Original German WWII Early 1st Model Luftwaffe Dagger by Robert Klaas with Scabbard, Belt Hanger Chain & Portepee Original Items

Original Item: One of a Kind. This is a great 1st Model Luftwaffe Dagger made in in the late 1930s, made by the rare firm of Robert Klaas, Feine Solinger Stahlwaren (Fine Solingen Steelware). The grip looks to be made of nickel or zinc alloy, which still has a good amount of the plating. The pommel has nice “Sunwheel” style swas (hook cross) emblems, though the plating and gold wash have worn away.

The grip is a carved wood base covered in blue Moroccan leather, which shows moderate wear, with a few areas of finish loss and one where the underlying wood is visible. The original quadruple wire wrapping, with the center pair twisted, is still fully intact, with a lovely lightly oxidized patina. The guard is the standard down swept “wing” type, with good detailing remaining, and with more “sunwheel” swas’s, with one still having an intact gold wash. Tied around this is an original portepee, which is in good condition, with some wear and fraying as shown.

The blade of this piece is carbon steel, and is not nickel plated, unlike the majority of these that we see. It shows the typical finely striated surface “crossgrain” from the factory final polish, a hallmark of original WWII production German daggers. There are some areas of staining and light oxidation, as well as runner wear, giving it a lovely “lightly used look”, with almost all of the original crossgrain intact.

The reverse ricasso is maker marked with a trademark logo that reads ROB’T KLAAS under the trademark Klaas “Kissing Storks” trademark emblem. This is a well-known maker from Solingen, the famous “City of Blades” in Western Germany, which produced many fine edged weapons. The company was originally founded by Friedrich Robert Klaas, who married the daughter of knife maker Peter Daniel Pauls. After his father-in-law passed away, all was left to Klaas and his wife, so he merged his scissor business with the knife business, and registered with Solingen authorities in 1869. The company passed to his sons, and then his son-in-law. It survived WWI, WWII, and still exists today, per J. Anthony Carter’s fine work GERMAN SWORD AND KNIFE MAKERS. The blue leather blade buffer is present and in very good condition.

The scabbard shell is straight throughout with no dents. The Moroccan leather covering the scabbard nicely matches the grip and is in very good condition, with no lifting or major tears, just pressure denting. This scabbard has steel mount brackets, though the bottom and top mounts are missing almost all of their plating, and are now bright steel. Only the center fitting still has the original finish. These mounts are retained by headless flush mounted side screws.

The attached aluminum chain has six ringlets making up the upper chain and ten on the lower, not counting the rings attached to the scabbard fittings. These two chains are attached to an aluminum snap clip, which is marked on the back with the OLC in a diamond trademark of Overhoff & Cie. of Lüdenscheid, who produced numerous clothing accessories. It is also marked GES. / GESCHÜTZT, for Gesetzlich Geschützt (Protected By Law), indicating that the clip was a trademarked design.

An great example of the classic 1st model Luftwaffe dagger, by a rare Solingen maker. Complete with portepee and ready to display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 12 1/8″
Overall length: 17 3/4″
Crossguard: 4 1/4”
Scabbard Length: 13 1/2”