Blade Markings

A variety of markings can be found stamped, or etched onto suitable portions of a dagger, sword, or bayonet, and most collectors are aware of the more commonly encountered patterns.

Waffen-Amt: This mark was applied to government issued weaponry, and it indicates that the item concerned has been tested and accepted by the Ordnance Dept., as a suitable stock item for issue. The mark normally comprises a stamped version of a stylised Eagle, or Eagle and Swastika often accompanied with an inspector’s reference number (as WaA 813). The mark is most commonly applied on firearms, but has been noted on service issue equipment as widely diversified as leather belts through to swords. It's most common application on bladed weapons is, however, to be noted on the Service Mauser bayonet. Foreign produced bayonets, such as Czechoslovak Mauser bayonets which were extensively used by German
and Czech troops throughout Reich Protectorate areas were similarly marked with the Waffen-Amt.

Proofmark: The proofmark appears exclusively on blades, and not on the fittings. (Nazi-issue firearms bore a different form of proofmark}. Not every blade was subjected to the tests of full proof, only a representative selection of blades from each production batch. Proof entailed a blade being subjected to various and rigorous stresses, and a blade which suitably met all requirements was taken to denote that the rest of the adjacent production batch was similarly suitable. The blade which had been tested was stamped on the face surface (as opposed to the tang) with the proofmark.

Above: Stamped issue mark on a Police bayonet.

Issue Marks: Generally speaking these marks fulfil a similar purpose to the Waffen-Amt, differing in that they are not normally encountered on non-service issue items, and that their application is not made by a national agency. but by an organisational ordnance department. The most commonly encountered type is the issue code and numbering found on the Police Dientseitengewehr or Service Dress Bayonet. The marking was stamped onto the reverse of the crossguard, and reverse scabbard locket, and it was applied by the Police Ordnance Dept. at the same time of issuance of the bayonet. It was not applied to the small size Extraseitengewehr (Extra-Dress Bayonet) as this was a purely walking out pattern, and not mandatory for Service
personnel. The mark was not applied to Service-Dress Bayonets that were privately purchased from the manufacturer. Other versions of the Issue Mark were applied to Naval swords and daggers — if purchased through the Service Retail channel, but not if acquired privately.

The Postschutz dagger was normally marked with the DRP letters plus issuance number on the underside of the quillons, and on the bayonet on the ricasso. These marks were applied, most likely, by the SS Ordnance Dept. responsible for the Postschutz requirements. Issuance numbers had at one time been applied to the RAD hewer early pattern (on the scabbard throat lip) but the practice appears to have been short lived.

Above: Proof mark on a blade manufactured by SMF. Crude copy of the Eickhorn trademark. RZM mark on an Army dagger blade — quite incorrect!

The TeNo issue marks are interesting in that their application commenced at the factory, where the TeNo Organisational crest was etched onto the blades at the same time as application of the firms trademark, but the numbering of the blade and scabbard was attended to at the same time of actual issuance when a requisition releasing a dagger, or hewer,was received by the TeNo Ordnance Department.

Issuance numbers were also stamped into the crossguards of SA and SS daggers, and sometimes on the cross-guards of the NPEA daggers. In the case of the SA and SS daggers the practice appears to have been an early measure (although not practised on a national scale) and it was abandoned after a short while.

NSKK chains were all invariably marked on the reverse of the chain links with the manufacturers RZM code and the NSKK authority designation: Musterschutz NSKK-Korpsfuhrung, the marking was stamped into the reverse of the links. Some of the reproduction links — distinctive in that they have no markings, have been noted in recent years to have been modified by being engraved with the official markings. A
second attempt at marking up the links has been attempted with a stamping, although this has been recognisable in that the lettering is oversized and is too large to be fully accommodated on the available space.

Above: Precise etching of an original trademark, on SA dagger by August Bickel.

Trade Marks: The most commonly encountered mark of all is the manufacturer’s trade mark, which is normally etched onto the blade on the ricasso, although in some cases stamped examples have been noted (the firm of Clemens and Jung particularly adopted
this method in preference to acid etching). One of the characteristics of companies making a prolific use of trademark styles, is that they facilitate the possibility of applying a dating system to the marks, thus the discovery of spurious Rohm inscriptions on SA daggers was highlighted by the ability torecognise a trademark dating later than the supposed Rohm period.

RZM Marks: The Reichszeugmeisterei (RZM) marking was applied to political blades only, and it was issued in common usage from about 1936 onwards. The department responsible for this had in fact been created in about 1929, at which time it had been known only as the Zeugmeisterei. The RZM mark is commonly copied on spurious blades, and it has been noted as being erroneously applied to such blade patterns as the Army style.

Frederick J. Stephens, "Blade Markings", "Reproduction? Recognition!" 1976