WWII German Army Dress Bayonet -
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.
The design of the bayonet consists of a dove head type pommel. A single spring loaded lug nut release is placed to the
side. All chromed components. The handles are made of plastic in a tightly woven checkered pattern. Hel togerther
by two silver, domed rivets. The cross guard has one side pointed up, rounded shape. The other side has a semi-circle
cutout, originally designed to permit the rifle barrel to pass through.
The scabbard is of metal construction. Painted black. A metal section protrudes from the neck area. This
device secures the frog to the bayonet. The scabbard is finished off with a finial.
A brown leather frog is present. Remnants of a portapee are still attached to the frog.
The blade is chromed and not sharpened. Of double edge design. A blood groove spans most of the length of the
blade.
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 bayonet was manufactured by the Carl Eickhorn company of Solingen. This company was very prolific in the edge weapons cirle during the Third Reich. Their quality was well renown among all companies.
The company logo is placed at the base of the blade. It consists of a squarrel in the center of an oval. The words carl Eickhorn and Solingen are placed at the perimeter of the oval.
the side view of a leather gasket can be seen. This feature allowed the balde to sit better when placed inside the scabbard.
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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