Original German WWII Etched Short 98k Dress Bayonet by F. W. Höller with Frog and NCO Troddle Knot Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. The K-98 dress bayonet was a dress version of the combat style, and was worn by enlisted and NCO personnel for dress and parade occasions. The bayonets were finished with a high-quality nickel plating, with stag or bakelite grip plates and black painted scabbard. The choice of blade length was left to the purchaser, being nickel-plated short or long version. There was usually a red or green colored felt insert in the rifle slot and the bayonet was suspended from a black or brown leather frog. Some had a functional bayonet latch, while it was ornamental on some. Often they would also have a sword knot, or troddle, and the color would indicate the branch or rank.

This very nice example is in good condition, and has a very nice custom etched blade. It has has a nice alloy hilt, with most of the Nickel Plating intact, though there is overall speckling and oxidation, as shown. The mortise button and blade release are fully functional, but the insert is missing. The grip plates are both lovely checkered black bakelite, and both are in great condition. They are retained by nickel-plated steel rivets which have dressed heads on the obverse, with minimal oxidation.

The blade on this example is nickel-plated, as were all dress bayonets. It does have slight wear to the plating and oxidation, with some runner wear and light scratching. It has not been sharpened, and still retains its blunt factory edge.

The panel itself has lovely Oak Leaf and Acorn designs, with Wehrmacht Heer eagles at each end. In the center of the panel is a lovely German black letter type face inscription:

Fur Erinnerung
an meine Dienstzeit 

This translates to “For a reminder of my service.” This is a common phrase to see on personalized items such as this. The reverse of the blade has additional etching, which shows a personnel carrier towing an artillery piece. This may indicate that the owner was in a light or field artillery regiment. The original leather blade buffer is in place, and is in very nice condition. 

The reverse ricasso is maker marked 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. 

The scabbard is straight throughout and still has over 85% of the original black paint. This really is a great scabbard, with very little age related degradation. Most of the issues seem to come from wear. The body is held by the included brown leather frog, which is in good used condition, though the finish has some cracking and flaking. The leather is soft, and the stitching intact.

Wrapped about the frog is a very nice Non-Commissioned Officer’s Troddel knot. This troddel is of leather strapping with a bullion end ball. This is silver bullion with a green top, and is in great shape, with a green insert into the bottom. It is in good condition, but there is some fraying, and the slider is missing.

An great example of an Etched German 98k dress bayonet by a well-known maker, complete with frog and troddle knot, ready to display!