Hi All, Heres another Andys Rubbish and Ramblings to suffer through. It’s a day early as we are busy this weekend.
Prussian belts and buckles, buckles with Gott Mit Uns, or God With Us were a fairly standard item, a waist type belt that formed part of a foot soldiers load bearing equipment and was also worn with a dress uniform. The German belt was definitely a practical item of equipment which would have been worn with pride. I can’t help but wonder if the people wearing those belts in combat reflected on the motto and wondered if that had actually been abandoned by god as shells rained down upon them or as they suffered through gas attacks?
The humble Prussian belt buckle or koppelschloss, would have to be one of the most common Imperial German items in existence, particularly the steel 1916 pattern, once they were something that many never gave a second look as they were just so common, everyone had one.
As a kid my first item of Imperial German militaria was a belt buckle (actually a 1916 Hessian belt and buckle) the buckle was given to me by a dear old friend that lived in close proximity to my parents, it was a buckle that his older brother had taken as a souvenir in the Great War and presented to his younger sibling (along with quite a bit of other wonderful stuff) on his return to the family home, something my friend remembered vividly.
It seems that he was not alone in bringing home belts and buckles, as being such a practical and versatile item of quality construction they were a very popular souvenir that was put to good practical use post war. Holding up the trousers of the returned soldiers in civilian life or the poor souls that were given a farm to break in under the returned soldiers ballot system, the term “farm” is used loosely, often these were remote bush blocks totally unsuitable for farming, many of these returned soldiers failed and abandoned their land.
Not all souvenir buckles were put into use, some languished in kit bags, were tucked away in draws and kept as mementoes and keepsakes.
The souvenir buckles did tremendous service , I still see the odd one being worn today, most have a family connection or story that goes with them. As stated above they are very common, they have recently gained in popularity/collectability yet in the big scheme of things the average Prussian 1895 and 1916 pattern buckles are still very affordable. If you are not a buckle person I urge you to study a few examples first hand next time you encounter some, you will soon see that as prolific as they may be they also provide for a raft of variation which as collectors is quite an attraction. Variance in construction, materials and overall quality demonstrate the diminishing material availability and the need for quantity over quality, as a rule the brass and white metal 1895 pattern buckles are works of art, the transition to dull grey stamped steel buckles echoes the the general move to ersatz type material for many items, a convenience of material shortages and supply issues, the 1916 pattern steel buckles vary tremendously, some are finely detailed, others lack the refinement but make interesting variants all the same. The finish is another area that provides variation, so there’s plenty to keep you interested.
Obviously like most things, you can venture down the path of rare and expensive variants of the humble Prussian buckle but a good collection of representative examples can be assembled for a moderate investment given time and patience, hence the focus on these common but very interesting items.
These are also great introductory pieces, I often reflect on how I started out in collecting and there were a lot of people that where happy to encourage me in my collecting and provide sound guidance and advice. If you know a young person that’s interested in military history and Imperial Germany, perhaps a cheap gun show purchased or traded buckle could make a good starting point for them,its always good to be able to pay if forward and its a good way to foster interest and encourage future collectors into the hobby.
Feel free to chip in with any comments/corrections, I don’t profess to be an expert and we can all learn from this