Sepp Dietrich Sword

[d'alquen]

Does anyone have any period documents or information regarding the exact date when Dietrich was presented with the ornate presentation sword by the LAH?
d'Alquen

[Larry C]

The only information of Presentation was as early as 1936 when it was assumed presented to Sepp Dietrich from the Haas firm and worn in a period photograph at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin in review of his Liebstandarte Guards. Mollo has been noted to have searched out information and only 2 photos listed below.

A detailed description of the sword and the story of its post war acquisition can be found in Tom Johnsons " Collecting the Edged Weapons of the Third Reich Vol 5.. pgs 115-126 ending with a list of all Dietrichs officers names listed in raised on a damascus blade. There is no other period evidence of the exact date of creation or presentation except what has beeen specified above from Johnson.
A further search from Andrew Mollo may reveal more than what has been shown in this Edged Weapons reference. Regards Larry

[HPL2008]

According to Thomas T. Wittmann's "Collecting the Dress Daggers and Swords of the SS", the sword was presented to Dietrich on the occasion of his 44th birthday on 28 May 1936. Of course, this is a secondary work and not a period source, but the dedication plaque in the sword's case has "Berlin Mai 1936" as the date, so it is certainly plausible.

[Billy G]

As an aside, I remember reading somewhere that one officer's name appears twice on the blade. Funny since we often tend to avoid something that has any issue because we believe the meticulous wartime German edged weapons makers never made mistakes

[d'alquen]

Thanks Gentlemen,
It was in fact the photograph posted above that triggered the question in my mind. The picture on the right shows Dietrich and the members of the LAH with plain helmets. The lack of runes suggested a much earlier date.
d'Alquen

[d'alquen]

It also struck me as strange that the officer with Dietrich had a blank tab at an LAH parade so I just went through a box of photos from the National Archives and found this shot of the review which shows that the picture in Johnson's book must have been retouched at some point to remove the runic decals.
d'Alquen

[chen]

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[N.C. Wyeth]

Admittedly, it is a very attractive specimen . . . and am still in awe, of what I feel is an item bearing a historical trail of dubious reverence - waiting for the clinching piece of evidence that will secure the validity of my admiration.

[d'alquen]

Chen,
Thank you for posting your picture but I'm rather at a loss as to how it relates to the question about period documentation of the award of the Dietrich presentation sword.
d'Alquen

[Gastvrijheid]

When Tom Johnson acquired this sword he commisioned researcher/librarian Rob' McDivitt to research the piece. One of McDivitt's sources was Albert Stenwedel, ex LAH and one time adjutant to Dietrich. In his letters to McDivitt, Stenwedel gives full detail of how the sword was paid for by subscription from officers, also from suppliers/contractors to the regiment at Lichterfelde. The date of presentation in the officers mess was indeed 28.5.1936 and Stenwedel adds the interesting detail that the actual presentation was made by the two most recent officer/graduates, the later to be famous Jochen Peiper and Karl Brohl (Brohl was kia in WW2). Regarding the name Klinger appearing twice on the blade: the first inscription is the regimental dentist, the second is an education officer on attachment from RUSHA. There is at least one other name who was not a serving LAH officer at the time, but on attachment from the Heer. I hope this information helps your inquiries; this is my first post and I am very pleased to be a member of this excellent forum.