Original Item: Only One Available. This is an interesting service used condition early pattern SA Dagger, made by the rare maker Artur Schüttelhöfer & Co., Stahlwarenfabrik (Steelware factory) of Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in Western Germany. This is a very rare maker, and we have only had a few items by them that were not RZM marked. It comes complete with an original scabbard, which looks to be a transitional pattern, with an attached early war pattern hanger.

The dagger has solid nickel silver fittings throughout, and is a very nice example with a lovely "been there" look. The crossguards and tang nut are in very good condition throughout with all fittings having a nice aged oxidized patina. There is just a definitely some age to these mounts but there is no lifting anywhere, showing that they are solid and not plated. They show only light wear with just a bit of light denting and scratching, and do not look to have been cleaned over the years, so the accent grooves are still strong. The lower reverse guard is Gruppe/Gau marked Om for Ostmark (East March), on the far East side of Germany, centered around the city of Posen, today Poznań in Poland. This feature was only seen on daggers produced 1935 and prior.

The grip is a fine product having a lovely mahogany color, with medium center ridge construction, showing some small pressure dents. It has however suffered from damage, with a large chunk missing on the rear near the crossguard, and some cracking and a smaller chip on the front near the pommel guard. The pommel nut shows just a bit of turning on the hexagonal area, and the grip is still tightly secured, with no wiggle. The SA symbol button is nicely set, with the dark enamel is fully intact, and the plating fully retained. The grip eagle is a fine example being the style with beak that points straight. It has just a bit of verdigris on it, showing that it is solid nickel alloy, and it has patinated nicely. The details are still there to the eagle to include the beak, breast feathering, wing feathering, talons, wreath and mobile swas (hook cross).

The blade is in good condition, still partly bright, but showing oxidation towards the middle of the blade and elsewhere. It looks like it had some type of protectant applied, but it dried out, and made things worse in some areas. There is some scattered rusting as well, and the tip does show a bend, which probably happened due to damage to the scabbard (discussed later). In spite of this, we can still see a good amount of the factory final polish grind cross grain near the crossguard. This texture is iconic, and is the definitive identifying characteristic for a real WWII German Blade. We have left the blade as is to preserve the grain, which might be removed by cleaning. The acid-etched Alles für Deutschland (Everything for Germany) SA motto is crisp, and the factory darkening retained at about 75%.

The reverse of the blade is clearly marked with the "Two Hobby Horses in Saltire" trademark of Artur Schüttelhöfer & Co., surrounded by their trade name and location:

ASSO
(Trademark)
SOLINGEN

Artur Schüttelhöfer & Co. Stahlwarenfabrik (Steelware factory) was based in the Wald neighborhood of Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in Western Germany. This company was founded in 1920, and assembled and finished daggers for political organizations and officers during the Third Reich period, per J. Anthony Carter's excellent book GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS. They manufactured SA, NSKK, and SS daggers, among other items. Most that we have seen have been later RZM marked examples, making this the first early pattern example that we have seen, and it's a great one!

The scabbard is definitely a very interesting example, and the shell shows a bend and a dent near the bottom, probably from a long drop to the ground. The scabbard body is painted burgundy red, and does not appear to have been repainted during the war. We can see some checking and crazing in the finish, which takes a long time to occur, as well as some oxidation near the fittings. If it was repainted, it must have been done at the factory, so we assume it is some type of transitional piece. The upper and lower fittings are solid nickel silver, with a great lightly used look, though the chape fitting is dented in and split, looking like it was almost bent over in the past. The nickel alloy is somewhat soft so dents are common, but not usually to this extent. The throat nicely matches the crossguards, and all fittings have their original dome headed screws, which show some damage from turning on the chape.

Attached to the hanger ring on the scabbard is a very nice early pattern belt hanger, with solid nickel hardware and brown finished leather. The leather is in fair condition, showing a wear and cracking to the finish, along with some dry rot and partial tears. The nickel spring clip itself is marked with a "barred A" followed by D.R.G.M. (Deutsches Reiches Gebrauchs Musterschutz) - meaning it is a protected patented design under the Reich Government. This design was registered to the owner of the "Barred A" trademark, F. W. Assmann & Söhne of Lüdenscheid, a large maker of belts, buttons, and other accoutrements.

An very interesting service used early war SA dagger from a very rare and desirable Solingen maker, complete with an original scabbard and hanger. Ready to research and display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 8 3/4"
Overall length: 13 3/4”
Crossguard: 3”
Scabbard Length: 10”

History of the SA-

The SA or Brown Shirts, were a private political formation which Adolf AH and the NSDAP used to maintain order at organized Party meetings and demonstrations. The group was formed in 1921, and grew to a huge force of nearly 3,000,000 men by the later 1930's. To instill esprit de corps, as well as create employment for the Blade City of Solingen, it was decided each SA man would carry a dagger with his Brown Shirt uniform. Huge quantities needed to be produced to accommodate the demand. The dagger initially was produced of hand-fitted nickel mounts with attractive finished wood grip and brown anodized (a bluing process) finished scabbard.

The blade was etched with the SA motto, Alles für Deutschland. Examples produced prior to 1935 were stamped with the German sector of the SA group on reverse lower crossguard. Later examples underwent standardization through the RZM ministry. These pieces were produced of cheaper plated zinc-base fittings and scabbards were simply painted brown.

Prior to his "unmasking" as a traitor, Ernst Röhm was the leader of the SA. In 1934, he distributed approximately 100,000 SA daggers with his personal inscription on the reverse blade. These daggers were to honor individuals who had served with the SA prior to December, 1931. Other than the inscription, these pieces were identical to the standard M1933 SA dagger. After the Röhm purge, the inscription was ordered to be removed. Many examples were returned to the factory for grinding. Others were simply ground in the field by whatever means were available. Examples will occasionally be encountered with remnants of the original inscription remaining on the blade, but mostly none will remain. Some blades exist with an intact inscription, reflecting only the removal of the Röhm signature. Very very rarely is an example seen with a full, untouched inscription, as the holder would have surely risked a charge of treason.