Grosses messer
A
großes Messer (meaning
great knife, also called
Langmesser or
Hiebmesser) was a type of
German single-edged
weapon, similar to a
falchion, that was used during the 15th and 16th centuries.
großes Messer, or simply
Messer, was the term used in the
15th century, and the weapon's
16th-century evolution into a typical wooden training weapon was known as a
Dussack.
Much less expensive than an actual sword, it was the weapon of the common man. Used for menial work in addition to battle, the
großes Messer or
Hiebmesser sported a short, deep blade with a single curved edge that led to a clipped-back tip (like a
kilij). Its
hilt looked very much like that of a
bastard-sword with a lower
crossguard or
quillon. Quite notable in its construction was the attachment of blade to hilt via a slab
tang sandwiched between two wooden
grip plates that were pegged into place. Also of note is that many
pommels were 'drawn out' or curved to one side of the hilt (edge side), a feature known as a "hat-shaped pommel". Extant examples seem to have an overall length of 40-46 inches, with a 31-inch blade, and a weight between 2.5 and 3 pounds.
The corresponding
Swiss weapon was the
baselard.
This shape of Messer also was called a
langes Messer, or long Knife. It was part of several fencing manuals in the 15th century and was displaced by the Dussack in the 16th. Such manuals were
Lecküchner,
Codex Wallerstein,
Albrecht Dürer, and much more.
In Vienna there was also a different shape of
großes Messer. This kind was more than 1500 mm long and shaped like a
scimitar. It was the Hungarian version of the German
Zweihänder, also called
Bidenhänder or
Bihänder, and was used for cutting off the tops of the opponents' lances. It was also part of the Viennese townguards.
* The character
Dracule "Hawkeye" Mihawk, from the fictional series
One Piece, wields a
grosses Messer, called "The Black Sword".
*
Johannes Lecküchner
