Archaeologists announce discovery of iconic sword lost in WWII Germany

John Oyewale
The Daily Caller
Fri, 23 Aug 2024 22:31 UTC

© State Museums of Berlin, Museum of Prehistory and Early History / Anica Kelp

Overall view of the Wakizashi sword after the restoration processing. The fragmented textile wrapping with parts of the ray skin and the underlying decorative element made of copper (Menuki) is clearly visible.

Archaeologists unearthed a symbolic 17th-century Japanese sword amid ongoing excavations on the oldest market square in Berlin, Germany, the Berlin State Museums announced Thursday.

The archaeologists, from the Berlin State Office for Monument Preservation, found the rusty sword amid World War II-related rubble dug up from cellars buried beneath the Stralauer Straße in the Molkenmarkt ("Whey Market") area, a translation of the announcement revealed.

Initially believed to be a WWII parade saber, the sword was later found during restoration work to be a fragmentary Japanese short sword called a wakizashi, according to the statement.

© State Museums of Berlin, Museum of Prehistory and Early History / Anica Kelp

Detailed view of the handle vein (Fuchi) with the motif of Daikoku, one of the seven Japanese lucky gods, with a hammer in his hand (right) and a sack of rice (left).

The wakizashi's ferrule sported the motif of the Daikoku — "one of Japan's seven gods of luck, recognizable by his attributes of [a] hammer and [a] rice sack," the statement revealed.

The wakizashi's guard plate bore a detail comprising chrysanthemum and waterline motifs, one of the photographs of the sword published in the statement showed.

© State Museums of Berlin, Museum of Prehistory and Early History / Anica Kelp

X-ray of the wakizashi with the recognizable two holes in the handle angle for attaching the wooden handle. It turned out that only one of the two holes was used to fix the subsequent handle.

A pre-restoration X-ray of the sword reportedly showed no blacksmith's signature on it but revealed that the blade was originally longer and that the handle had been added later. While the handle reportedly is from Japan's Edo period (17th-19th century), the blade is possibly a 16th-century one.

"This discovery shows once again what surprising objects are waiting to be discovered in Berlin's soil," Matthias Wemhoff, State Archaeologist of Berlin and Director of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History of the Berlin State Museums, reportedly said.

"Who could have imagined that at a time when Japan was isolated and hardly any European travelers came to the country, such a long-used and richly decorated weapon would end up here in Berlin?" he added.

The wakizashi probably ended up in Berlin through Japanese ambassadors on the Takenochi Mission to Germany's Wilhelm I in 1862 or the Iwakura Mission ambassage 11 years later. "The spatial proximity of the Molkenmarkt with its surrounding aristocratic palaces to the Berlin Palace suggests this," the statement noted.

The wakizashi means "side-inserted" sword as it is worn at one's side and is about 1-2 feet long, according to Ogyū Sorai, a 17th-century Japanese Confucian historian and philosopher. Used as an auxiliary sword by the samurai, the wakizashi could also be used to commit seppuku, a Japanese ritualistic suicide, Sorai observed.

Excavations at the Molkenmarkt, Berlin's oldest market square, also revealed Berlin's oldest street underneath the modern-day Stralauer Straße back in Jan. 2022, according to the European Heritage Tribune.

Comment: From the original article (machine translation):

Restoration of the sword at the Museum of Pre- and Early History

During the restoration work, however, a sensation revealed itself. The strongly corroded sword turned out to be a fragmentary Japanese short sword, a Wakizashi. The handle of the sword was severely damaged by heat. However, the wood of the handle was still given and in places the wrapping of textile and ray skin. After the restoration were exposed to the oxidized and 1 cm wide handle clamps, the motif of Daikoku was shown. He is one of the seven lucky gods of Japan, to be recognized by his attributes of hammer and rice bag. Likewise, after the parade sheet after the release, melted ornaments of chrysanthemum and waterline motifs came to the fore. Based on the motifs and style, the handle could be taken to the Edo period (17 to 19th. century) are dated.

In addition, the sword was X-rayed before the start of the restoration work in order to be able to locate a possibly existing forging brand in advance. A signature of the blacksmith was not found, but the sword kept another surprise on the X-ray images. It became clear that the blade was originally longer and was shortened. The handle probably did not belong to the blade at that time and was attached afterwards. In the handle fishing, two holes, which served to attach the handle by means of two wooden pins, were recognised. However, the existing handle was only fixed by one of these holes. This suggests that the abridged blade has experienced a secondary use as a shorter wakizashi. It is therefore considerably older than the handle and may even come from the 16th century.

Matthias Wemhoff, State Archaeologist of Berlin and Director of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin:

This finding shows once again which surprising objects are waiting for their discovery in Berlin's ground. Who could have imagined that at a time when Japan was isolated and hardly a European traveller came to the country, such a long-used and richly decorated weapon has reached Berlin?

How Wakizashi, whose property was once reserved as a suspended weapon, reached a filled-in cellar of a Berlin residential and commercial building, can only be speculated at this time. Perhaps the sword was a gift from the Takenouchi mission in 1862, or the Iwakura mission of Japanese envoys who visited Europe and the rest of the Western world to build relationships and gather impressions eleven years later. The spatial proximity of the whey market with its surrounding Adelspalais to the Berlin Palace speaks for it. In the castle, Wilhelm I was still king received the Japanese embassy of the Takenochi mission and in 1873 the embassy of the Iwakura mission as Emperor. However, the origin of the sword cannot be associated with the biographies of the former house owners of Stralauer Straße on the Molkenmarkt.

The discovery of the Japanese short sword in the middle of Berlin once again shows what secrets there are still in the earth of the metropolis and how important a detailed reappraisal of the findings in the restoration workshops of the Museum Für Vor- und Frühgeschichte is.