African spear, so-called Assagai or Assegai, consisting of a wooden shaft and a symmetrical, narrow, leaf-shaped metal tip. The tip is slightly ridged and inserted into the shaft with a spike. Below the tip, the shaft is covered with braided wire. The end of the shaft is thickened in the shape of a knob. This Assagai comes from southern Africa, probably Namibia or South Africa. The spear is either part of Martin Fehl's weapons collection, which was donated to the Gewerbemuseum Ulm in 1920, or part of Ulrich Hößle's collection, which the Hößle & Hettich families loaned to the museum in 1923. Due to the lack of labelling and the lack of details in the object description in the inventory book, it is not possible to make a clear classification. The assagai was a type of spear that was particularly common in South Africa; originally a throwing spear. This one was probably intended for thrusting due to its short shaft and large, heavy blade. Under the Zulu king Shaka, the assagai was adapted and further developed in the course of a military reform (1816 - 1828). This resulted in the shape of a short thrusting spear for close combat, which the warriors carried in one hand and a shield in the other.