Need help identifying WWI (?) German (?) dagger

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Hi,

First of all, sorry if I'm posting in the wrong forum.

My wife's grandfather died, and a dagger / knife has been found in his stuff. We would like to identify it, in order to pass the memory of it to our own children.

He served on an italian submarine at the beginning of WWII, and later in the war had connections to the resistance (he lived near the swiss border, and helped smuggle ID papers accross it). After the war he returned to civil life. His father served during WWI but we have no further information.

At first I thought the knife was Italian or Swiss and dating from WWII, but a member on another forum supposed it was rather German and dating back to WWI. He directed me to this forum, and this thread in particular: https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/imper...ife-370751-23/

I browsed the photos on this thread and although I did not find my dagger, some of them have a strong resemblance to it.

Here are the photos:



The blade is engraved with "Robert Klaas Ohligs Solingen".

I don't know if these clues are helpful, but that's all I have.

Thanks for your help!

[rbminis]

Welcome to the forum!
I also believe that this is likely pre war German due to the sheath and attachment method.
Also, the style, and fittings. I believe the handle is likely horn. Your photos are not large enough to tell for sure.
This is also likely an earlier maker's mark. Some of our members may know what time period this mark was used.
This could easily have been used as a fighting knife at the time.
Ralph.

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Thanks for your answer!

Here are better pictures, if it helps anyone!

[Chopperman]

I don't know this specific knife but the style looks very much like the
knives that were popular in the mid to late 1800s in the US. Sometimes refered
to as Gentleman's knives or Gambler's knives.

[MilitariaOne]

Greetings and welcome to our humble forum,

Definitely a German made knife with the Robert Klaas "Kissing Cranes" (although they are not actually kissing in this version of the famous Klaas' trademark, & technically, they were originally meant to represent storks not cranes, but that's a bit off topic for this thread) trademark. I believe this style of mark dates from the late teens through the 1920s (it is definitely prior to 1938). The frog holding the scabbard appears to be a custom piece as the original frog would have been long enough to run fully under the scabbard's attaching tongue (the long metal bit routed through the frog). Lastly, there would have been an end cap covering the lower end of the handle as a finished knife would not have the tang visible/exposed as it currently does (i.e. the two silver circles showing). These end caps are easily snagged while passing by obstructions and get ripped off as a result. These end caps are custom fitted pinned/peened on and are not something you just buy and pop on.

The Italian Navy had plenty of interface with their German counterparts during the 30s/40s and this knife may have been a gift/traded from one sailor to another or just as likely could have been available for purchase in any number of German/Italian knives' shops. Wish I could share more insight about your knife as it likely had an interesting history. Thank you, for taking the time to share it with us.

Best,

V/r Lance

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Thanks for your replies!

I too wish I could share more insight about this knife. I love when an item in my possession has an history linked to my family (or in this case, my in-law), and it is a bit frustrating not to know more. Unfortunately, we were not aware of the existence of this knife before my wife's grandfather died, or we would surely have questionned him about it.

But your answers sheds a bit of light on this knife's history, so all is not lost

Thanks again, and please feel free to re-use my pictures if you need!

[rbminis]

Thanks again, and please feel free to re-use my pictures if you need!

Your photos will not be "re-used", but we would appreciate if you leave them where they are for future reference on this forum.
That is why we are here, to provide reference material for others that may be looking for the same information that you were.

Thank you for joining, and posting your "dagger", (as it has a double edge), here for us to see.
I have not seen one identical to this one, and as a knife collector, it is always nice to see something refreshing.
Ralph.

[Anderson]

Very interesting dagger, thanks for showing it.