Honorary Dagger

Introduction, sale and registration were regulated by Order No. 22/62 of the Minister for National Defense of the GDR of April 26, 1962. The Honorary Dagger was used for the parade uniform and the representation uniform (Großer Gesellschaftsuniform).

The sole manufacturer of the edged weapons was the Produktionsgenossenschaft des Handwerks (PGH) Messerschmiede Mühlhausen in Thuringia. At certain points in time 63 partner companies worked for PGH. For example, the Silberwarenwerke Aue took over the manufacture of the blades. They forged the double-edged blades from rust-resistant stainless steel with over 12 percent chrome. This is also where the blades were given their final polish with two fullers on each side and their numbering. The serial number was stamped on the ricasso of the blade and the manufacturer's mark on the opposite side.

Until 1981 the GDR Ministry of Defense bought the daggers every five years. The former Mühlhausen-based manufacturing company, today's Jagd-Schneidwaren GmbH, stated that it discontinued the continuous production of honorary daggers with the last army delivery in 1990.

The only possibility of chronological allocation of the production is the manufacturer's mark: until 1972 the manufacturer’s mark (3 towers in a triangle) was stamped into the ricasso (the churches of Nordhausen viewed from the north). I am  chronoloA request from today's Jagd-Schneidwaren Existing stocks were processed there after the end of the GDR.

66100 1962/1963