Overview of a Named Officer's Sword in the Kaiserliche Marine

[Roman C]

_______ Introduction ______________
A recent addition to the collection, this sword appears to be a private purchase Eickhorn naval saber from WWI. Belonging to a one Dr. Emil Grulich, the sword itself is a relatively standard model in decent condition. In this post I'm simply documenting this example and hoping others find it as interesting of a piece as I do.

Private purchase is indicated by the lack of fiscal or imperial marks, and while some graduates of military medical schools might have received swords upon graduation, this one is not marked as such. The crown upon the guard matches others of this early 1900's style, and it appears to be a regulation saber that would have likely been carried. The inscriptions show WWI era vessels, and the styles closely match those of other swords of the Kaiserliche Marine.



_______ The Blade ______________


The saber is a stiffback blade with naval motifs, including battleships on either side. It does not have any notable dedications or inscriptions, however it does have the pre 1921 Eickhorn squirrels. The blade itself is on the shorter side, measuring roughly 29.5” or 749.3mm. In this uncleaned state, the etchings have a notable coverage in dark spots, however the surface is not damaged and still smooth, the etchings still visible under many of the spots. The edge is not sharpened, however the point has some minimal signs of sharpening.


_______ The Pommel ______________


Noticeable and striking, the lion’s head on the grip is detailed and intricate, with a mane flowing all the way down the backstrap. With the small gem eyes in a red / green configuration, the lion’s mouth can be clearly seen ‘biting down’ on the start of the guard, with gaps in the casting on either side of the mouth increasing the realism. As with all of the brass surfaces on this sword, any gilding has become thin and the patina from the brass has turned much of it a deep mustard color.

_______ The Grip ______________


While difficult to truly capture in pictures, we have some faint striations in the grip, suggesting the grip itself is ivory. It seems the grip wire has rubbed slightly on the grip, imparting a faint transfer which doesn’t rub off, suggesting a staining of enamel rather than transfer onto plastic. The whole grip itself has also shrunk slightly, no longer fitting exactly into the ferrule, and withdrawing slightly from the backstrap. The wire itself is a gold colored, three-strand wire with a textured, larger center wire and two smaller wires on either side. All three are twisted separately and some have come loose slightly. The ferrule has an unusual pattern, reminiscent of holly leaves, which is not a pattern I’ve seen elsewhere.

_______ The Guard ______________


The basket is of the folding trapezoidal style with a flat button quillion end. The folding flap bears a standard crown with crests above a vertical, fouled anchor and arabesque stylings, including on the back of the locking tab. The flat of the locking tab bears the inscription of the owner’s name - Dr. Grulich. Aside from the arabesque traveling up the knuckle guard, it is otherwise unremarkable.

_______ The Scabbard ___________


Not to overlook the scabbard, it appears to be a very standard model; leather with brass fittings and no vertical hanger. This particular example has been damaged somewhat and the loop tethering the top fitting to the leather is missing. While the blade seats and locks with the tab, it is clear that the top fitting was originally lower on the scabbard, and has since been glued in place (see small gloss area).



The drag and middle fitting are otherwise unremarkable, traditional non-hammered brass with line embellishments. There are no motifs or markings anywhere on the scabbard. While it’s not possible to say when the sword and scabbard were paired, the blade and scabbard have both adopted a very slight, matching bend. Whenever that plastic deformation occurred, the two were clearly together. On the spine of the top fitting and drag there are some minor dents, which appear to be quite old as the patina has not been disturbed in those areas.

_______ Summary _______

I’ll be referencing this post while doing some career research on Dr. Grulich, and thought it would be useful to keep the artifact and the individual separate. While neither the individual and blade are especially unique, it's been interesting diving into this particular piece and examining where it might have been.

[Anderson]

Very nice. The type appears in my 1908 Eickhorn catalogue listed as model 94, but from the line drawing is without the hinged guard. The back to back squirrel logo was used from 1906 and as it's an Imperial era sword, made most likely between that date and 1918.

[Roman C]

The Dr's history indicates he entered service in 1907, but only appears in the Rangliste with an assignment in 1913, with retirement listed in December of 1918. I believe I've been able to find a photograph with the Dr and his saber from 1917, which appears to be the same one. With that note about dates of makers mark, it seems to suggest it was likely produced after 1906 and purchased at latest by 1917, but more likely by 1913.

Fantastic lead on the particular model - the only catalog I have for Eickhorn is the later post WWI catalog, which only shows an oval style guard rather than the trapezoidal style here (models 1513, 1670, and 1671). Finding copies of earlier catalogues and brochures has been quite the task!

[Glenn J]

Roman,

although Emil Grulich has a date of service from April 1907 in the Ehrenrangliste, he was in fact originally a one year volunteer in the Prussian army in Füsilier-Regiment Nr. 36. He studied medicine at Halle between 1904 and 1910 and then entered the navy as a one year volunteer physician in 1911. As he was not commissioned as a naval reserve officer until 1912, he does not appear in the Rangliste prior to that year.

Regards
Glenn

[Roman C]

Fantastic leads, many thanks Glenn!

Out of curiosity, what sources were you finding those records from? Examining the Rangliste from 1912 I wasn't able to find any reference to him, only first appearing in the 1913 volume (Referencing the Rangliste der Kaiserlich Deustchen Marine für das Jahr 1912, 1913)

[Glenn J]

Morning Roman,

Dr. Grulich is listed with his service biography in the Stammliste des Marine-Sanitäts-Offizierkorps von 1848-1919. He just missed being listed in the Rangliste of 1912 as. Marine-Unterarzt der Reserve. He practiced medicine at Höchst (Odenwalde) between the wars and died as a Marine-Oberstabsarzt der Reserve assigned to the Kriegsmarine Werft Wilhelmshaven on 2 August 1941.

Regards
Glenn