June 20, 20206 yr #1 Gentlemen, I have a Prussian Land Gendarmerie saber that I thought I would share. It is an interesting example of one of the several swords worn by the Prussian Gendarmerie (Rural Police) over time. Ingo Lohken in his "Die Polizei-Uniformen in Preussen 1866-1945" lists the various swords worn by the Land Gendarmerie prior to 1918. He states that Mounted Gendarms wore the "Kavallerie-Sabel M52" as well as the "Kavallerie-Offiziers-Sabel M52" since 1890. He states these swords were worn with both a D-guard and a basket-guard configuration. The sword that I have has a plain D guard. This particular sword was manufactured by Gebruder Weyersberg in 1854 and has the usual Prussian inspection markings found on these swords on the spine of the blade and the components of the hilt. The sword is also property stamped to the Land Gendarmerie on the back of the blued steel scabbard and on the polished steel guard. I believe this sword started out life as a standard M52 sabre with a basket guard and the basket branches were removed by police armorers altering it to a plain D guard during the period of use. This also occurred in the Bavarian Police where the baskets were removed by grinding them away from their short swords altering them to D guards. The Prussian Police and Wurttemberg Police also altered their M89 IOD by replacing the guard containing the Prussian eagle & Wurtt. Wappen with a brass plain D guard. This is the first example of this M52 Police variation that I have come across.
June 20, 20206 yr #2 SARGE Another great example ! Excellent condition I might add. Thank you for the posting. Tony
June 22, 20206 yr Author #3 Thank you for the reply Tony. This sword is in really excellent condition. The only corrosion is on the drag of the scabbard but it is not really noticeable. The blued scabbard is about 98% and the bright work is very nice. The matching Land Gendarmerie "L.G." property markings are crisp and clear.
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