Imperial Navy Officers' Insignia: And How to Tell From Colonial
Just realized all the earlier scans went poof with my old image hosting site. So here we go again:
An executive branch "zur See" officer's bullion cap insignia still on the removable black mohair band. Other corps had different colors, and were plush instead of mohair like this-- medical was blue, engineers black etc.
Reserve and Seewehr officers wore a cross in the center of their cockade, the same distinction made with Reserve and Landwehr army officers' state cockades. The shoulder board here is for a Kapitänleutnant zur See.
As was common with most navies, the same cap badge was worn by all ranks from Midshipman to the highest Admiral.
Here are a pair of "string bean" Fähnrich zur See shoulder cords. Since cadets from the other branches came up through Warrant Officer ranks, only executive cadets wore these cords in the Imperial navy.
The lower cord is turned bottom up to show the way the cord was formed.
And here by contrast are a pair, likewise of the detachable type worn on frock coats (midshipmen wore theirs on sailors' "monkey" jackets), for an Oberleutnant zur See, with officers' rope edged buttons
Sleeve crowns worn above the rank stripes were introduced about the 1890s--other branches (unlike the later Kriegsmarine) wore NO branch devices, only colored collars and cuff spacers.
Here is a bullion type-- showing the inevitable highlight wear-- as well as a metal one.
These M1866 boards-- worn in the navy from 1874-88, were for a Garrison Administration official with the same rank as an Oberleutnant. Since there were only about 40 of them then, you may guess how many pairs must still survive! The lower one is flipped over to show the branch color, which was also used by the army. Note the Imperial black-"white"-red state stripes.
Military officials' boards almost always bore the crown and shield crest relevant to their state. Here's a closeup of the one above, with Imperial crown and Imperial eagle shield.
And here is an overcoat strap for a Korvettenkapitän zur See. Note the way the "V"s show the Imperial colors: black on one half of each "V", and a twist of red/white on the other side. Notice also that EACH "V" alternates along the board:
that is a crucial way to distinguish NAVY officers' boards from Colonial Schutztruppen ones, since BOTH forces had a version of boards with white underlay (summer naval wear/ German East Africa as specific "colony" color)
The contrast on this minty fresh board shows best that the twist of white WAS actually white-- a difference in color that can be lost on dingy dull bullion boards where everything but the black and red looks gray.
And here is a Schutztruppen pair for comparison. Buttons with the Imperial crown only (no anchors) were worn in gold by Marine Infantry, but in silver by Schutztruppen. The medium blue underlay was the "colony" color for German Southwest Africa.
Notice how the "same" black half/ red-white twist half "V"s are worn--
but UNLIKE the navy, they do not alternate-- the black "V"s are always all on the same side, ditto for the red-white halves!
Rick,
*PLEASE* start publishing. With your knowledge and collection there's a huge market for what you have to show.
There's *nothing* out there for us Imperialites, and little other than Previtera's and Williamson's works for the Drittes Reichers.
Do me a personal favor and get all this stuff published before any more time passes.
Sadly, I do not have either "enough" or "exotic enough" stuff to fill a book adequately.
That MIGHT have been a possibility in the field of ribbon bars, but that took a "publishing pre-emptive strike" with the EXISTING "so, who needs another one?" booklet out there already, which negates any need for anything else, in publishers' profit-driven little minds.
I am really only a packrat devoted to research in, alas, fields of interest to me personally for reasons which have ZERO to do with "investment" etc. I try, over and over, to make the point that Mere Mortals CAN devote happy decades to collecting, as I have, without monstrous expense, picking up minor but very satisfying treasures simply by doing thorough research and knowing the fields which interest each od us.
THAT is what makes THIS website great-- we are the best collection of specialized COLLECTORS anywhere in the world. It isn't aout bragging rights to Eva Braun's Ruby Slippers etc etc etc, but of tightly focussed, frequently boring attention to small details and the shared pleasure of a hobby that does NOT need to be measurable on indices of GNPs to be fun.
Imperial Navy Officers' Insignia: And How to Tell From Colonial
attention to small details and the shared pleasure of a hobby that does NOT need to be measurable on indices of GNPs to be fun.
Hybrid Mode
