LUFTWAFFE EHRENDOLCH (HONOR DAGGER)
The Luftwaffe Ehrendolch, or Honour Dagger, was not a standardized mass-issued sidearm like the well-known SS-Ehrendolch but rather denoted rare presentation or gift versions of the Luftwaffe officer’s dress dagger, often specially commissioned as high-status awards or personal tokens of recognition within Hermann Göring’s air force; evolving from the earlier Deutscher Luftsportverband (DLV) dagger, the first-model Fliegerdolch appeared around 1935 as a relatively long, blue-leather-wrapped weapon primarily for flying personnel and later senior NCOs, featuring nickel or aluminium fittings with sunwheel swastikas, while the far more common second-model Offiziersdolch introduced in 1937 and worn until late 1944 became the classic form with a shorter stiletto blade, white or ivory-coloured grip bound in silver wire, aluminium or alloy pommel bearing a gilded swastika amid oak leaves, and a distinctive crossguard cast with a Luftwaffe eagle clutching a swastika, the whole suspended from dual blue-grey velvet-backed hangers with oak-leaf buckles and finished with a silver portepee; true Ehrendolche elevated this design through luxurious extras such as Damascus-steel blades, elaborate etched or gold-inlaid presentation inscriptions (frequently naming the recipient and sometimes bearing dedications from Göring himself, for example “Meinem getreuen Mitarbeiter”), ivory or amber grips, silvered or gold-finished scabbards, and custom cases, making them exceptional rarities awarded to distinguished officers, aces, or staff for outstanding service, personal loyalty, or commemorative occasions rather than as routine equipment, and today they rank among the most prized and expensive Third Reich edged weapons precisely because of their extreme scarcity, historical association with the Luftwaffe elite, and superior craftsmanship by Solingen makers such as Eickhorn, Weyersberg, or Dinger.
Leutnant der Reserve Leopold Steinbatz (1918-1942) was born on 25 October 1918 in Stammersdorf (now part of Vienna), Austria-Hungary, learned to fly gliders in his youth and trained as a butcher before volunteering for the Austrian Air Force’s Flieger-Ausbildungsregiment at Wiener Neustadt on 1 October 1937; after the Anschluss in March 1938 he transferred to the Luftwaffe, completed fighter-pilot training at the Jagdfliegerschule Wien-Aspern, and at the outbreak of war was posted to 2. Staffel of the Ergänzungsgruppe of Jagdgeschwader 52, later joining 9. Staffel of III./Jagdgeschwader 52 in August 1940. Deployed with his Gruppe to Romania in October 1940 as part of the Luftwaffenmission Rumänien to protect the Ploiești oil fields and train Romanian pilots, he flew ground-attack missions during the Battle of Crete in May–June 1941 before returning to Romania and converting to the Bf 109 F-4; with the launch of Operation Barbarossa he claimed his first aerial victory, a Polikarpov I-16, southeast of Kiev on 4 August 1941 while escorting Ju 87s, and thereafter scored steadily through the battles for Kiev, Poltava, the Crimea and Kharkov, reaching 42 victories by mid-February 1942. For these successes he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 14 February 1942 as Oberfeldwebel and Flugzeugführer in 9./Jagdgeschwader 52; continuing to fly as Hermann Graf’s wingman in the highly successful Karaya-Staffel, he became an ace-in-a-day several times over the Kerch Peninsula and during the Second Battle of Kharkov, raising his tally to 83 by early June and receiving the Eichenlaub on 2 June 1942—the third non-commissioned officer in the Luftwaffe so honoured. Determined to reach 100 victories before leave, he claimed four more aircraft east of Vovchansk on 15 June 1942, bringing his total to 99 in over 300 combat missions, all on the Eastern Front; shortly afterward his Bf 109 F-4/R1 was hit by Soviet anti-aircraft fire northwest of Shebekino and crashed into woodland, his body never being recovered. Posthumously awarded the Schwerter on 23 June 1942 (the only NCO in the entire Wehrmacht to receive this distinction) and promoted to Leutnant der Reserve effective 1 June 1942, Steinbatz remains the sole non-commissioned officer to have earned the Ritterkreuz with Oak Leaves and Swords.
Source :
https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/dagger-ceremonial-officer-luftwaffe/nasm_A19751370000
