WWII NAZI GERMAN POLICE OFFICER SWORD BY EICKHORN

WWII Nazi German Police Sword from Parts. A very rough condition with a nickel plating throughout its hilt showing loss and patina. The 29 1/4 inch blade shows a tremendous amount of pitting and wear. The reverse ricasso is stamped with Eickhorn name and logo.The “D” guard is type with the upper ferrule built in, and it flows nicely around through the crossguard to a teardrop quillon which has a partial drilling on both sides. The pommel is the style with the umbrella-like fluting which goes around the outside edges of the cap. The lower ferrule has six standing oak leaves. Each oak leaf is separated by an acorn. The ebony grip shows finish loss but still very nice. The grip is tightly wrapped with nickel wire but is missing the cover plate on the reverse as well as the center grip Police Eagle. The scabbard of this example is nice and straight throughout but is for an enlisted degan. Rough. The Sword/Sabre is an age old military tradition, that evolved from a functional weapon into an item of uniform dress ornamentation by the start of WWI. This strong tradition continues in many army’s to this day as a symbol of strength and power. After Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 and the reintroduction of conscription in early 1935 a wide variety of new sword and sabre designs were introduced to outfit the rapidly growing Wehrmacht. Originally, (circa 1934-36), Police personnel utilized army Officer/NCO’s swords with the army style gold finished components modified to a silver finished. On June 17TH 1936, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was appointed to the newly created position of Chef der Deutschen Polizei im Reichsministerium des Innern, (Chief of the German Police in the National Ministry of the Interior), effectively giving him full control of all police agencies within Germany. As a result of this appointment and the restructuring of all the separate German state police into a single national police force new regulations were instituted in July 1936 to bring about uniformity in dress for all police through-out the country. One of the new uniform regulations was the introduction of distinctive swords designed and produced exclusively for wear by the SS-VT SS-Verfügungstruppe, (SS-Special Purpose Troops), Polizei, (Police), and Feuerschutzpolizei, (Fire Protection Police), Officer’s and NCO personnel with minor variations depending on the branch of service and the individuals rank. Of Note: Bestowal of the Police swords was discontinued early in the war and were generally replaced by pistols.