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The National Political Educational Institute (Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalt) was an SS-run organization established for the purpose of training future leaders for the Reich. A number of NPEA schools were set-up throughout Germany and many of its occupied countries, with most leaders and instructors coming from the SS. There were three forms of Political daggers associated with the NPEA. The Student version, the Staff Leader and the Chained Leader. The Student version (produced by Karl Burgsmüller and WMW) had no insignia in the SA style wood grip. The crossguards were solid nickel on early versions and aluminum on later types. The scabbards were an all- steel version painted olive drab. There were no mounts on the scabbard. The blades were etched with the motto of the NPEA, Mehr Sein als Scheinen (Be more than you appear). The Staff Leader versions were produced by Eickhorn, and were identical to the Student, except there was a National eagle design in the grip. The Chained Leader (produced by Burgsmüller, Eickhorn and WMW) was worn by instructors and leaders of the NPEA. The dagger itself had the National eagle in the grip but was otherwise the same as the Student version. The scabbard was olive drab, having three nickel plated mounts. The upper and center scabbard mounts carry a chain hanger.

NPEA-001-26871 - NPEA STAFF LEADER DAGGER - CARL EICKHORN

This NPEA Staff Leader dagger has the traditional Eickhorn textbook criteria. It is the same as the example shown in the new Weinand NPEA book on Pages 16 and 17 and is also nearly identical to the example shown in the Johnson Volume VI NPEA chapter on Page 126. This dagger has the standard nickel plated cross guards and tang nut. These cross guards are of a pot-metal base. The plating is still quite good throughout, showing only minor age. There is just the slightest bit of lifting and freckling. The tang nut shows no signs of being loosened. The grip is the standard Eickhorn type which has an aluminum eagle in the center area. The grip itself is a fine looking, greenish color wood having good, close graining. This grip is of medium to sharp contour construction and other than normal usage signs, it is in perfect condition. The grip eagle shows some minor wear to the head and breast areas, but there are still details to the breast feathers and good detail remaining to the open wing feathers, wreath and raised swastika. (We believe in the collecting community that Staff Leader daggers by Eickhorn were really the same as Student daggers, but this was the variety chosen to be produced by Eickhorn. To date, this author has never seen an Eickhorn example which is not equipped with a grip eagle. The scabbard of this piece is straight throughout. This bayonet-like scabbard has an upper throat area which the fatter type used by this firm. It is retained by a center-placed screw in the obverse. The lug of this scabbard is also the typical Eickhorn type, being free of line design and the same as Page 126. The scabbard paint of this example is the olive drab type. It shows some wear throughout, but still has quite a bit of the paint remaining and is not in bad condition. This paint rates at about 75% - 80%. The scabbard is equipped with a vertical style hanger which appears to me to be a K-98 variety. It is in good condition though, and nicely fits this scabbard without a lot of bulbousness at the obverse area around the lug. This frog is also a brown color instead of black. It has the four aluminum rivet construction and there are no markings on the reverse of this frog. There is a good chance that this frog has always been worn with this dagger, as it appears to be a great match. The blade of this piece is still mostly bright but, unfortunately, there is a little bit of smudge which runs throughout most of the surfaces. It is possible to still see some graining, if you look closely. The blade is still a good shape however, and rates in at least excellent condition. The obverse has the etched NPEA motto using the gothic style “S” letters that this firm employed. The darkening in the backgrounds of the letters is still at about 90%. The reverse of the blade is etched with the over-the-shoulder style squirrel. This squirrel was used post-1941. Below the squirrel is the three-line maker marking “Original/Eickhorn/Solingen”. There is a leather washer on this piece which appears original to it. (Normally, the Eickhorn pieces do not have a washer, but this one appears to have always been there). This is a very difficult NPEA variation to acquire. It is not in mint condition, but it is not in poor condition either. It is collectible and should look nice with some other NPEAs displayed in a cabinet. Hard to find variation here. Excellent. $3,395.00(#032008)

NPEA-002-26318C Early NPEA Student’s Dagger with School Markings by Karl Burgsmüller Charlottenberg

This is a beautiful NPEA Student’s Dagger, if you can use this term to describe these pieces. Probably, most new collectors would argue this point, as NPEA’s have not been known for their good looks, especially since the Student type does not even have a swastika anywhere in its design. This piece has the classic early nickel crossguards. The lower example has that “straight across” look, that we are all familiar with on NPEA daggers. The guards have fine smooth surfaces, good crisp edges, and precise accent grooves. The grip is also an impressive piece of wood. It is a brown color, having medium ridge construction. It shows little usage, and is in choice perfect condition. It has a grain which appears to run at almost a 45 degree angle across the obverse grip, and on the reverse, the grain tends to swirl a little bit, giving it almost a burl affect. An extremely attractive grip here. This grip fits the crossguards like a rubber glove. The reverse lower crossguard is stamped with the school initial, as well as the accountability number. It is stamped, “W 012”. If you have a copy of the new Weinand NPEA book, you can see a very similar piece on page 71, in color. It is interesting to note that the “W” positioning on this crossguard is identical to that on the book piece. Also the “0” is in the same position. It is obvious that the same janitor or maintenance man, that was assigned to stamping the daggers from the Wahlstatt School, did the job for both of these daggers. The NPEA School at Wahlstatt was not large, opening on April 8th, 1934. According to Weinand, all daggers, which come from Wahlstatt, are stamped in this same manner, with only the accountability number digits changing. The scabbard of this piece is also a beauty. It is nice and straight, and has impressive olive-drab paint. The paint is simply wonderful, and is easily in 100% condition. It is too good to believe that it can be original, but whomever painted this piece was a real Master, and I must say, it adds much to the good looks of this dagger. The scabbard, of course, is the standard Burgsmüller type, having the smaller lug with dual line decoration. This lug is the same is as shown in Weinand, on page 22. The lower ball is also magnetic, as it should be. (Many times the reproduction scabbards can be easily detected, as the lower ball was made of brass and, therefore, not magnetic). This scabbard is equipped with an outstanding, ultra-rare original, NPEA brown leather frog. This frog is in near mint condition, and has a very rich color ox-blood tone to its leather surfaces. It is quality constructed using four rivets, which are also brown colored to match the leather. It is rare to find these original hangers, let alone one in this kind of a condition. The blade of this piece, as we would hope, is still in good condition. It is nice and bright throughout. I do not see a lot of crossgraining in the surfaces, but there is still some remaining, if you look closely. (I am sure that these young teenage students tended to wipe their blades off a lot, as I know I would if I was one of them!). The blade has some in-and-out marks, and just the slightest couple of very minor smudges. The NPEA motto is nice and dark, appearing to have near 100% of its original backgrounds. This blade easily grades in near mint condition. The reverse ricasso has the firm’s name lettered in an arch shape, “Karl Burgsmüller”. The name is positioned over the city and the section, “Berlin – Charlottenberg 5”. The blade shoulders nicely fit the lower crossguard contour, but there is also a fine original tan felt blade buffer in place. This is an outstanding NPEA dagger, that any collector would be proud to have in his collection. Near Mint (26318-C) $3,795.00(#040408)