The ''SS-Ehrendegen'' or SS Honor Sword, also ''SS-Degen'' (officially ''Ehrendegen des Reichsführers SS''Dienstaltersliste der Schutzstaffel der NSDAP, Berlin, 1943, p. 106), is a straight

dress sword The small sword or smallsword (also court sword, Gaelic: or claybeg, French: or dress sword) is a light one-handed sword designed for thrusting which evolved out of the longer and heavier rapier of the late Renaissance. The height of the small ...

that was worn with a

SS uniform The uniforms and insignia of the ''Schutzstaffel'' served to distinguish the Nazi Germany paramilitary ranks, Nazi paramilitary ranks of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) between 1925 and 1945 from the ranks of the ''Wehrmacht'' (the regular German arme ...

from 1935 to 1945. First introduced in 1935, the SS sword was designed by

Karl Diebitsch Karl Diebitsch (3 January 1899 – 6 August 1985) was an artist and the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) officer responsible for designing much of the SS regalia during the Nazi era, including the chained SS officer's dagger scabbard. Diebitsch worked with ...

, Heinrich Himmler's personal referent on art and design within the SS. It was originally manufactured by the Peter Dan. Krebs firm of Solingen, Germany.Williamson, Gordon, ''Waffen SS Handbook 1933–1945''. The sword has a long thin straight blade produced at different lengths to accommodate for the height of the wearer. The ''degen'' features a "D" shaped knuckle-bow ( crossguard) as the handle, which also features a black ribbed wooden grip. The grip is bound with silver wire and features an inset disc featuring the SS lightning-bolt runes. The scabbard is painted in black enamel and has decorative silvered top ( locket) and bottom ( chape) mounts. It was worn with an aluminium braid

sword knot A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed tip ...

embellished with the SS runes in black on the stem.

Honor award

The officer's sword was officially awarded with a hand-signed certificate from Heinrich Himmler to selected officers of the ''SS- Verfügungstruppe'' and ''SS- Totenkopfverbände'' in recognition of special merit. It was also awarded to officers who graduated from the

SS-Junker Schools SS-Junker Schools (German ''SS-Junkerschulen'') were leadership training facilities for officer candidates of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). The term ''Junkerschulen'' was introduced by Nazi Germany in 1937, although the first facilities were establi ...

, the SS officer training centres. The

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

(NCO) version is similar to the officer version, but the scabbard has a plain, unadorned chape. The NCO version's handle also lacks the silver wire wrapping and the SS runes are moved from the handle to the pommel cap.

Damascus blade

The Damascus-bladed Honour Swords are extremely rare. They were awarded to a select few by Himmler personally, usually to high-ranking SS leaders, or important businessmen or statesmen who held an honorary SS rank of at least SS-'' Oberführer''. Since they were often given to recipients on their birthday (usually their 50th), they are also known as "Birthday Honour Swords".

References

Weapons of the interwar period Modern European swords Nazi SS Nazi symbolism {{Germany-WWII-stub