Lightning Deal Original German Wwii Monogrammed Officer's Lion Head Sword By Gottfried Weyersberg Söhne Kg With Scabbard - Why Pay More? [J5v16BGw]

Original Item: This is a beautiful classic Lionhead German WWII Officer sword, made by the rarely seen firm of Gottfried Weyersberg Söhne KG in Solingen, Germany, complete with the correct steel scabbard. This example is from later in the war, with a hilt made from gilt aluminum, not the early war solid brass. It consists of a finely detailed "lion's head" pommel, with hand rendered features to the bottom of the jaw, the whiskers, the eyelids, and the mane which runs backward slightly down the hilt. The red faceted eyes are both present and look great, reflecting the light well.

The lion's mane goes down a bit on the backstrap, and in the middle is a lovely diamond design surrounded by floral embellishments. The flat "P" guard shows lovely high relief German "oak leaf and acorn" designs, also seen on the grip ferrule. The crossguard langet has a beautiful open winged Art deco eagle which looks to the viewer's left, with carved designs on either side. The breast area of this eagle, as well as the legs and the wreath enclosing the swas, have all been hand enhanced. The reverse langet has a small oval surrounded with floral designs, and in this case is actually marked with the owner's initials in monogram style! It looks to be J and H, or possibly T and H, and is expertly rendered. The aluminum alloy hilt was originally fully gilt, however that is now retained in the recessed portions of the design for the most part, giving it a great "service worn" look.

The grip is a black celluloid-over-wood base type, which is still in very good condition. It is wrapped with a skein of 4 aluminum wires, the center pair of which is twisted. These are still in very good shape, and still in place except for two of the 11 grooves, which have one strand out of place. The celluloid is in excellent condition, showing no chips, cracks, or other major damage. There is just a bit of wobble to the handle overall.

The 31 1/2 inch blade of this example is in very good condition, with some light scuffing in areas, and just a few tiny areas where the plating has flaked, allowing the steel to oxidize. It is fully nickel plated, which is retained quite almost completely, showing scattered areas of light oxidation and scuffing. The edge is still fully blunt, as originally issued, and there is just a tiny bend on the very tip of the blade.

The reverse ricasso is stamped with G. WEYERSBERG SNE / SOLINGEN, the simplified address marking of Gottfried Weyersberg Söhne KG, Stahlwarenfabrik (Steelware Factory) of Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in Western Germany. Per J. Anthony Carter's GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS, the company was founded in 1785 and registered with Solingen authorities in 1881, making it one of the oldest in the city. It was also one of many involving the prolific and well-respected Weyersberg family. It is known to have made or finished Army Officer swords such as this during the war, and was able to survive into the post war era, finally closing its doors in 1996.

The scabbard of this example still has good original factory black lacquer, though there is a good amount of chipping to the surface. It also looks like it may have been refinished at some point during the WWII period, as we do not see any of the usual checking and crazing we would see on original factory enamel. The body of the scabbard is still mostly straight, and there are no major dents we can feel or see.

Overall an very good example of a German Army Officer's Lion Head sword, by a maker we have never had before. Ready to research and display!

Specifications:
Overall length: 36 7/8”
Blade length: 31 1/2”
Blade Style: Single Edged with Fuller
Guard dimensions: 4 1/2" width x 4 1/2” length
Scabbard Length: 32 3/8"

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.