Erfurt 1920 1918 luger

[Don M]

Matt,

The photos are fine. Do you have one that shows whether or not this has a sear safety -- top view showing full width of receiver or left side view?

The unit marking is very interesting and probably quite rare. I have a database of nealry 1200 Weimar-era police unit marks and yours is only the second from the Schupo of Anhalt. The other one is S.Anh.10. and is reported in Jan Still's Weimar Lugers, p. 240. It was on 1916 Erfurt 7471 but was ground off. The mark was revealed by acid etching of the front grip strap, so yours is the only visible one.

Anhalt was one of the small States in the Weimar Republic. Its largest cities were the state capital Dessau (pop. 71,300) and Bernburg (34,300). This unit may have been headquartered in Dessau with responsibility for both cities. If so, it probably had only about 425 men. This would explain the rarity of this marking.

I have been researching and writing articles about the unit markings of the Weimar German police (see http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthre...threadid=11898). I eventually plan to research the meager data from these small states. As yours is the only photo of a marking from Anhalt currently available, I request permission to publish it in a future article. Unless you prefer to remain anonymous, I will credit you for the photo if you will send me your last name. You mail email me at the address below if you prefer not to post it on the forum. Thanks very much for letting us know about this rare marking.