The Katzbalger was the signature blade of the Landsknecht and used between the 16th and 17th century.
While the main weapon of a Landsknecht was either a pike, a two-handed sword or an arquebus almost all of them used the Katzbalger as a side-arm.
Consequently, this short sword was used as a last resort weapon in case the enemy got too close so that their superior main weapons became unusable.
As the Katzbalger only had a gradual taper and sometimes even a rounded tip it was generally used as a cutting weapon. Thrusts were only useable when fighting unarmored targets.
The broader blade may have been advantageous when blocking strikes from heavier weapons like a Zweihänder.
There are two different theories on the origin of the name Katzbalger.
The first one is that the sword usually wasn’t carried in a scabbard but was only attached to the soldier’s waist by a cat’s skin (The German word “Katze” means cat and “Balg” translates to the skin of an animal)
The second theory is that the sword’s name is derived from the German word “balgen” which describes an intense close-quarter battle. In this case a fight between “Katzen” (cats)
Don't normally post swords because I'm not a big sword guy but I found this and thought it was interesting. But sword nerds are welcome here. Also maybe someone needed this for DnD reasons.
For our non native English speaking members the title is word play. Pointless usually means something lacks purpose but here it refers to the lack of an point at the tip of the sword.
Read more: https://medievalswordsworld.com/what-is-a-katzbalger/
