17th century Japanese sword found in bombed-out Berlin basement

German archaeologists have stumbled upon a 17th-century Japanese short sword during excavations at the Molkenmarkt, Berlin’s oldest square. The sword was found in the basement of a residential building destroyed during World War II in the winter of 2022. At the time, archaeologists thought it was a parade sword, until restoration work revealed its details, and they realized its origins were much more peculiar.

During the reconstruction of the street, the basement was filled with war debris. When archaeologists from the Berlin State Monuments Office cleared the debris and reached the basement, they found various military equipment – harnesses, bridles, stirrups – and a badly corroded sword. The objects were sent to the Museum of Prehistory and Early History for conservation and analysis.

Restorers removed dirt, corrosion and char from World War II bombs and found that the “parade sword” was actually a Japanese short sword – wakizashi. It was severely damaged by the heat, but surprisingly, the wooden handle, fragments of fabric wrapping and ray skin were still intact. The face of Daikokuten, one of the Seven Lucky Gods, was engraved on the elongated handle ring.

X-rays show that the now 10-inch-long blade had been shortened, and the handle was likely added later. The images also show that there were two holes in the handle, but only one of them had a pin that was used to connect the handle to the blade. This suggests that the shortened blade is much older than the handle, perhaps even dating back to the 16th century.

It is only possible to speculate how this wakizashi, once a status weapon reserved for the highest officials, ended up in the basement of a residential and commercial building in Berlin. Perhaps the sword was a gift from the Takenouchi or Iwakura missions in 1862, Japanese ambassadors who visited Europe and other parts of the Western world eleven years later to build relations and gather impressions. This is suggested by the spatial proximity of the noble palaces on and around the Molkenmarkt to the Berlin Palace. During his reign, William I received the Japanese mission of the Takenouchi mission in the palace, and when he became emperor in 1873, he received the mission of the Iwakura mission. However, the origin of the sword cannot be linked to the biography of the then owner of the house on Strahlauer Strasse on the Molkenmarkt.

The sword went on display for the first time for a few hours last night at the Samurai Museum in Berlin as part of the “Long Night at the Museum” event and will soon be on display at the PETRI Archaeological Museum in Berlin.