Description:

GEN. FRANZ HALDER'S DREYSE MODEL 1907 PISTOL
‘OFTEN TOOK MY PISTOL WITH ME WHEN I WENT TO VISIT HITLER. I WAS SO FURIOUS I WAS PREPARED TO SHOOT HIM AT ANY TIME.'
An extremely important relic originating from the personal possessions of German General FRANZ HALDER (1884-1972), Chief of Staff of the German ‘Oberkommando des Heeres' (OKH), or Army High Command, from 1938 until his removal in 1942, his Dreyse Model 1907 pistol, with which he once fantasized about assassinating Adolf Hitler. The pistol, chambered in 7.65mm Browning (.32 ACP), has a barrel length of 3.6 in., overall length 6.3 in. The maker's rollmark on the left-hand side reads ‘Dreyse Rheinische Metallwaren- & Maschinenfabrik ABT. Sommerda', with three commercial nitro proof marks ahead of the rollmark on the lower and upper frames, and on the slide. The right-hand side of the frame shows an Imperial German acceptance cipher just before the ejector port. The serial number ‘157372' appears on the top of the breech block just behind the slide, as well as on the lower frame just before the magazine well, and the upper frame ahead of the chamber, indicating manufacture in 1917. The Dreyse was among several 7.65mm pistols utilized as sidearms by German officers during World War I, and the manufacturing date and Imperial acceptance mark suggest that this pistol was received by Halder while serving in that conflict as a staff officer. The pistol has been personalized in several ways: the lanyard ring has been removed from the left-hand side of the grip, and the stock grip panels have been replaced with clear lucite examples, with an image of potted flowers placed beneath the left-hand panel. Most uniquely, the right-hand grip panel covers a slip of paper bearing the signature ‘Franz Halder' in blue ink. The pistol is accompanied by a correct, unmarked magazine with six indicator holes. The blued finish shows some discoloration just behind the ejector port, with some slide wear visible to the frame and some very slight holster wear, in NRA ‘excellent' condition overall. This pistol is a vivid representation of Halder's deteriorating relationship with Hitler as the Fuhrer pursued increasingly disastrous courses of military action from the proposed invasion of the Czech Sudetenland in 1938, avoided only by Chamberlain's surrender at Munich, to the failure of the German offensives on the Eastern Front, culminating in Halder's dismissal in 1942. He was quoted in interviews conducted later in life: ‘I often took my pistol with me when I went to see Hitler. I was so furious that I was prepared to shoot him at any time. But I did not do it, because I knew that nothing would be changed.' This statement encapsulates both the depth of his personal revulsion and the strategic paralysis that plagued much of the military resistance. This tension would be readily apparent in Halder's heavy involvement in the proposed plot to arrest Hitler should he attempt to go to war with Czechoslovakia in 1938, and his continued involvement with other plans to depose the Fuhrer up to his dismissal. Halder, deeply aware of how entrenched Hitler's regime had become, felt that even if Hitler were assassinated, the Nazi system might continue without him, an opinion shared by other skeptical generals of the time.

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April 21, 2026 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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$100 $499 $20
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $999,999 $10,000
$1,000,000 $1,999,999 $50,000
$2,000,000 + $100,000