Most German sword collectors are aware that the master German sword Smith Paul Muller was contracted with Himmler and the SS to produce swords at the forge at Dachau from 1938 onwards. Besides producing exotic pieces at the forge for Himmler, his trainees and apprentices were also making kept busy producing many standard SS Officer, NCO and Officer Candidate swords and daggers. Muller was the first smith to use stainless steel in the manufacture of sword parts. Stainless was made up of an alloy mix with steel which had a chromium content of at least 4% allowing it to resist rust making it a good choice for sword making. Most of the D guards and hilt parts were made from stainless which gave it more of a chrome appearance compared to the usual nickel silver. The dachau swords have no stepped area at the upper hilt. There was no artificial patination to the background areas of the lower ferrule oak leaf and acorn design. The Dachau scabbard shell and mounts are of a slightly smaller girth than that of earlier swords. These thinner scabbards are easy to spot. The Dachau produced swords were never SS proofed.
This Dachau produced SS Officer Candidate Sword is in good condition with the exception of the top fitting to the thin style scabbard is missing, the scabbard also shows some paint loss. The rest of the sword conforms to the technical aspects of Dachau produced swords. This is a reasonably priced sword with some overseas dealers asking $US3500.