German sword for coment

Jim McDougall · 24th March 2025, 12:59 AM

Serdar, glad to add notes, and appreciate the opportunity to see these examples.

It does seem there are typically very few distinctions in many cases between Dutch and German sword types, and often there were German makers in the Netherlands. Solingen blades typically were exported via Dutch ports, most notably Rotterdam which is why in England they were referred to as 'Dutch'.
Often the Dutch eponym was used there in the notion of 'Duetsch' (=German) was heard as 'Dutch', but the fact that these blades came from Rotterdam in most cases most likely.

The example shown in "Blanke Wapens" (J.P.Puype, 1981, #59, p.54) shows this type of hilt in an 18th c. configuration (1735) reflecting the remarkably long presence of this design in this case in distinctly Dutch context.

I have always found these shell guard type hangers fascinating for their profound use at sea, and associations of course with pirates.

As Andreas notes, it would be good to know blade length. Often these swords with these type hilts are referred to as cavalry swords, suggesting longer blades.

24th March 2025, 12:59 AM	#18
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,196	Serdar, glad to add notes, and appreciate the opportunity to see these examples. It does seem there are typically very few distinctions in many cases between Dutch and German sword types, and often there were German makers in the Netherlands. Solingen blades typically were exported via Dutch ports, most notably Rotterdam which is why in England they were referred to as 'Dutch'. Often the Dutch eponym was used there in the notion of 'Duetsch' (=German) was heard as 'Dutch', but the fact that these blades came from Rotterdam in most cases most likely. The example shown in "Blanke Wapens" (J.P.Puype, 1981, #59, p.54) shows this type of hilt in an 18th c. configuration (1735) reflecting the remarkably long presence of this design in this case in distinctly Dutch context. I have always found these shell guard type hangers fascinating for their profound use at sea, and associations of course with pirates. As Andreas notes, it would be good to know blade length. Often these swords with these type hilts are referred to as cavalry swords, suggesting longer blades.