Austrian halberd

[Victrix]

Has anyone seen this type of Austrian halberd before? It was described as from end of 15thC and is rather sturdy. Overall length is 275cm of which the sharp spike alone is 67cm long. The concave blade has been sharpened (could easily cut my finger on it) so this thing is clearly meant for business. The hook is stamped with the mark of smith Pankraz Taller from Bad Hall in Upper Austria. The langets are held together with a zwinge (collar) and decorated with brass rosette studs. Despite the functionality the halberd is clearly not munitions grade as the outline is quite elaborate and the piercing looks like a burgundy cross? The wooden pole is replacement. Any comments? Will clean it.

[Victrix]

According to research I did for another item halberds were produced in Upper Austria (Bad Hall, Waldneukirchen, and Steyr), Carinthia (Himmelberg), and Lower Austria in Wiener Neustadt. Pankraz Taller in Bad Hall and Peter Schreckeisen in Waldneukirchen in particular became some of the biggest halberdproducers in Europe at the time and supplied the armoury in Graz with thousands of halberds and other pole arms in the second half of 16thC until the first quarter of 17thC. No halberds were produced in Styria itself. Graz is the capital of the Styria region in Austria and was a line of defence against Ottomans from 16thC. The Austrian capital Vienna itself was besieged twice by the Ottomans in 1529 and 1683.

The Celts produced iron from the Erzberg mine in Styria which was known in Roman times. Industry formed in the area to the North of the mine with an interconnected transport system named the ”iron road.” Steyr became an arms manufacturing centre supplying the Imperial Habsburg army until end of WWI. It’s still around today as Steyr Mannlicher.

Peter Scheckeisen was a main competitor of Pankraz Taller and the mastermark looked like this:

[Victrix]

This general info about halberds appear in George Snook’s excellent ”The Halberd and other European Polearms” (1998). The shape generally puts my halberd more in the 16thC which fits with Pankraz Tallers known operating period (1575-1625?) as well.

[Victrix]

I found these two halberds similarly adorned with the cross of St Andrew.

They are described as:

German halberd ca 1580, and

Styrian halberd ca 1580

[Victrix]

After some gentle cleaning. I like to uncover some glint of steel again.

[corrado26]

In the yearbook of the "Bernisches Histortisches Mueseum 1932, you can fin the mark in question under number 1503, unfortunately without a foto of the pole arm

[Victrix]

Originally Posted by corrado26

In the yearbook of the "Bernisches Histortisches Mueseum 1932, you can fin the mark in question under number 1503, unfortunately without a foto of the pole arm

I think it more likely the mark of Pankraz Taller in Bad Hall, Upper Austria. The halberd was purchased in Austria.

[Victrix]

A similar halberd with St. Andrews cross and trefoils appears in Ivan Kovac’s book ”Ubojite Ostrice” (Gornja Stubica, 2003) listed as Venetian 1580-90. I’m not aware of Venice being associated with St. Andrew which is typically associated with Scotland or Burgundy/Spain.

Another similar halberd is in the history museum of Celje in Slovenia. Not sure if the Counts of Celje used the St. Andrews cross.

[fernando]

From JOHN WALDMAN "HAFTED WEAPONS IN MEDIEVAL AND
RENAISSANCE EUROPE" (2005)


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[fernando]

Also my halberd, said to have been forged by Pankraz Thaller, has the three holes set. The smith's mark is a bit blurred, but Dittrich Reinhart from Landeszeughaus Graz museum came to such conclusion. No Saint Andrew's cross, though.
Why do say your example is not munitions grade ? Are the edges not sharp ?


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[Victrix]

Originally Posted by fernando

Also my halberd, said to have been forged by Pankraz Thaller, has the three holes set. The smith's mark is a bit blurred, but Dittrich Reinhart from Landeszeughaus Graz museum came to such conclusion. No Saint Andrew's cross, though.
Why do say your example is not munitions grade ? Are the edges not sharp ?


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Maybe it is fairly munitions grade. It’s sharpened. I just thought the design is fairly elaborate so thought it might be used mainly for guard duty. But the more ceremonial examples can be more or less fully covered with gilt etchings which this clearly is not. It’s also quite large in terms of size. I understand the St.Andrews cross is also sometimes called a saltire, in the world of heraldics at least.

[fernando]

Yes, looks like this cross already existed as an heraldic symbol, before it has been connoted with Saint Andrew's episode. It is said that this Apostle, assuming not to be worthy of being crucified in the same way as Jesus, requested a different cross to be used, the so called Crux decussata, one being then named after him. Until up to the XVIII century a cross of such form was used for torture and lethal purposes. In 1759 a mass execution took place in Portugal, in order to extinguish two powerful noble families, accused of regicid attempt. Among the various means used to torture and kill the accused, this cross (we call it 'aspa') was used to bind the senior Duke, in order to smash his bones until he died.
Whether this cross, when decorated in halberds, represents an heraldic or a sacrifice symbol ... go figure.


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[Victrix]

In this context I’m pretty sure it’s used in an heraldic manner in order to link it with a certain territory.

The cross of Burgundy was adopted by Imperial Habsburg Spain as the symbol on their flag. Then the Habsburg empire was split between the Spanish Western part including overseas colonies and the Eastern Austrian part by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in the 1550s. So the cross on the halberd is probably a symbol of the Habsburg Empire at the time.

The cross of Burgundy flag is still flown in some parts of the former Spanish Empire today.

[fernando]

Noted ...Thanks .



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