Description
The story of the Schloß-Garde-Kompagnie is one of the more interesting to come from the Kingdom of Prussia. I only started learning about the Schloß-Garde-Kompagnie a few years ago. Like many Imperial German Period collectors, I had not heard of the Schloß-Garde-Kompagnie. I misunderstood their role as compared to the Regiment der Garde du Corps. I had also thought of the Garde du Corps as the Kaiser’s personal guard. I thought this function was true for all situations. We have all seen photographs of the Kaiser in the field or on parade with men from the Garde du Corps surrounding him, holding his personal standard.
This was all true, however, the Schloß-Garde-Kompagnie served as the Kaiser’s personal guard at his palaces. They were a highly-decorative unit in performing this function. To that end, highly-experienced soldiers who had proven themselves in previous duties were selected for the Schloß-Garde-Kompagnie. It was, in fact, Kompagnie sized. Generally one officer commanded the Kompagnie while all the other soldiers were feldwebels.
Today we are offering one of the rarest edged weapons from the Imperial German Period. It is a very handsome ceremonial officer’s sword from the Schloß-Garde-Kompagnie. The sword is technically known as a Court Degen. It has brass fittings. Its hilt is silver-wire-wrapped. The degen’s pommel is a magnificent crown. The blade is unadorned and shows no manufacturer’s hallmarking. The scabbard is black leather with brass fittings. Sheathed, the degen measures 39 1/4″ from the crown’s top to the scabbard’s bottom. Unsheathed from the scabbard, the degen measures 39″ from the crown’s tip to the sword point. The blade itself measures 32 3/4″ from the felt buffer to its tip.
I must share with you the fact that this degen has undergone a complete restoration by Germany’s premiere restoration expert specializing in swords and pickelhauben. This man is nothing short of a genius at his craft. Had he not assured me that the sword could be restored to its former glory, I would not have purchased it. The scabbard in particular is amazing, compared to what I saw when I first purchased it. Every detail of the degen has been lovingly-looked after. This man’s work is so good, I believe many experienced blade collectors would not realize it has been restored and presumed that this sword was in its original state. It is a VERY rare sword, one of the most important we have offered.
Take a good look at the extensive photographs accompanying our description, because you may never get to see another sword like this one!
