Mom Gardening in Yard Finds Buried Sword—Then Realizes What Era It's From
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
When his mom was clearing weeds from her garden in Constance, southern Germany, Conrad, 29, didn't expect her to stumble on a piece of history.
"She was digging out some weeds when she found this buried in the ground." Conrad, who lives in Munich, told Newsweek. "She sent a picture into the family group chat and then wanted to throw it away."
Intrigued, and aware that the region has seen its share of archaeological finds, Conrad suspected it might be something ancient. "Before my parents' house, there were no buildings on this lot, just an empty piece of land. So my parents assumed it was something from a very long time ago," Conrad said.
But it wasn't Roman, Celtic, or prehistoric. It took just a few hours, and the collective expertise of the internet, to reveal the blade's true identity: an M35 Wehrmacht dagger, issued to Nazi military personnel during World War II.
Conrad, who didn't give a surname, shared pictures of the discovery on r/Archeology on Reddit, hoping to find out more about the dagger discovery. Here, people were quick to weigh in.
Pictures of the dagger found in the backyard in Southern Germany.
Pictures of the dagger found in the backyard in Southern Germany.
Illustrious-Donut-/Reddit
The answers were far from what Conrad was expecting. "I took some pictures and thought about how I can find out more about it." Conrad explained. "I knew I could bring it to a historian, but in my experience, Reddit has a lot of forums that can solve this in a matter of hours."
His post on the forum earlier this week amassed 2,500 upvotes, as he shared his initial thoughts on the find.
"When my parents built their house 25 years ago, objects were found that indicate that there was probably an early Alemannic cemetery on this site. There is archaeological evidence of pile-dwelling settlements from the 3rd millennium BC (Neolithic period) in the village," the post said.
"I thought it was a sword from thousands of years ago." he told Newsweek. "People started commenting very quickly, and in a matter of minutes it was determined to be an M35 Nazi army dagger."
Its telltale features—spiral grip, signature guard, and design from the Third Reich era—were unmistakable to the amateur historians online.
Introduced in 1935 by the German Army, the daggers were generally ceremonial and not intended for combat. Instead they were a mark of rank and status, often worn with the dress uniform. For Conrad, the implication was chilling.
Closer pictures of the sword found in Southern Germany.
Closer pictures of the sword found in Southern Germany.
Illustrious-Donut-/Reddit
"I assume that after the war, a lot of soldiers wanted to get rid of the belongings that can link them to the Wehrmacht." Conrad said. "So I assume somebody buried it on this land and then fled to Switzerland which is very close or just continued to live in one of these villages here."
Now with more understanding of the item's history, Conrad is torn about what to do next. "As a German, luckily, I had quite a good education and reflected a lot about our history." he said.
"This find in no way fills me with pride - it's much more a dark reminder about the horrible things Germany has done and how most of the German population participated willingly.
"Therefore, I'm not going to polish it and hang it in my living room. On the other hand, it is a part of history and I don't want to throw it into the trash either." he explained.
A file photo of the WWII German Officer's Dagger.
A file photo of the WWII German Officer's Dagger.
olemac/Getty Images
For now, he's considering seeking a professional's opinion. "Maybe I will bring it to a professional to have a look at it and decide whether it 'belongs in a museum', as so many Redditors have pointed out.
"At the same time I'm pretty sure it was mass produced back then. While it's very interesting and a powerful reminder for me, I don't think it's particularly rare to find something like this, sadly."
This isn't the first time someone has uncovered Nazi history in their home. In 2024 a homeowner was stunned to find Nazi memorabilia in the attic of their new house.
While earlier this year a woman going through her grandpa's things after he passed away aged 100 stumbled across his CV from the 1940s.
Kyra Shishko, 34, from Boston, read Ellsworth Rosen's resume, who passed away on November 21, 2024.
"I was so touched by this resume because I always knew him at the tail end of his impressive life and it was so fascinating to see how he started," she told Newsweek.
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