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Jim McDougall · 11th February 2024, 02:35 AM

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...austrian+notch

Perfect!!! This is a conundrum I began researching back in the 90s, and it is one of the most obscure, untended topic imaginable. In years of research I never found a single tangible answer. All of the suggested purposes were patently infeasible, including the notion of retrieving objects from the ground by horsemen, as these are not of adequate opening to hold anything except perhaps an item of clothing snagged.

While Wagner (where I first saw them in the drawings back in the 70s) has them only on Austrian swords, I wanted to verify these were indeed actually there not just some license. I did get photos of the actual swords Wagner drew from by reaching the museums listed...the notches were indeed true.

Over the years, I did find that some French and German swords that had the notch, again, typically unnoticed so there were of course no theories as to the reason why they were there.

The suggestions of damage was of course ridiculous, these cut notches were deliberate and always strategically placed near the tip on blade back.

There was a suggestion of a notch which placed a barb near the tip, which might cause a distracting cut in sword combat, much like the 'stramazone' slashing cut in a duel. It is known of course that the hussars were known for dashing flamboyance, and in their reputation, there was a great deal of attention to affairs of honor....and duels were not uncommon despite the prohibition. This has been suggested by others, and in the movie "the Duelists", one of the combats was with military sabers.

I have often thought that these 'barbs' or notches were something akin to that described, perhaps to the purpose noted, or possibly added by some hussars or cavalrymen to allude to their potential reputation as a duelist.
Without any viable pragmatic solution, this is the one I most ascribe to at this point.

Pandour officers who were with these auxiliary units for Maria Theresa in the War of Austrian Succession were often Hungarian, thereby of course Austro-Hungarian, and clearly had occasion to follow this apparent custom.

Victrix thank you so much for sharing this amazing saber! and for the opportunity to add yet another page to this ever unsolved mystery. I hope others might add to this topic with any examples they have seen in addition to those seen in the 2009 thread attached.

11th February 2024, 02:35 AM	#4
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,773	http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...austrian+notch Perfect!!! This is a conundrum I began researching back in the 90s, and it is one of the most obscure, untended topic imaginable. In years of research I never found a single tangible answer. All of the suggested purposes were patently infeasible, including the notion of retrieving objects from the ground by horsemen, as these are not of adequate opening to hold anything except perhaps an item of clothing snagged. While Wagner (where I first saw them in the drawings back in the 70s) has them only on Austrian swords, I wanted to verify these were indeed actually there not just some license. I did get photos of the actual swords Wagner drew from by reaching the museums listed...the notches were indeed true. Over the years, I did find that some French and German swords that had the notch, again, typically unnoticed so there were of course no theories as to the reason why they were there. The suggestions of damage was of course ridiculous, these cut notches were deliberate and always strategically placed near the tip on blade back. There was a suggestion of a notch which placed a barb near the tip, which might cause a distracting cut in sword combat, much like the 'stramazone' slashing cut in a duel. It is known of course that the hussars were known for dashing flamboyance, and in their reputation, there was a great deal of attention to affairs of honor....and duels were not uncommon despite the prohibition. This has been suggested by others, and in the movie "the Duelists", one of the combats was with military sabers. I have often thought that these 'barbs' or notches were something akin to that described, perhaps to the purpose noted, or possibly added by some hussars or cavalrymen to allude to their potential reputation as a duelist. Without any viable pragmatic solution, this is the one I most ascribe to at this point. Pandour officers who were with these auxiliary units for Maria Theresa in the War of Austrian Succession were often Hungarian, thereby of course Austro-Hungarian, and clearly had occasion to follow this apparent custom. Victrix thank you so much for sharing this amazing saber! and for the opportunity to add yet another page to this ever unsolved mystery. I hope others might add to this topic with any examples they have seen in addition to those seen in the 2009 thread attached. Attached Images Last edited by Jim McDougall; 11th February 2024 at 02:59 AM.