NPEA-Daggers of the National Political Education Institutions

Models & Variants

• Student / course participant dagger – standard scabbard, no grip eagle.
• Instructor dagger – standard scabbard, with grip eagle (debated internationally).
• Leader dagger – with grip eagle and chain scabbard.

German collectors often use a 3-model scheme; overseas literature sometimes reduces it to 2 models (student & leader/teacher). Period photos show leaders occasionally used standard scabbards for field wear.

Manufacture & Makers

• Burgsmüller (Berlin) as distributor; production largely by E.&F. Hörster.
• Carl Eickhorn produced NPEA daggers with grip eagle (teacher/leader pattern).
• WMW (Max Weyersberg Waffen) – scarce; often aluminum crossguards.
• Hörster also known for presentation/gift daggers (incl. damascus).

Construction & Markings

• Crossguards: early nickel silver; later aluminum or nickel-plated zinc.
• Scabbards: typically olive-green; leader pattern with chain suspension (5/7 links common).
• Motto: etched, depth/color vary by steel/acid/process; no RZM.
• Graduation engravings on crossguards: name, year, school code, dagger no., season (school-specific).

Burgsmüller stamp variants

Multiple logo variants (punctuation/hyphen differences); a missing dot alone is not proof of a reproduction.