DDR Officers dagger

[HARRY THE MOLE]

A recent find at the Preston arms fair held last Sunday at Charnock Richard... an officer's presentation dagger. Every newly qualified officer was presented with a dagger with a set of hangers at the end of their training, these usually came in a green cardboard box. But this example is a true 'presentation' dagger... the inscription on the back of the scabbard reads... 'Presented by the Minister for National Defence.' The serial number is no 50... probably the lowest I have ever seen, so this must be a nice early example of an NVA officer's dagger.

Cheers,
Steve.

[RH1941]

Very nice any chance on finding out who it was given to

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Very nice any chance on finding out who it was given to

Somewhere, there must be a list of the serial numbers of all the daggers which were handed over in a presentation ceremony. But finding its whereabouts would probably prove to be almost impossible.

Cheers,
Steve.

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Close-up of the crest on the box lid.

[Gunny Hartmann]

After trawling the internet it seems there are a lot of reproductions of this dagger about (i'm not suggesting yours is fake Steve), it'd be nice to see the repro and the real deal side by side for comparison!....

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Hi Gunny, try as I might - I can only find one repro to offer you as a comparison, and that is on the website of ZIB Militaria. As usual, the devil is in the detail, and in the case of the reproduction dagger it isn't as crisp as my original. The repro daggers are not offered with hangers, and do not come in the velvet lined presentation boxes. Although the DDR daggers do not match their TR counterparts for quality, they are certainly better than the fakes/repro's on offer. It is only the engraved presentation daggers which come in these fitted wooden. kid-leather covered cases. The daggers presented to officers on their passing out come in a green cardboard box complete with hangers and believe it or not... a 12 month guarantee! The image of the certificate is lifted from a dagger being offered by 'Antiques Storehouse,' and the other image is of the repro being offered by ZIB. the detail is clearly less pronounced, and finish is much duller.

Cheers,
Steve.

[Watchdog]

A very nice example indeed Steve.

I should have known that DDR stuff would become collectible but when the Wall came down there was so much of it being hawked on every street corner in Berlin and I am kicking myself for not picking up the Grenztrueppen dagger I held in my hands on such a street corner . At the time I was much more interested in the Soviet stuff and not that concerned about daggers at all let alone modern ones. I did end up with a couple of Polish and one Soviet dagger but that was just by the way. I do now wish I had added a DDR one as they seem to be rarer by the day.
As you say, these presentation pieces are a cut above the others and I am sure that one will sit nice in your collection.
Thanks for showing it.

Regards

Mark.
PS Those garantee certificates appeared in just about everything marketed in the DDR and I always wondered what would happen if anyone tried to use one! Remember, like crime there was never any such thing as faulty goods produced in the Communist Bloc, only in the wasteful, decadent West

[HPL2008]

Unfortunately, the guarantee on the GDR itself expired the following year.

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Unfortunately, the guarantee on the GDR itself expired the following year.

I once read somewhere that the NVA was considered to be the last true German army.

[Watchdog]

Rather than put this in a new thread I thought I should add this one here for comparison.

It is identical in construction and design to the types used by the land and air forces, but being naval the base colour of the brocade belt and hanger is a dark blue shade (as is the dark stripe in the silver braid) typical of naval association and the bright metal parts are gold (probably rhodium or such) plated as opposed to chrome in the case of the other branches.

The difference in appearance is quite striking.

I have no concerns about authenticity and I show it here for interest and reference but as ever any and all opinion or comment is most welcome.

Regards

Mark