Tag Archives: Solingen

A German Dragon, by way of Solingen, Tientsin and Canberra

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From the collection of The Australian War Memorial comes this great German-made sword used by the Qi Army in the twilight of Imperial China:

Imperial German Model 1889 sword and scabbard. The grip is brown bakelite held to the tang by two steel rivets and has an oval steel pommel. The blade is a single edge, pipe back with a double edge spear point. The ricasso is stamped with E&F. HORSTER SOLINGEN and there is a leather washer where the blade meets the guard. The steel scabbard is plain with two fixed rings on a band at 50 mm and 150 mm from the throat which is held to the body by two screws. Attached to the lower ring is a chain that is connected to a broken brown leather hanger strap with a brass buckle in the center.

Founded in 1850, Hörster E. & F. Co., Solingen, made military edged weapons through WWII.

The hilt has a half basket steel guard with a Chinese dragon as the cartouche badge.

This sword was brought back from China by a member of the Victorian Naval Contingent in 1900.

Group portrait of Australian Naval Brigade who served in the Boxer Rebellion, 1900-1901

New pokey thing in the collection with a sad backstory

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Bull Moose had this great selection of old Mauser bayos up for grabs.

(LtoR): Spanish wooden handle M43, WWI German S84-98, WWII K98 41 FNJ, WWII K98 WKC Commercial, WWII 41 FFC, and a WWII DURKOPP bayonet.

As I was lacking an ALCOSO K98 bayonet (the third from the right), I picked it up.

The blade has a heavy patina with a few light specks of dust of oxidation but not too much to see the “WaA883” Waffenamt and “41” on the blade. The serial is “5317” and it has a prominent “S” for Solingen.

The “fnj” code denotes ALCOSO manufacturer, that of traditional German blademaker Alexander Coppel GmbH of Solingen. The single-edged blade has been sharpened repeatedly but still has 250 mm (just under 10-inches) of steel to it while the black bakelite panels are intact. Overall length is right at 15-inches. It cleaned up just fine with Ballistol (what else?).

Coppel had a proud history, making everything from swords to penknives and cutlery all the way back to 1821, with their series of officer’s sabers and fireman’s dress swords being particularly popular in Imperial Germany. Sadly, the firm was confiscated during WWII as the family was Jewish. Restored after the war, it still exists as Mars ALCOSO Stahlwarenfabrik GmbH and since the 1950s has specialized in precision-made clippers, scissors, and tweezers for the veterinary market– an almost literal swords-into-plowshares analogy.