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#1 |
Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 16
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Greetings! I recently bought an early 16 th century Katzbalger (German Landsknecht) sword. Can anyone of you tell me if this is the real deal? Here are some pics:
![]() ![]() ![]() It has been professionally cleaned/restored. It was heavily corroded first. I'm looking forward to hearing your reactions! Last edited by valkenburg; 11th November 2008 at 06:54 AM. |
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#2 |
Arms Historian
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 9,885
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Hi Valkenburg,
and welcome to our forum! Thank you for posting this most interesting example of the Landsknecht arming sword, the katzbalger. It is always difficult to assess authenticity on weapons from photos, and it looks like your example is quite structurally sound, though extremely cleaned. By its form it appears correct, and elements are consistant with known examples of these. Several of these are shown in "Cut and Thrust Weapons" (E.Wagner, Prague, 1967, pl.30, #2,3) and the braided quillons into figure eight are similar to #3, while the central multichannel blade is very much like #2. Wagner cites as his reference, "Waffensammlung Dreger", E.H.Max Dreger, Berlin-Leipzig, 1926, pl.66. These examples suggest your sword must date from 1520-1550, and after this time, the hilts began to develop with upward branches into the early form of the basket type hilt. The hilt on these is shown in "The Rapier and Smallsword 1460-1820" by A.V.B. Norman, as hilt #3, German, 1520-1550, and of course noted that it is included despite not being a rapier, because of its importance in the development of more complex hilts. These were the references found so far, and I look forward to the opinions and observations of the others here. These don't come up too often, and this looks like a great example so thank you again for posting!! All the best, Jim |
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#3 | |
Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 16
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And many thanks for the info and book references on the sword! Yes, the sword has been cleaned. It was heavily corroded and all the corrosion was removed by a professional archaeologist/restorer. It took him over 2 weeks to do the job. |
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#4 |
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: PR, USA
Posts: 679
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Very nice acquisition. Gotta be careful, though. There were lots of high quality cat-skinners made during Hitler's era. Some of the things to look for are weight, and point of balance...
Best M |
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#5 | |
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 16
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#6 |
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 16
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and another photo:
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#7 | |
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: PR, USA
Posts: 679
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All I know is that Nazi replicas were much heavier...
Best M Quote:
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#8 |
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 16
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I showed the sword to an auctioneer specialized in Arms and armor and he was sure it was the real deal! He dated it around 1520.
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#9 |
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 16
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I decided to have the handle replaced and took some better pics:
![]() ![]() [IMG]ttp://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/46/l_9c3713bd188145a6b578276500955b83.jpg[/IMG] ![]() ![]() ![]() I'm looking forward to hearing your reactions! |
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#10 |
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: PR, USA
Posts: 679
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Beoootiful!
: ) M |
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#11 | |
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 16
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