate where a monogram might be added, however it is blank. The hilt as a whole is tight on the tang.

The scabbard of this example still has good original factory black enamel, it is retained at 80% with some small dents towards the drag on both sides. The rest has some light oxidation in places with crazing and the usual checking due to age. There is some wear near the hanger ring, through to the base steel.

The grip is a very nice black celluloid-over-wood base. It is wrapped with multiple twisted brass wires, which are still fully intact. The celluloid is still tight to the wood, though there is a bit missing towards the bottom, with some cracking.

The 33 3/4 inch blade of this example is in very good condition, with no chips or dents on the unsharpened edge. Unlike many that we see, this has a polished carbon steel blade, without nickel plating. The finish is in excellent shape, with a few areas of light staining, but an overall wonderful finish. The edge is still fully blunt, as originally issued.

The rear ricasso of the blade is etched with the trademark logo of Ernst Pack & Söhne, which is in excellent condition. The mark shows their trademark “Young Siegfried wielding a hammer” Logo, above:

E. PACK & SÖHNE
SOLINGEN

Per J. Anthony Carter’s book GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS, this firm used this trademark on Army Officer swords from the early war period to the middle of the war.  They mostly made daggers so there is not as much information regarding the swords. The company survived the war, until it was sold in the 1960s to another knife company from Solingen, and the maker mark continued to be used into the 1990s. The original leather blade buffer is still present in the cross guard.

Overall an very good condition high quality sword from a well-known German sword maker, based in Solingen, the “City of Blades” in Western Germany.

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.