Rare Extra-Seitengewehr (Ks98) and Nahkampfmesser

[grimlin13]

Today I share with you an Extra-Seitengewehr (Ks98) and it`s companion Nahkampfmesser. Used during WWI and the Weimar Republic eras. Both are not often seen by collectors and are hard to acquire. I know of only four others of the Ks98 in collections and have seen two of the Nahkampfmessers only in photos. Both have a center fuller blade with a double edge dagger point. The grips are made of wood that has been stained/painted black. The press/release button on pommel is non-functional. The Ks98 blade length is 8 1/4 inches long, and 13/16ths wide at cross guard. Over all length out of scabbard is 12 3/4 inches and 13 1/2 inches in scabbard. The Nahkampfmesser blade length is 6 inches and has a width of 7/8ths at crossguard. Over all length is 10 3/16ths out of sheath and 11 inches in sheath. Neither is maker marked or has any markings/stamps ( one of the other Ks98s I know of has a "3" stamped on the under side of the scabbard`s frog stud). If anyone has either Ks98 or Nahkampfmesser in their collection, please reply.

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[harrison987]

there is one currently on eBay.

[Hans1906]

A so called "Ausgehseitengewehr", this edged weapon was not attachable to a rifle or carbine, a pure edged weapon for representation.

Was usually purchased privately from the non-commissioned officer onwards, and more or less splendid, depending on personal possibilities...

Google photo search "Ausgehseitengewehr": https://www.google.com/search?q=ausgehs ... =759&dpr=1

Perfect copies with the most incredible blade markings have been found for decades, usually post-war reproductions, that were offered for a lot of money...

By the way, there never was a so-called "Nahkampfmesser", this is pure nonsense.
Most daggers and knives, at least in WW 1, were privatly brought to the so-called "Front", often also handguns, revolvers and pistols from a private stock.

The men massacred themselves with everything, including clubs and stones, there were no limits.


Hans

[grimlin13]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_knife

[Hans1906]

The german designation "Grabendolch" was common in earlier years, but never an official german term.

There have been and are quite a few books on the subject, here is an example:

Grabendolche.jpg

These knives and daggers were purchased privately, never officially issued, in every imaginable form, the old photos of the soldiers with these edged weapons speak for themselves...

A combat knife, such as that offered by the German company Böker today as a "trench dagger", was offered before 1918, as old newspaper advertisements speak for it.

Böker: https://www.boker.de/grabendolch-121918 ... 6d8da205bf

Einen Retter....jpg

A complex topic, hardly manageable, in the trenches soldiers killed each other with every available weapon, if necessary with their bare hands, or with their own teeth...

Such edged weapons have always been rare, since there was no real military background.
I would view every offer from a dealer very critically, the sums demanded are fantasy prices, without proper provenance...


Hans

[Hans1906]

It was also not uncommon to carry a so-called "Nicker", a hunting knife, mostly with officers.

A Nicker (also "Knicker", nick catcher, neck catcher, in Austria mostly Knicker) is a 15-25 cm long and narrow hunting knife sharpened on one side, which, in addition to its general use, is suitable for killing a piece of game by stabbing it in the neck (neck) above the top cervical vertebra (atlas). The uppermost cervical vertebra is also called the nicker, because it allows the head to be nodded - hence the name nicker (or gnicker) for the knife and the term nodding for the stab.

Nicker (Messer) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicker_(Messer)

This hunting knife is very common, even today, I hate to imagine that enemy soldiers were stabbed / killed in close combat with such an edged weapon...

The fantasy of killing an enemy is endless, the subject is open...


Hans

[LineDoggie]

By the way, there never was a so-called "Nahkampfmesser", this is pure nonsense.

So when annotated in a soldbuch as being issued one the Command lied as it didn't exist?