Langes Messer
Also known as: Messer, Großes Messer
A single-edged cutting weapon from southern Germany and the Alps with a knife-style hilt and a Nagel projection on the guard, attested from around 1430.
Quick Facts
About the weapon
Messers appeared in southern Germany, Switzerland or northern Austria in the early 15th century; the oldest known depiction dates from around 1430. They developed from small civilian knives of low social status, called Bauernwehr and Hauswehr. Known centres of production were Passau and Solingen, from where the weapons spread along river trade routes and Hanseatic shipping lanes. The blade is single-edged and sits in a knife-style hilt: a flat tang is clamped between two wooden scales, pinned or riveted on. On the right side of the guard a nail-like Nagel projection sticks out perpendicular to the blade's flat, protecting the knuckles. Surviving pieces have an overall length of around 76 cm with a 62 cm blade and weigh roughly 0.9 to 1.1 kg. No known period text marks the boundary between the smaller Bauernwehr, the messer and the two-handed war Kriegsmesser, and it remains a matter of judgement. Fighting with the messer is described in the fencing manuals of Johannes Lecküchner, Hans Talhoffer and Paulus Kal.
Parts of the weapon
- Guard — Nagel
Care and maintenance
Historical sources
- Talhoffer Fechtbücher (Hans Talhoffer, 1448–1467)
- Kunst des Messerfechtens (Cgm 582) — Hans Lecküchner, 1482