What this 1844 Schläger has to do with the Met’s Arms and Armor Collection! —by J. Christoph Amberger More than 30 years ago, I bought a mid-19th-century Schläger at the Maryland Arms & Armor Collectors Show—still the crown jewel of East Coast sword-related events bringing together collectors and historically interested fencers from all over the Eastern United States. It is a basket-hilt or Korbschläger, unmarred by the typical defects that come with weapons that were actually used in the traditional Mensur bouts. While the tin inlay for the basket survived, the fabric with the colors sign ..read more

Supposed to have been stabbed to death in a duel in 1705 or thereabouts, we find ourselves disappointed by reality… The Bleikeller (“lead cellar”) of St.Peter’s Cathedral in Bremen, Germany, contains the desiccated remains of 8 people from the 17th and 18th centuries. Comparatively well preserved (everything considering), the Bleikeller mummies have attracted the curiosity of thrill-seekers for a good three-hundred years. The reputed former inhabitants of these mortal shells make for mixed company—in fact, they resemble the cast of a late-1970’s sit-com, complete with a Swedish countess, an En ..read more

A rare find—first-hand analysis of a deadly bar fight, supported by expert testimony! —by J. Christoph Amberger Culturally appropriated and manhandled into the feaux-leather push-up bra of “martial arts”, the revenants of old German Ritterübungen and Exercitia have enjoyed a 30-year afterlife as fanciful retro-sports. Their postmodern manifestations now run the gamut from therapeutic hipster calisthenics to slugfests between competitors padding their martial intent more thoroughly than hockey goalies. Pouring the grape jelly of “martial arts” over the Exercitia, however, has obscured that the ..read more

Did a recent find bring SHotS to the limits of our research ability? Who can help match the picture with its story? A yellowing black-and-white photo of a pensive saber fencer gazing into the distance. Uniform, hairstyle and the overall “vibe” of the image point at the mid 1930’s. It wouldn’t have caught my attention if it hadn’t been for the blue-ink handwriting in the upper left corner: Otto Voigt Jena In einem Gefecht durch Unfall tödlich verletzt worden. Otto Voigt, Jena. Fatally injured by accident during a fencing bout. He’s not listed among the German saber fencers at the 1932 and 193 ..read more

The 68th Annual Show: March 16-17, 2024 Spring’s usually not (yet) in the air when the Baltimore A&A Show comes to town—but walking past 1,000 (yes, one-thousand!) tables filled with swords, knives, and historic firearms is almost as good. True, prices have been going through the roof and bargains have greatly diminished over the 30+ years I’ve been going there, but occasionally, you still get a decent price on a good historical weapon. As an added benefit, you’re likely to run into a lot of sword enthusiasts: This has become a favorite occasion for historical fencers, HEMA practitioners ..read more

This is part of the SHotS Wayback Machine: Götz von Berlichingen owes his lasting fame to Johan Wolfgang von Goethe’s eponymous 1743 drama, and specifically a line when he calls out to the commander of the superior Imperial troops: „Vor Ihro Kaiserliche Majestät hab ich, wie immer, schuldigen Respekt. Er aber, sag’s ihm, er kann mich im Arsch lecken.“ “I pay my due respect to His Imperial Majesty. You, however, tell him, you can kiss my ass!” The mumbled “Leck’ mich doch am Arsch!” is probably the most durable and well-used literary quote in the German language. Götz (born around 1480, died o ..read more

Just when you thought there couldn’t be anything less interesting than endless Star Wars regressions, here comes The SHotS Origin Story... —by J. Christoph Amberger In 1989, I was a fresh-faced new arrival to Baltimore, then still calling itself “The City that Reads” on the backs of public benches. (Since then, a strange transmogrification has changed that motto from “The Greatest City in the World” to the harsh admonition “Believe!”, left there to peel off by a past administration.) My worldly possessions then consisted mostly of books and photocopies (for a never-finished master’s thesis on ..read more

—by J. Christoph Amberger (republished from a 2019 piece over at Duelingswords.wordpress.com) What follows is a veritable smorgasbord of late 19th- and early 20th-century fencing images illustrating the development of early modern fencing’s combative spaces. You better pour yourself a stiff one. Drills and bouts require an even surface for fencers to move on. Wooden floors covered with fine sand or saw dust were ideal. Less so, but still acceptable, were sanded or graveled walkways that would provide fencers and duelists with reasonably firm attachment to the ground. Footwork quickl ..read more

Since the invention of gunpowder and the handgun, mounted combat emphasized the pistol over the sword. Of course, to cop a phrase from current events, everything was “contextual”… —by J. Christoph Amberger, first published Dec. 30, 2023 But for the invention of bonemeal fertilizer in the 19th century, one probably wouldn’t be able to dig a hole in central Germany without unearthing the skeletons of men and horses that fell during the sundry battles of the Thirty Years War. (Not really our subject here, but this article is simply fantastic!) Preceded by intense shelling from Karthaunen and Feld ..read more

Excavations of Lilla Torg square in Halmstad, Sweden located a number of medieval graves beneath the Franciscan convent of Saint Anna, which operated from 1494 to 1531. Archaeologists from Kulturmiljö Holland uncovered 25 skeletons of 25 sanctified Swedes, among them the skeleton of a 6-foot-2 man with a longsword at his left side. The weapon measured over 4 feet in length. Preliminary X-ray images indicated that the blade is decorated with two inlaid crosses, probably in precious metal. Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article283571918.html#storylink=cpy ..read more