messer, kiegsmesser, grosses messer, langes messer

[cornelistromp]

I have the actual dimensions;
allover 108cm
blade 86cm
original cross 20cm/2cm is missing
grip 20cm
ricasso + steel part of grip 2cm

[cornelistromp]

www.bonhams.com/auctions/14917/lot/154/

[Matchlock]

Another, with a straight but shortened blade, was also sold Bonhams on Nov 30, 2011.

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[cornelistromp]

The following excavated water find, actually is not a messer because it has a pommel and no riveted grip.
but due to the single edged blade there are similarities with the KriegsMesser.
this type can be seen as the precursor of the extremely rare two handed Katzbalger, with 8-shaped guard and similar mushroom shaped pommel.

proabaly from practical considerations the very long parryrods were bent to become less wide in a eight shaped figure, making them more manageable in close combat,while the balance is maintained

landsknecht sword late 15th Century
lenght 114CM
crosswidth 32CM

[cornelistromp]

KHM Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer, Vienna, Austria NR 173 CIRCA 1490

[cornelistromp]

...

[stekemest]

All photos in this thread are copyrighted by either the author of the thread, Cornelistromp, or the authors of the respective posts, except mentioned otherwise.

That's quite funny because some of the pictures themselves are copyrighted, for example those of my own Messer. But I have no problem having them shown here.
I sold my own piece one or two years ago, so unfortunately, I can't show any more pictures. Generally, the typical "Messer" seems to possess a riveted handle because - that's my guess - it evolved out of the "Bauernwehr" (peasant's knife). That's a dagger-length weapon with riveted handle and single edged blade that became popular in the 14th century (for such pieces and their similarities to the "Messer", see, for example, Hugo Schneider: Waffen im Schweizerischen Landesmuseum, p. 268 ff.). There is no strict definition of what a Messer actually is, but to me it makes sense to restrict this term to weapons with riveted handle and single edged blade with varying degrees of curvature.

[batjka]

I am researching bearing of arms by Jews in German lands in the middle ages (of which, contrary to popular belief, there is a good amount of evidence). Curiously, there is a ruling by Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg, who was a leading rabbinical authority in the latter part of the 13th century. In this ruling, Meir of Rothenburg says that is if forbidden to enter a synagogue with an unsheathed Langes Messer. I always thought that the above-named weapon was in use from the end of 14th to the 16th Centuries. Meir of Rothenburg's ruling places it 100 years earlier. So, is there any historical evidence of Langes Messer being in use in the 13th Century?