Ehrengeschenk Cased Miniature Dagger

[nt198998]

I have seen a few "Cased Miniature Daggers" on ebay.de, and I wonder what are they for, why were they awarded, and are they rare? They sell for a lot on Sigmund Stephen. They are in presentation case with plastic cover and olive branch.

[Mike G.]

Basically, they are presentation awards for worthy recipients that have served the DDR faithfully for 25 years. They are common to most branches of the DDR military and paramilitary, including the Stasi. They are generally awarded upon retirement.

[nt198998]

Thanks, a lot

[Thälmannpionier]

I have seen a few "Cased Miniature Daggers" on ebay.de, and I wonder what are they for, why were they awarded, and are they rare? They sell for a lot on Sigmund Stephen. They are in presentation case with plastic cover and olive branch.

they start from about 25eur without urkunde,up to 50-100eur with urkunde. price then depends on,is it mfs or a high ranking officer. generals ones have a red inlay and are also in the 50-100eur price range,without urkunde...and much more with the award document.

i got mine also from ebay for 25eur without urkunde and found a urkunde within a other documents group i had bought and now have the cased mini dagger set complete

there is also a thread here on the forum about these mini dagger sets but i cannot find it rightnow.


question to the forum: does anyone know when those mini daggers first were awarded??

[Thälmannpionier]

this is the correct urkunde for the cased mini dagger

[Thälmannpionier]

this is the much harder to find civilian version for "25years in the nva,as civilian worker"
this one here comes from a women that worked in the nva as "civil staff"
unfortunatly,i do not have a urkunde for this one.

[Thälmannpionier]

i have seen several cased mini daggers offered with this urkunde as a "MFS cased mini dagger with urkunde" but i do not believe that this is the correct urkunde for it

[Thälmannpionier]

because here is another example for 30years. and on both it says "Ehrenurkunde" and i think Ehrenurkunden were awarded without any award. is that correct or are there awards that go with these urkunden??

[Stefas]

because here is another example for 30years. and on both it says "Ehrenurkunde" and i think Ehrenurkunden were awarded without any award. is that correct or are there awards that go with these urkunden??

Hello ,so far as I know they where given without award.
I don't know the exactly year,but the first mini daggers must be from 1970 ore 1971,

[Gordon Craig]

Andreas,

A good point about the MfS 25 year awards. I've seen some of these daggers listed as being awarded to the MfS and usually they have a red background where yours is blue. If I remember correctly the one I have has a grey background to the case. It has been a while since I saw one for sale so don't remember what the Urkunde looked like. I'll have to go through my reference material and see if I can find something.
If memory serves me right, early daggers didn't have the DDR shield on the left side of the gold band, as viewed from the front. Anyone else confirm that?

Cheers,

Gordon

[torstenbel]

because here is another example for 30years. and on both it says "Ehrenurkunde" and i think Ehrenurkunden were awarded without any award. is that correct or are there awards that go with these urkunden??

Hi Andreas, I have had several Stasi document groupings that had the 25 years and 30 years Urkunden among them....these Urkunden did not come with the Ehrengeschenk for the Stasi...the Ehrengeschenk had its own certificate...Cheers, Torsten.

[Ralph P]

Hello all - The MfS personnel when they were awarded with the 25 year presentation document, they would be presented the cased mini dagger with a red background. The 25 year mini dagger remained the same from when they were initially awarded until the end of the MfS - the mini dagger also had the DDR emblem on the left side of the gold bar from the start. The earlier MfS 25 year plus documents had the larger sword and shield where the later ones were smaller with a wreath in the center of the shield as shown in the posts of this thread.

[Stefas]

Andreas,

A good point about the MfS 25 year awards. I've seen some of these daggers listed as being awarded to the MfS and usually they have a red background where yours is blue. If I remember correctly the one I have has a grey background to the case. It has been a while since I saw one for sale so don't remember what the Urkunde looked like. I'll have to go through my reference material and see if I can find something.
If memory serves me right, early daggers didn't have the DDR shield on the left side of the gold band, as viewed from the front. Anyone else confirm that?

Cheers,

Gordon

Hello Gordon,the Eppelman minidaggers where without shield.
The pre 1990 are with shield.

[Thälmannpionier]

Hello Gordon,the Eppelman minidaggers where without shield.
The pre 1990 are with shield.

correct

remember gordon, nico showed one to us when we were in his shop.

[Thälmannpionier]

Hi Andreas, I have had several Stasi document groupings that had the 25 years and 30 years Urkunden among them....these Urkunden did not come with the Ehrengeschenk for the Stasi...the Ehrengeschenk had its own certificate...Cheers, Torsten.

thats correct
and people have to be careful,because i have seen lots auctions,where these mini daggers were for sale as "MFS Mini Daggers" displayed with this mfs urkunde but its wrong.
cheers