Zweihänder
The massive two-handed sword of German Landsknechts
The Zweihander is the great two-handed sword wielded only by the elite Doppelsoldner, the double-pay men, among the German Landsknecht mercenaries of the 16th century. About 150 to 180 cm in total length and 2 to 3.5 kg in weight, it is more than twice the size of an ordinary one-handed sword. Its most distinctive feature is the Parierhaken, the parrying hooks: a pair of lugs jutting from the blade that catch an enemy weapon or hook it aside. The section of blade above these hooks, the ricasso, is left unsharpened so it can be wrapped in leather or gripped bare-handed, allowing half-swording, holding the sword short to handle it like a spear at close quarters. Long and heavy as it was, a single sweep could beat aside several pike shafts at once.
Origin
The Zweihander was made in early-16th-century Germany for the Landsknecht mercenaries. It is traditionally explained as a weapon meant to counter the Swiss and German pike squares that then dominated the battlefield, a means to break into the dense forest of leveled spears. Its use stood out in the great pike battles of the Italian Wars, such as Marignano in 1515. As time passed, however, alongside the combat Zweihander there were also made huge two-handed bearing swords (Bidenhander) over 2 m long; too large and heavy for real fighting, these were for display and ceremony rather than the battlefield.
Features
- About 150 to 180 cm in total length, 2 to 3.5 kg in weight
- Parierhaken, the parrying hooks, a pair of lugs on the mid-blade
- An unsharpened ricasso that can be gripped for close work
- An elite weapon reserved for the Doppelsoldner, the double-pay men
- Developed to break into pike squares
- A wavy-bladed variant also exists, the Flammenschwert or flamberge
Stories
The task of the Zweihander was dangerous and simple. The Doppelsoldner pushed ahead of his own infantry and charged straight at the enemy pike square, swinging the great blade to beat aside or sweep away the densely leveled spear shafts and open a gap for his comrades to pour into. Gripping the ricasso to hold the sword short let him thrust and shove like a spearman even in a tight melee, while the Parierhaken hooked aside or caught an enemy weapon. At heart it was a weapon swung with both hands and the whole body, so it fit best the role of the shock infantryman who broke up the front rank of an enemy formation in open ground.
Weakness
Heavy and huge, it takes time to swing once, and a miss easily leaves an opening for a counter before the wielder can recover. In a confined space or a packed melee the very length becomes a burden and the sword cannot be swung properly, and if an enemy with a dagger or short sword closes inside its reach the wielder is at a disadvantage. Above all, the Doppelsoldner's charge meant leaping alone into the heart of the enemy line, so casualties were high, and as firearms and tactics changed in the later 16th century the battlefield value of the great two-handed sword fell away quickly.
Cultural Significance
The Zweihander is a symbol of Renaissance German mercenary culture, and especially of the swaggering image of the Landsknecht. The Doppelsoldner was paid, as his name says, double wages (doppelter Sold) for taking on the most dangerous task, and together with the Landsknecht in his flamboyant slashed costume he became an emblem of the age. In later times it left the battlefield and survived as the ceremonial bearing sword (Bidenhander) of cities and courts, used in processions and as a guard's weapon. In the Netherlands and Frisia the legendary giant hero Grutte Pier (Pier Gerlofs Donia) is said to have wielded a huge two-handed sword, and a real sword over 2 m long associated with him survives in a museum.
In Popular Culture
The Zweihander appears often in fantasy and games as the byword for the giant two-handed sword. The great-swords of action RPGs like Dark Souls and Elden Ring, and the image of the enormous blade swung by Guts in Berserk, have spread the impression of this family widely. The wavy-bladed flamberge (Flammenschwert) is likewise drawn in many games and comics as a stylish, almost flame-like variant. In fiction, though, it is often exaggerated into an unrealistically heavy and thick greatsword, so its historical weight of around 2 to 3.5 kg and its original purpose of breaking pike squares are rarely reflected accurately.
Trivia
- The elite infantryman who carried the Zweihander, the Doppelsoldner, was paid double the wage of an ordinary soldier (doppelter Sold) for taking on the dangerous task of charging into the heart of the enemy, and his very name comes from this.
- The Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, holds a huge two-handed sword about 2.15 m long and around 6.6 kg, said to have belonged to the legendary Frisian giant hero Grutte Pier (Pier Gerlofs Donia).
- The Flammenschwert (flamberge), the variant with a blade that waves like a flame, had a menacing look and set up a jarring vibration in an opponent's blade on contact; it was especially favored in ceremonial and guard two-handed swords.