Post WW2 Turkish Damascus Steel Hitler Letter Opener by Paul Müller c1960

Here on offer is a post WW2 Hitler letter opener made with Turkish Damascus steel that is attributed to the famous Master Damascus Swordsmith, Paul Müller and was possibly commissioned by Colonel Attwood in the 1960’s.

Please note, this is being offered as a REPRODUCTION WW2 letter opener, NOT an original period piece.

The dagger blade shaped letter opener is I believe, made from true Turkish Damascus, easily distinguished by the four panels of Damascus steel. This was the usual medium of steel work that was perfected by Paul Müller and his apprentice Robert Kurten.

The front depicts the profile head image of Adolf Hitler, along with a facsimile of his signature and a Swastika.

The reverse shows the words:

ECHT
DAMAST
P. MÜLLER

There seems to have been a lot of debate about these types of Damascus letter openers, including the famous Himmler version.

My understanding is that the “faking” of German swords and daggers actually began in the early 1960’s when an enterprising American, Lt. Col Attwood, once of the United States Army and later of the Central Intelligence Agency, was then resident in Germany and went to the German city of Solingen. Here he bought up as many bits and pieces of Third Reich German daggers and swords as he could find.

The great majority of these surplus pieces were factory rejects. Missing parts were newly manufactured and the completed items were sold as “parts daggers.”

As the original parts were exhausted, new ones were made until, in the end, the entire dagger was constructed of totally reproduction parts.

It is thought that during this period Colonel Attwood knew Paul Müller was still producing post-war Damascus and he commisoned him to produce various swords, daggers and letter openers.

These where then sold into the collectors market as “genuine” period pieces, some at highly inflated prices!

At that time Paul Müller was not the only smith to produce post-war Damascus. He taught his skill to another trainee smith, who in turn taught his own apprentice, his son, his son-in-law. The revived art of Damascus steel continues in Solingen today and there have been some fine examples of Damascus blades created in recent years.

I believe this is one of those rare reproduction pieces, that is beautiful in its own right and would display well in any collection as a true “reproduction” letter opener by the famous Paul Müller.

It measures 8.25” (21cm) long and is 1.3” (3.3cm) at its wides point.

It weighs 60g

Please see my pictures for the details of the condition, which complement this description.

Please see my TERMS OF BUSINESS regarding Deliver Charges and Insurance regarding additional insurance cover, should you require it, BEFORE the item is dispatched.

The responsibility lies with the customer to check with your Customs restrictions that this item can be imported into your country.

Code: 51157