UBB.threads Forums Edged Weapons The BCN Bayonet Forum Etches By Holler

Hopefully, this thread will get a better response than the one that I started a while back on Pack etches.

Holler was a prolific maker and marketer of etched bayonets. Their etch patterns, unlike those of E.Pack or Eickhorn or Puma, were sold to other manufacturers, like Alcoso, Horster, Herder, WKC, etc.

Their etch patterns are unique, a delight for the eyes and prolific.

I will start with Alcoso.

The first etch I am showing here is NOT a Holler pattern, but seems only to appear on Alcoso marked bayonets. I show it here for the sake of completeness since I will be showing other ACS etches by Holler.

This is a standard Neutral etch that could be sold to all services and a picture of this appears on page 94 of Wayne Techet's great book, German Etched Dress Bayonets.

This second Alcoso etch is thought to be a Holler etch. This pattern can be seen on a Horster marked bayonet on page 135 of Wayne's book.

Again, it is a neutral etch but, in this case, it is dedicated to Infantry Regiment 57 out of Seigen. The bookends on this etch do not appear in the Holler catalogue.

Next up is a long, double etched variety.

On the obverse, you can see the etch pattern ES102 from the Holler catalogue and pictured on page 95.

The reverse has the etch pattern, D201, with the machine gunner and the anti tank gun, as seen on page 188.

And, here is the short version of this same etch, ES102 on the obverse and D201 on the reverse.

The big difference between the two etch sizes is the shorter version omits the right hand side eagle and bookend.

Also, you can note on the bookends in particular, how Holler etches can be a bit sloppy in details when compared to other large etch makers.

One of the best looking and great to display etches on the Alcoso marked blade is this one.

The obverse is the standard time of service ES102 etch pattern by Holler, seen on page 95.

The reverse has two Panzers crossing a field, as seen on page 98, with a dedication to Reconnaissance Unit 13. And, we know that recon cars were either specially built Panzers or modified obsolete tanks. This is a very rare etch and often faked.

My last Alcoso marked etched bayonet is the long version of the one that Stingray showed in a separate thread in this forum.

The obverse has the standard ES102 time of service neutral etch as seen on page 95.

The reverse has single boat Pioniere motif that is seen on page 99. Another very rare etch, this is a beauty to display.

This ends my Alcoso blades. But, more Holler etches will follow shortly.

John

Very nice John as usual.
I would like to thank for interesting and mainly instructive thread.

Regards
Stingray

John,

Very informative with excellent pics to help. Thanks man, nice job.

Thanks, guys.

Before I go for breakfast (it's 0630 here in Calgaryland), I want to show you this one Holler etch.

On a R.A.Herder marked bayonet, it is somewhat unique. All Herder etches that you will find would have been produced by Klaas, except for this one. Why? Who knows.

It is a short single etched version dedicated to Panzer Regiment 1 out of Erfurt. This etch is pictured on page 220. You don't often find dedications to Panzer units.

FYI, the 1st Panzer Regiment out of Erfurt and the 2nd Regiment out of Eisenach were combined with the 1st Schutzen Brigade, the 4th Reconnaissance Company, the 37th Artillery Regiment and the 37th Communications Company into the 1st Panzer Division in 1935. The 2nd Division was involved in the occupation of Austria, but the 1st Panzer Division, as a complete unit, had its debut in the invasion of Poland in 1939.

John

John,
Thanks for all the great pictures. I wish my old mind could get adjusted to these new modern cameras.
Sincerely,
HUBERTUS

I have two E&F Horster etches, both of which are credited back as Holler made etches, even though neither pattern seems to appear in their catalogue.

The first one to show you is a short single etch item with a dedication to a Recon Unit out of Kornwestheim. This etch pattern can be seen on page 135. There is a more elaborate version of this pattern and a dedication to Recon Unit 5 that can be seen on page 138. But, this is the simpler one.

My other Horster marked etched blade is also pictured on page 135.

It is a long, single etch with stag grips and dedicated to Infantry Regiment 57 out of Siegen. The bookends are unique, but the etch sure looks like a version of Holler's ES 102 pattern.

John

You probably have one of these but here is mine.

Terry:

This Arthur Evertz etch is not pictured in Wayne's book on an Evertz blade.

It is, however, the same etch as on an Alcoso marked blade (see page 94). Probably by Holler, since Holler did provide the etches for other Alcoso patterns and for the one Evertz blade that is pictured in the book.

But, it seems that, whoever made this etch, they only made it for ACS and AES... and, until I saw this blade here, I would have said only for ACS.

As usual, Terry, you have great items that are unique and display beautifully.

John

John Z,

I'd say all you gents who've contributed to this fine thread "have great items that are unique and display beautifully ..."

Thanks for the great snaps and info!

Bill

WKC seems to have purchased their entire line of etches from Holler. And, it is a pretty extensive lineup, too.

I only have a few of the etches pictured in Wayne's book.

First up is a long bladed, double etched, stag handled WKC item.

The obverse is Holler's etch pattern ES103 with a Heer eagle and as pictured on page 235 (the one called picture 'B').

The reverse is pictured on page 236 (also called 'B')and is a dedication to Jaeger Regiment 99. This side, as well, is a variation of the ES103 etch by Holler.

While not maker marked, this blade for sure is a WKC blade with a double etched blade by Holler.

The obverse of this short blade is the ES103 type etch with a Heer eagle and is pictured on page 235 bottom (as picture 'B'). This has the oak leaf variation that has the smaller oak leaves pointing directly at the swastika being held by the eagle.

The reverse of this short blade has the unique-to-WKC etch of oak leaves found at the top of page 236.

I also have this same etch pattern on a long WKC marked blade.

On the obverse is the ES103 type etch pictured on the bottom of page 235 with a Heer eagle.

On the reverse is the spray of oak leaves pictured at the top of page 236.

The above mentioned pattern has a small variation etch on the obverse side.

The ES103 pattern etch on the obverse has a small difference in the way the oak leaves in the centre, the ones pointing at the swastika. This is pictured at the top of page 235. You can see the oak leaves are straighter, more pointed, whereas the other two had oak leaves a little droopy.

The same oak leaf spray pattern appears on the reverse as can be seen on page 236.

Here are comparison shots of the etches.

The last WKC marked etch that I have to show you is also a variation of the Holler pattern ES 103.

This pattern has a Luftwaffe eagle in the centre, vs the Heer eagle that we have seen above.

It is a single etched long blade with the WKC TM.

Later this weekend, I will finally start in on my Holler marked Holler etches.

John

John

Keep posting please as I for one am enjoying your collection immensely. I'm a complete novice with these things and am enjoying all the variations you have posted.

Keep it up

Gary

My first Holler etch in this post is a long bladed, single etch.

This pattern appears in the Holler catalogue as the ES103 pattern and is pictured on page 172 and page 179. It has a grat picture of a biplane with the German crosses on the wings and is obviously meant for the various Luftwaffe branches.

This is a long bladed, single etch.

You can see this pattern, but not this exact etch, on page 181 at the top of the page.

The etch consists of a flowing dedication surrounded by oak leaves. It is dedicated to Recon Unit 5 out of Kornwestheim.

This is a long, double etched variety that shows off the most common of the Holler etch patterns.

The iconic Holler etch is the ES104, the 3 scene etch that was made to cover as many services as possible. The etch consists of a pair of soldiers with a machine gun, an anti tank or small artillery gun and crew and the scene of a tank cresting over a hill. This pretty well covers the Wehrmacht, doesn't it? The etch pictured here is the same as on page 176 and has the floral/oak leaf bookends.

The obverse of this blade has the Infantry D201 etch, which consists of a machine gun and crew, an infantryman and a anti tank or small artillery gun and crew. This scene is enclosed by a Wehermacht eagle on both ends along with bookends that look like the ones on the ES102 etch on page 172. You can find pictures of this etch on page 173 and 188.

So, here is my long ES104/D201 etch.

I also have a double etched piece with the ES104 etch on the obverse and a version of the D102 etch on the reverse.

The ES104 is the 3 scene etch as pictured on page 186 at the bottom. It is on a short blade, so that the bookend closest to the crossguard is omitted.

The reverse is the pattern ES102, again the right hand bookend is cut off.. eagle but no bookend. And, the dedication on this side is to Artillery Regt 46 out of Amberg.

It has the Holler TM as well as the mark for the distributor Hans Prem of Amberg.

This is a long double etch blade.

The obverse has the 3 scene ES104 etch. Nothing that we haven't seen before, right?

It is the reverse etch that is interesting and which caught my eye on this one.

It is a new version, not pictured, except for the bookends, which you can see on page 186. The dedication is to Recon Regiment 6 and has the picture of a single recon car in the middle.

Neat stuff, eh? (as we Canadians say).

Wow John, you can make a reference book from your collection.

Stingray

Stingray:

You posted a short version of this etch pattern recently.

Here is my long version of a double etched piece.

It has the ES102 memory of my service etch on the reverse and the Pioniere D203 etch on the obverse.

The Pioniere etch is not exactly the same as pictured on page 185 of Wayne's book, but is more like the one pictured in the Holler catalogue on page 173.

I am willing to listen to criticisms of this etch.

Here is an interesting double etch.

On one side, we have the ES102 remembrance etch dedicated to Artillery Regt 34 of Trier.

On the other side, we have a very pretty etch with a horse drawn artillery and caisson unit. You can see pictures of this side of the etch on page 183. Also, note that the standard bracketing by Heer eagles is absent from this etch.

That is a double WOW from me. I have gotten to see a few of Johns bayonets at the SOS shows. Johns got one of the best collections in North America.

The last etch by Holler that I have to show you is a double etch as well.

On one side, we have the standard remembrance etch, ES102, with no citation at all. This appears on page 174.

On the other side, is a pattern that has no number, but is for an artillery unit. It depicts a half-track vehicle pulling an artillery piece.

Now, isn't that the most amazing thing?

This finishes my Holler etches.

Give me some time, and maybe we can start on Pumas and Klaases.

Enjoy and please feel free to add any of the missing items that you may have on hand to this thread. I would love to see the ones that I don;t have, and I am sure, that there are many of those.

John

This double etched WKC came from the latest Craig auction.

I wanted this etch since it would complement a dedication that I already had in my collection, but on an Eickhorn marked blade.

It is a long blade and has the neutral army etch and army eagle made by Holler for WKC. You can see this etch on page 235 of Wayne's book marked as 'A'. I already had a version of this neutral etch, marked 'B' in my collection, but this was a neat plus to what I had originally wanted to get.

The obverse etch is dedicated to the 41st Infantry Regiment out of Amberg (see page 237 of Wayne's book). Now, it is pretty easy to find this Infantry Regiment dedication on an Eickhorn etch, but not so much on a WKC etch.

And, as we know, WKC blades were etched by Holler.

John

Hey John,
What can I say but absolutely beautiful, I'm so amazed at the detail of these etches. I like looking at these with a 10x eye loop to catch all the fine detail. Thanks for the great post and pictures, we all know how hard it is to take pictures of these blades, you know with the glare and all. Nicely done!!!

Rich

And, just in today, sort of a warm up for next week's SOS, is this neutral etch by Holler.

This etch is pictured in Wayne's book on page 174 at the top. Mine is on a short blade and is a single etch.

It is rated as Common by Wayne, but I haven't seen many of these at all in my travels. The most common Holler etch is the ES104, the three scene etch with the machine gunner, the anti tank gun and the tank.

John

I have two Holler etches to show you.

The first is a long, single etched neutral format, dedicated to Inf Regt 3 out of Mohrungen. It is on a Pioniere hilt, which is what attracted me in the first place. But, what clinched it for me was that this etch pattern is not in the Holler catalogue, however, a version of this does appear on a Horster marked bayo that can be seen on page 135 of Wayne's book. But, it is slightly different from the Horster etch.. look at the lack of curlicues on either side of 'Fur Ehrinnerung'

John

This second one is a short single etch blade featuring the ES102 design, but with a Flak gun replacing the eagle on the right hand side of the etch. Again, this pattern doesn't appear directly as such in the Holler catalogue, but this etch does appear on a Horster marked bayo which can be seen on page 137 of Wayne's book. And, unknown to me until it arrived, it came with a set of dog tags.

John

Here is an unmarked, but definitely by Holler, etch.

It is the ES102 pattern with a Luft eagle in the right hand eagle position on a long blade.

This exact etch can be seen in Wayne's book on page 203, but there it is on a Seilheimer marked bayo.

The only thing that bothers me about this bayo is the slight misfit to the mortise key, but I can live with it as is.

John

At this year's MAX, I picked up this single etched bayo ... the etch is the neutral and not in the Holler catalague etch found on page 174 of Wayne's book, but it is on a Paul Seilheimer marked ahort bayonet.

I guess that I must be getting anxious because I am now duplicating etches on different maker marked bayos.

John

On page 181 at the top, you will see this etch. It is dedicated to an Anti Tank Unit 25 out of Kornwestheim.

A single etch on a long blade, this pattern also appears with a dedication to Recon Unit 5 also out of Kornwestheim.

John

On page 71 of Wayne's great book, you can see a Holler etch dedicated to the Condor Legion. This etch design, by the way, with the addition of a few frills, became the standard Luftwaffe etch, ES103, in their catalogue.

Heavily faked, this is a very hard to find etch in any condition. Lucky for me, I found it on Grant Bias's table and had an army of friends and experts who helped me verify that it is surely the real deal. I learned that this etch should only be on a short blade. The blade tip is a bit rounded, but, heck I buy these things for the etch not the tip of blades.

Here it is,

John

The second Holler etch pick up at the show was this long, double etched blade.

On the obverse, you will find the standard remembrance etch pattern, ES102, and the Holler TM.

The reverse shows a three man comunication crew setting up a site. You can see this etch on page 69 of Wayne's book.

I have been searching for this for a long time.

Don't you just love this stuff?

John

John,

In my eye I don't think the rounded tip hurts that nice blade at all. I love viewing your new finds.Congratulations!

I have been looking for a while to get an ES101 pattern etch... the one that is dedicated to anti tank or to artillery units.

I finally found one.

The obverse has the ES104 pattern etch, the so called 3 scene etch with the machine gunner, the anti tank unit and the tank cresting a hill. The obverse also has the Holler TM, often found on Hollers, whereas most other makers will have the Tm on the reverse.

The reverse has the ES101 pattern dedication as seen on page 246. It is to an artillery unit 13 out of Magdeburg. To add icing to the cake, this side also has the distributor, Hans Grunewald, stamped on the blade.

John

This in from the Packman himself.

A Holler produced etch, it has the ES102 pattern with the Helmet replacing the back eagle.

You can see this bookend pattern on page 178 of Wayne's book and this exact etch on page 137 on a Horster marked bayo and on page 204 on a Seilheimer marked one.

There is no maker mark on this blade, but there is a distributor, Esser & Co. of Cologne. I would guess that the distributor, who was a big time Eickhorn client did not want it obvious that he was buying Holler etches, so he asked that only his name be on the blade.

Here it is,

John

While you guys were carousing at the MAX, I was carousing in the UK and Norway.

During my travels, I did find a large number of Norwegian items from both sides of the war.

And, I found a couple of German items as well.

This is a long single etch no maker marked bayonet. The etch patter is by Holler and was produced for the EF Horster company. This etch pattern is very similar to the Pack neutral pattern No 11, but is very much like the pattern by Holler shown on a Horster bayo on page 135 of Wayne's book.

It has two things going for it that made me want to add this to my collection.

1) the dedication to Geb Jaeger 99 is a hard to find dedication and I already have one such on a WKC bayonet (also produced by Holler).

2) there are subtle differences in the etch body, especially around the inside borders surrounding the dedication... I show this on one of the pictures.

Here it is,

John

Back to the top

Back to the top

Purcchased after teh SOS from my good friend, Paul Hogle, of lakesidetrader.com is this short single etched Holler marked bayonet.

It has the standard Holler ES102 pattern, which is pretty easy to find. It is the dedication to a Cavalry regiment 18 that made it a sure thing for me. You can find lots of unit designations if you look hard enough, but when have you seen a Cavalry dedication? I would presume that such dedication, along with such other rare dedications as ones to Bicycle or Motorcycle units, would be the rarest of all etches to find, maybe only outdone by dedications to individual people (one offs, I call them).

John

Also, from Paul, is this long single etched Horster marked bayonet.

The etch is a varriant of the ES103 Luftwaffe etch found on page 179 of Wayne's great book.

The two variations that made this a must buy for me were:

- the different airplane etch
- the dedication to the airfield.

Can anyone help me by identifying the inscription and its location?

John

Wow John when do you find time to sleep!!
My hat is off to you for your photography. Blade etches have always been a challenge for even the best photographers!

John,Schwaebish-Hall is a town in Baden-Wurtemburg the airfield is still in operation. I believe the luftwaffe had a training base there. The bayonet was discussed some time back when I owned it. Glad you like it. Larry

Thanks, Larry, I really do like it.

If you have any more etches taht you are looking at moving out of, send me a PM.

John

Another find from the Cashi collection is this long, double etched Horster marked bayonet.

Now, Horster bought their etched bayonets from Holler, we know that.

On the reverse, we find the Holler ES102 style etch and you can see it in Wayne`s book on page 136A. But, this one is dedicated to Inf Regt 115 out of Worms. Interesting and a neat attraction to this bayonet.

But, the reason that I had to have this etch is on the obverse. At first blush, it looks like the standard ES104 Holler etch, the so-called three scene pattern, with the blunt bookends. But, unlike the pictured ES104 in the catalogue, the order of the three scenes is reversed: the tank is closest to the blade tip, followed by the anti tank unit and with the machine gunner closest to the crossguard.

To illustrate this, I will show you the standard ES104 etch on a Holler marked blade.

Now, you know why this blade is resting in place in the Great White North.

John

Here are the two ES104 patterns.

First, the Horster reversed 3 scene.

Next, the Holler regular shown in catalogue 3 scene.

What a great hobby where you can find new things all of the time!

John

John
Is it true you had to add a couple rooms to your home to store you collection

Terry:

Not true... but I have added 3 sub basements.

All kidding aside, our good friend, Bill Warda, built a cabinet for me to store my etched bayonets in... I am running out of room in it though.

John

John
Now that is nice. Easy to open a drawer and be amazed.

Very nice John
How many cabinets like this you have ?
One for each maker ?
One time I have to visit your bunker my friend

I remember seeing a picture of that cabinet before. Between Bill's craftsmanship & the beautiful contents, it stayed in my memory. Well done John, as always.

Just arrrived into the hot, muggy North, is this Horster marked bayonet with another Holler variant etch.

As an aside, one of my pet peeves is the fleabay seller who will not ship into Canada. I have never had any problems with any items shipped to me from anywhere in the world, and do not expect any in the future as long as the shipment is packed well and described properly and valued accordingly. So, here is this fleaby item, an etch pattern that I do have, but to a unit that is pretty rare and for which i already have two etches. So, I did want this. What to do? Well, my friend, Mat J, who had pointed this bayonet out to me on the bidding site, volunteered to bid on this for me. He did, we were the high bidder at a decent price, and the package was double shipped to me (first to Mat, then reshipped to me). I am blessed by having friends like Mat on this forum who go out of their way to help a poor, backwoods type of guy like me. You know who you are.

Enough rant, back to the bayonet.

This is a long, single etched bayonet and can be seen on page 136B of Wayne's book. It is a variant on the ES102 Holler etch with a helmet in place of the eagle near the crossguard. The dedication is to Jaeger Regiment 99. And, like some Jaeger dedications, it has a really nice stag grip. The maker mark is Horster.

Here are pics.

Here are my three Jaeger Regt 99 etches:

Holler etch on Horster marked blade
Pack etch on unmarked blade
Holler etch on WKC marked blade.

What a great hobby!

john

Hello: John
Tip of the year...
Holler Horster and E.Pack among others did not do there etching in house.... It was all sent out to one particular sub contact etcher..

Regards: James

That I did not know... I was following the path outlined in Wayne's book, where a number of etchers, like Eickhorn, Klaas, Puma, Holler and Pack did their production in house and sometimes subcontracted their etchings to other makers.

Who was the master etcher, James?

Just a few did in-house work.. And even Eickorn did farm things out somtimes..
There was a few plating and etching companies in the Solingen area.
I have been working on this and will have a work update for the MAX show..

I won't be at the MAX, but maybe we could talk about this at the SOS?

Just in from a pickup at the SOS is this long beauty. You can see this etch pictured in Wayne's book on page 73. It is a ricasso etch and the only marking on the blade other than the Holler thermometer TM. It came with a great scabbard and frog as well, but I care not for these, really only for the blade and the etch.

This is the first one of these I have seen for sale ever. Thank you, Jim Taylor!

John