WWII German Army Officer's Dagger -
The German Army was made part of the Wehrmacht in May 1935 with the passing of the "Law for the Reconstruction of the National Defence Forces". Between 1935 and 1945 this force grew to consist of hundreds of divisions and thousands of smaller supporting units. Between 1939 and 1945 close to 16 million served in the Army.
Officers were allowed to wear a dress bayonet as part of their uniform. These items were worn promarily at special social events such as parties, parades, weddings, etc. The parade bayonets were beautifully design and were meant to compliment the looks of the uniform rather than be a weapon for fighting.
A lesser quality Army dress bayonet
was also available. The police dress bayonet is featured in this page.
The design of the bayonet was very similar to its combat counterpart, the
K-98 bayonet.
The pommel is the "Dove" head style. It retains the bayonet lugnut release which is not operational. The
handles are made of stag. They are attached via the use of two domed rivets. A less fancy
dress bayonet was also available to members of the Army.
The scabbard is of metal construction and is painted black. This particular example has a leather frog and
portapee.
The blade was chromed and not sharpened. These features were typical of dress bayonets as they were not intended
for combat applications but rather as a symbol of pride.
The back of the leather frog is stamped with the characters OPM 34.
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This page is a recognition and identification guide for German bayonets. Multiple
detailed photos of a specific sample are provided. Descriptions point out specific
points that should be noted.
One of the most commonly asked questions is "How much is my German bayonet worth?".
A price guide is included here to address this question. The value of the Nazi bayonets is
reviewed over a period of several years. A trend can be observed. The present worth
of the police sword in the collector's market is illustrated.
This service is provided free of charge to the visitor/enthusiast courtesy of
MilitaryItems.com,
a company dedicated
to the preservation of military history and to providing quality military antiques and
collectibles to museums, institutions and the general public.
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The portapee consists of a silver ball attached to a heavy duty ribbon. The ball is tightly woven.
The bayonet was made by WKC. This was a well known company that manufactured a large variety of high
quality edge weapons throughout the war.
The small knight armor profile was one of the logos the company employed.
The leather frog is of heavy duty construction. high grade cotton thread and rivets are used to kep it all
together.
The pommel has the rifle lug nut groove. However, these bayonets were not meant to be attached to a rifle.
The scabbard was capped with a finnial. Often times this part was stamped with waffen marks which consisted of
small eagles made of straight lines.
Many German edge weapons are currently
reproduced.
It is becoming more difficult to be able to tell the fake ones from the real ones because
the quality of the reproductions is improving. The collector must become familiarized with
the construction style and materials employed in the manufacturing of this item.
Attention to the details is critical in order to be able to determine the authenticity of
the collectible.
If you have an interest is seeing other edge weapons of the Third Reich, you can do so by going
to our
WWII German daggers and Swords
identification guide, Where we cover blades from the Heer (Army), Navy (Kriegsmarine), Air Force
(Luftwaffe) and other organizations.
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