I am going shooting tomorrow, and dug this out of the safe. My Dad brought it back home after the war along with other things. It has plenty of patina and probably never cleaned (good thing) At least it is not rusted at all. Bob

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There are tons of fake Nazi daggers on the market. If you know for sure that it is a genuine WWII bringback, that's a big plus.

That's a nice one. What's the blade length?

He said his dad brought it back from the war.

I am 63, and saw it for the 1st time at around 5 years old. It laid in the same place in the window seat drawer until it came home with me. I don't understand why Dad would not let me take it to school for "Show+ Tell" I did take a huge Nazi flag once. Bob

Should have measured it. It is back in the safe. It is long enough to hurt you regardless! Bob

I can not seem to get your photos to enlarge so I cant get a good look. These were dress daggers made for officers mainly. I have owned several over the years. The handles are made of a fragile plastic and way too delicate for field work. My uncle brought one home saying the German he got it from didn't need it anymore. I have seen a picture of a 4' high pile of these knives after the German's surrendered. Any GI could walk by and pick one up and send it home. Many came home in their duffle bags.

My grandfather brought back three dress daggers, one each from the German Navy, Army and Air Force. They all had the same blade and overall length, but differed in every detail, from the style of the handguard , to grip, pommel and sheath.
The Nazis went nuts on dress daggers, even producing unique examples for police, firemen, etc, pretty much every government organization that existed in the Third Reich.

Years ago I looked them up for value, and the values seemed highly subjective, depending upon condition, the rarity of the organization they came from, originality and completeness, and of course, how badly the buyer wanted a particular example. My three were maybe $300 to $900 each twenty years ago, so yours is might be worth a little more for inflation. Upon a closer look, I think the point is ninged a bit. Mine were needle sharp. I also think there was a wire wrap around the grip that is now missing. Ask and expert about cleaning and preserving. I can't tell if that's cosmoline or rust on the blade. If it's rust, stop it from spreading.

Yours is the basic Heers (German Land Forces) dress dagger for lower rank German Army officers. As rank went up, there would be more etching on the blade, and fancier scabbard. A big plus is having the original hangers like yours.

Look around eBay and some of the gun auction sites to get some idea of value.
Meantime, it's a piece of your Dad's life. Treasure it and pass it on.

Thanks for the good info! There is cosmoline on the blade. I think that is what you see that makes it looks chipped at the tip. I'll look at it when I put my clean guns away. There was never a wire wrap on it as long as I can remember. Bob

Value?

Edge Weapons and Daggers : MilitaryItems.com, Glendale, Arizona

Blade is in good shape. See picture for length.
Manufactured by E&F Horster, Soligen The makers mark is hard to photo. Bob

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Unlike firearms the economy has knocked the militaria market for a loop. Daggers like this once were easy sellers but some of the dealers I know have had little change in their inventory for years. I'm heading to the SOS tomorrow and I'll report on what the market currently looks like when I get back.
Jim

I don't think it's just the economy.
It's the cultural and demographic changes in our society.

The now " old guys " that love to collect WW II German military memorabilia are dying off. Those guys generally had the ability and perspective to separate the the political stuff going on in Germany during the Hitler era from having an appreciation of the distinctive and high-quality designs of nearly everything the German military used.
The under-40, and especially the under 30 generation is so poorly schooled in history, and so intolerant of anything or any opinions that differ from what their Liberal teachers have drilled into them, that they act like WW II German military equipment is radioactive or something.
And even if they were interested in it enough to own some examples, or even books about the subject, if word ever got out ( Facebook ) about their interests, they would be socially ostracised, labeled as a " Nazi Sympathizer, Fascist, Racist, homophobe, etc, and possibly forced out of any college classes they may be attending.
Not to mention the vandalism of their cars and other property they would be subjected to
The social repercussions and branding are just too much for younger generations.

That's exactly right. You can't even watch tv anymore without being bombarded by radicalized liberal propaganda.

I think it's the fakes, that drag down the market. Some of the fakes are old enough to have patina, some of the originals look new.

I have always been afraid to jump into serious blade collecting. Trench art knives, Fairbain daggers, Civil war, samurai​ stuff, Nazi stuff, I'm sure I'd be taken advantage of. I've limited my antique collecting to WWII mostly USN blades, and more current production issue.

As a war bring-back from his dad, the OP's Nazi dagger is a historical artefact that serves as an important memento to his dad's service and is therefore significant to his family's history.

That's one side of it.

On the other hand, "collectors", especially in the US, take this Nazi stuff way too seriously, much more so than most Germans back then. These daggers, knives, medals etc. have nothing to do with the "distinctive and high-quality designs" of true German military equipment.

Many professional soldiers in the Wehrmacht found the Nazis' attempts at creating basically fake historical traditions with exaggerated decorations, silly uniforms, honorary orders, swords, daggers, all the way up to fat Hermann's "marshal's baton", pretty distasteful and contrary to the rather austere Prussian military tradition.

I have friends who collect German WW II weapons and have quite a few interesting and historically significant guns, but I don't have much use for fans of Nazi memorabilia whose eyes get shiny when they see a swastika stamp on something. But the whole huge trade in fakes capitalizes on there being way too many people like that. But hey, it's a free country.

Man, that thing looks nasty. I like it.