Extremely Rare German Luftwaffe Prototype Officers Dress Dagger Designed by Paul Casberg for Carl Eickhorn, Solingen, One of Only Two Known Examples to Exist, this dagger is produced in aluminium with the top pommel having ring of angular oakleaves, orange celluloid grip with wire binding, thick ferrule with overlapping circumvented oakleaves. The eagle cross guard is designed in the same style as the famous special pattern sword which was produced by Carl Eickhorn for the wedding sword given to Hermann Goring on the occasion of his wedding to Emmy Sonnemann. The scabbard has three panels of pebbled finish, stylised oakleafs to the bottom and the hanging rings in the same style and the ferrule. The double edged blade has the Carl Eickhorn makers trademark to the base. When stripped down the dagger parts are all stamped with a number ‘2’, another example is known to exist and was featured in the reference work ‘Exploring the Dress Daggers of the German Luftwaffe’ by Thomas Wittmann, which was in the collection of well known US collector, Robert Waitts, his examples parts were all numbered ‘1’, indicating that they made at least two examples of this dagger to present to officials for approval. The reference work by Thomas Wittmann gives the following details, ‘The Luftwaffe prototype features a very distinctive crossguard eagle design being nearly identical to that of the Goering wedding sword. The Carl Eickhorn firm also produced this sword, and often used its likeness in advertising the company’s ability to combine old world craftmanship with the latest in design and technical processes. This prototype dagger indicates the firm considered incorporating some of the swords design elements into a possible new Luftwaffe pattern.’ A extremely rare dagger which would be missing from nearly all of the most advanced Third Reich edged weapon collections.