Original Item: Only One Available. This is a beautiful classic Lionhead German WWII Army Officers sword, made by the well known firm of Robert Klaas, Feine Solinger Stahlwaren, of Solingen, Germany, complete with its original scabbard. This is the first example of an Army Officer sword we have had from this maker, and it seems to be that they did not make a large number.

The early pattern all brass alloy hilt consists of a finely detailed lion head cat with engraved backstrap and "P" guard. The Lion is fitted with lovely blood red faceted "jewel" eyes, both of which are in fantastic condition. There is nice detail throughout his whiskers, chin, and muzzle. The handwork is beautifully rendered throughout the hilt. The backstrap and side tabs bear the iconic German "Oak Leaves & Acorns" motif, which is repeated on the outside of the guard and grip ferrule. The cross guard has a lovely Art-Deco style open winged Reichsadler eagle that looks to the viewer's left. The breast area of this eagle, as well as the wings, have been hand-enhanced. The reverse has a small oval plate where a monogram is sometimes added, though this example is blank. The hilt has lost much of the original gilt finish, now displaying a lovely aged "mustard" patina.

The grip is a very nice black celluloid-over-wood base. It is wrapped with a skein of 4 wires that look to be aluminum, the center of which is twisted. The wrapping is still tight on the grip, and the celluloid is still tight to the wood, and is quite shiny, without any chipping. The hilt grip and back strap are still tight to the blade, while the guard has a bit of wobble, even with the leather blade buffer still installed.

The 33 inch blade of this example is in very good condition, and unlike most we see, this was made in bright steel, without any nickel plating. It has a matte appearance now, but we do not know if this is the original finish, or from polishing over the years to remove surface staining. The edge is still fully blunt, as originally issued, with no sharpening and just a bit of edge damage. Really a very nice bright steel blade!

This lovely early example was produced by the desirable firm of Robert Klaas, Feine Solinger Stahlwaren (Fine Solingen Steelware), based in the Ohligs borough of Solingen, Germany, the Legendary "City of Blades." It was and still is the blade-making capital of Germany, with a centuries long history of edged weapon manufacture. Their well-known trademark "Facing Storks" emblem was first registered in 1893, and the rear ricasso of the blade bears the companies address marking:

ROBERT KLAAS
+ (Kissing Storks) +
SOLINGEN

The firm was originally founded in 1834 by Peter Daniels Pauls, whose daughter married scissor maker Friedrich Robert Klaas. 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. Later daggers would only have the SS contract information.

The scabbard of this example is still mostly straight, with no major dents of bends that we can see. It also still has very good original factory black enamel, which is retained at over 95%! It looks like it may have had a period repaint, but that now has become checked and crazed, showing that it is very old. There is some chipping and missing paint, but no major damage.

Overall a very good condition high quality sword from a well-known German sword maker, based in Solingen, the "City of Blades" in Western Germany. Ready to display!

Specifications:
Overall length: 38 1/4”
Blade length: 33"
Blade Style: Single Edged with Fuller
Guard dimensions: 5" width x 4 1/2” 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.