Presentation Daggers

[Ralph P]

Clem - Thanks for the follow up about your collection interests. The rebuilding period is that from a historic stand point or also trying to get items from that time period?

Thanks Ralph!
My interest now is in early NVA, I try to center on early sixties. I'm also very interested in WW2 and the rebuild period after.
I've been reading this forum for quite a while, and I like it a lot. Tons of information and enthusiasm; This is what this hobby is all about for me, so I'm glad to have joined you!

Andreas: I have an early three hole hanger which had the hook (to attach it to the loop) broken once and very nicely soldered again. Maybe the original hanger that went with your dagger broke too, and it was simply replaced by a newer one instead of trying a repair. If it came from the same person it truly adds to the history of a set/piece, in my opinion.

[Kievit]

Hi Ralph, I've always been trying to understand how WW2 could happen. I believe that in trying to grasp the answer it requires understanding both the pre-war period as the post-war period. Both periods give answers in some way. In this, my perspective is mostly on people's everyday life, also military. Acquiring items from these periods adds to the interest and makes it so much more tangible. I just did away most of my NVA eighties collection, and am moving more into the sixties, possibly also KVP but that's stretching it a bit too much financially now. I bought a KVP shirt today on ebay.de though. So - no way back ;-)
Thanks for the welcome! I feel I know you all longer, as I've been reading for quite some time already! I love your collection BTW!!! it really complements mine which is mostly everyday items (even toothpaste, soaps, razors - all things of everyday -military- life in the DDR).

[GREENEDUDLEY]

My engraved honor dagger

Here are some pictures of a dagger I just purchased here in Germany. It is a later style dagger from the 70's and 80's. The scabbard is not engraved only the blade. It came with no case.

[GREENEDUDLEY]

Back of scabbard

[GREENEDUDLEY]

first picture of the blade

[GREENEDUDLEY]

close up of engraved area on blade

[GREENEDUDLEY]

another view of the blade

[GREENEDUDLEY]

blade serial number

[Gordon Craig]

Greendudley,

You will find we discussed daggers with the engraved blades, with this specific wording, at the beginning of the post. Our research indicates that Officers School presentation daggers were awarded with an engraved blade until sometime around 1980. We can only date one dagger with an engraved scabbard for sure and that was presented in 1985. The move from engraved blades to engraved scabbards could have taken place as early as the late 70s but we have no proof of that. I only mention that as substantial economic problems arose in the late 70's and you see lots of cost saving moves being made in the military at this time. Engraving the scabbard would certainly save funds as there was no longer a need to make special blades for presenatation daggers. All daggers had the blank space on the reverse of the scabbard and could be engraved at will.
Congratulations on acquiring a very nice dagger.


Regards,

Gordon

[GREENEDUDLEY]

Gordon, thank you for the information. I read this thread 4 times before I purchased this dagger to make sure it was fine and not an after 1990 parts dagger. Yes, I was very suprised to find this one and the price was very good also. I only say thisis a later dagger because the handle is the plain white plastic material and there is no maker's stamp on the blade.

Greendudley,

You will find we discussed daggers with the engraved blades, with this specific wording, at the beginning of the post. Our research indicates that Officers School presentation daggers were awarded with an engraved blade until sometime around 1980. We can only date one dagger with an engraved scabbard for sure and that was presented in 1985. The move from engraved blades to engraved scabbards could have taken place as early as the late 70s but we have no proof of that. I only mention that as substantial economic problems arose in the late 70's and you see lots of cost saving moves being made in the military at this time. Engraving the scabbard would certainly save funds as there was no longer a need to make special blades for presenatation daggers. All daggers had the blank space on the reverse of the scabbard and could be engraved at will.
Congratulations on acquiring a very nice dagger.


Regards,

Gordon

[torstenbel]

I think the question was asked in this thread somewhere about daggers presented to officer college graduates in 1990?? Anyhow, I went to an officer school reunion in Zittau last month and asked the guys that graduated in 1990 about this and they had no daggers at all, because none were available to buy anymore (they had probably all already been sold to collectors in the USA and Holland by then ) .... all they were still able to buy were the Aguilletes, but hardly anyone bothered with that anymore as they were asked to pay the same price for those alone as they would have had to pay for the Aguilletes/dagger combo ---> 25 Mark or probably D-Mark by then.

Cheers, Torsten.

[tony james]

following this thread i decided to throw my 2 cents worth in regarding the dagger hangers " three hole means early" "single hole means later production". a few years ago i thought the same thing but have changed my opinion .i have a early dagger low serial#,yellowed handle,maker mark on blade..etc.it came with a single holed hanger .dagger and hanger have the same wear and tear which matches evenly.i thought "ok the hanger was replaced at one time by the officer that owned it. after looking over the hanger fittings i noticed they were the same crisp detailed fittings found on "early"three holed hangers.i noticed since then other daggers that had maker marked blades, yellowed handles ..etc. serial# 20xxx to 60xxx range with single holed hangers both army and navy.i'm inclined to speculate that that different sub-contractors are the reason for the two different styles of hangers.just my 2 cents.

tony

[Gordon Craig]

Tony,

Interesting comment re the single and three hole hangers. As soon as I can get enough boxes unpacked to look at my daggers I'll have to have another look at mine as well. Perhaps you could post some pictures so we can see the comparisons you are making.

Regards,

Gordon

[redjames2004]

Will post pictures

Hello, I will take pictures of my early and later DDR daggers hangers- one hole on later issue hanger and 3 holes on my early DDR Army dagger hanger tomorrow to show the one hole and 3 holes hangers for comparsion purposes. Thanks,James

[redjames2004]

DDR dagger hangers

Hello, Here are a photo of my DDR dagger hangers one from early 1960s and 1990. Both hangers have three holes and one hole. Early DDR dagger hanger fittings on left are so detailed like its Third Reich-era dagger hangers fittings while 1990 hanger fittings on right dont have any details compared to early 1960s DDR hanger fittings. Thanks,James