Zweihander

The Zweihander is a large German two-handed sword that grew out of the late medieval longsword and reached its height of use in the 16th century, from the reign of Emperor Maximilian I through the Italian Wars of 1494 to 1559. Examples reached up to 213 centimeters in length and weighed between two and four kilograms, with a straight double-edged blade and a hilt long enough, at least 25 centimeters, to be gripped with both hands, and later versions added parrying hooks at the ricasso and side rings on the guard. The sword became the hallmark weapon of the Landsknechte, the German and Swiss mercenary pikemen who dominated European battlefields of the period, and the mercenary force known as the Black Band fielded 2,000 two-handed swordsmen among its roughly 17,000 troops. A Zweihander attributed to the Frisian rebel leader Pier Gerlofs Donia, preserved today in the Fries Museum, weighs about 6.6 kilograms and measures 213 centimeters, illustrating the physical strength the weapon demanded of its wielder.