Early SS Ehredegen – D1000

What many collectors don’t realize, is that just because you were an officer within the SS, it didn’t by any means qualify you automatically to be able to own, and wear the honor degen. There were very specific requirements laid forth by the Reichsfuhrer H. Himmler, that had to be met, in order for an individual to be entitled to wear the SS Ehredegen.

Among those strict requirements were the following:

1.  Initially these swords were awarded to battalion commanders and higher ranks, within the SS Verfugungstruppen (SS-VT)

2. Additionally, those SS officers who held the rank of Standartenfuhrer and above within the Allgemenine, prior to April 1936, also qualified an individual as well. This is the date that the “official model 1936 SS degen” was first introduced.

3. The award was further extended to those that were department heads within the SS-Hauptamter or SS Main Office, directly under the Reichsfuhrer.

4. And finally, the newly graduates of the SS Officer Candidates Schools from Bad Tolz & Braunschweig, were also recipients of the SS Ehredegen.

The SS Honor Sword was in of itself a true award. It was presented with a personalized certificate, and was noted next to the recipients name in the SS Dienstaltersliste.

 It’s always a pleasure to offer one of these first production run SS officers degens to the collecting community. And this one is a beauty! Introduced shortly prior to the M36 SS chain dagger making it’s appearance during that same year, these swords we know came out in early March 1936. And you can see by the requirements that I’ve listed above, the degen was rather restricted as to those who were allowed to possess and wear what was termed the “Ehredegen”. As a matter of fact, a glance through any of the DL lists from 1936 on will show that a rather small percentage of the SS officers listed will have the Ehredegen symbol next to their names. On to the description.

A fantastic grip and hilt assembly begin this beautiful looking SS officer’s sword. The wood handle remains in excellent condition, void of any cracks, splits, chips, pressure marks, or missing material. That in itself is quite exceptional, as most of these early degens almost always display some type of damage to these rather fragile components. But even more astounding is the factory black enamel which has been beautifully preserved over the surface of this handle. Invariably and most often, these early degens will exhibit extensive chipping to the paint, hence revealing and exhibiting the brown wood underneath that coating. But as you can see in the photos, this remarkable grip is the exception to the norm. As shown, the handle still retains 97% of that period enamel paint, and has not been touched up in any form or fashion. All of the metal components to this hilt are solid nickel construction and include the following: handguard / crossguard, upper and lower ferrules, pommel nut, and SS runes badge. Those fittings remain in beautiful condition, with a muted patina appearance over their surfaces. Completing this hilt is nicely toned SS officer’s bullion portapee. It certainly appears original to this sword, as it is laced in a rather unique pattern around the crossguard. Though not shown in the photos, the underside of the crossguard and just like the lip of the scabbard is stamped with the Kulturzeichen proof mark SS runes.

The scabbard to this M36 sword remains in truly wonderful condition. It is about as straight as you are apt to find on one of these early degens. As most collectors are aware of, these shells were quite prone to bending, bowing, and dog leg imperfections. This one is nice and straight overall. The period black enamel is in exceptional condition, and rates strong at 95%. There are a couple ticks here and there with the additional spidering, all of which is quite typical to these scabbards. Additionally, there is one dime size corrosion spot on the reverse side about in the middle. And here are the components that date this degen as being one of the first produced during the start up production of these edged weapons. Both upper and lower fittings on this scabbard are solid nickel, just like all the hardware on the hilt. I’m telling you this is rare to say the least, as invariably these shell fittings almost always found with nickel plated components. Though owning several of these swords over the years, I’ve only encountered one other example with solid nickel scabbard fittings, ever! The lower pressed on drag is in decent condition, save for a ½” split down one side. The upper fitting is just fine. It is snug to the shell, held by the proper dome head screws, and is stamped with the SS Kulturzeichen proof mark.

And we finish up with the blade. And it is a screamer! Full length, matches the length of the scabbard perfectly, void of any tipping, sharpening, cleaning, polishing, or cutting edge chips, it’s virtually untouched. A fantastic proper period matte finish is exactly what you want to see with these blades, and shown is several of the photos. To be extremely over the top picky, it has minimal surface age if you can even term it as that, and barely worth mentioning.  As this blade truly would fit the bill of even the most discriminant collectors out there, as it is in exceptional in every respect. As one of the very first SS officer’s degens ever produced, we do not know the manufacture of this exquisite edged weapon. And that is because it is void of any logos or trademarks. Very typical characteristic of this early initial construction.

There it is. You rarely see these all nickel M36 SS officer’s swords ever, and certainly not in this condition. A treasure centerpiece for someone’s collection!  SOLD