Colonial Belt Buckle

SCHUPO

Well-known member
Gents,

I picked up a nice unmolested German Colonial (Schutztruppen) enlisted belt buckle recently that I thought I would show. Similar to the more common Prussian belt buckle with the crown for the King of Prussia (Wilhelm II), this one has the Imperial Crown indicating Wilhelm as the Emperor of the German Empire. This Imperial Crown insignia was worn by soldiers and sailors of the Empire serving in branches, such as the Navy, instead of German State forces that made up the bulk of the Army. This brings up a couple of questions.

I notice that buckles of this style shown in period colonial uniform plates seem to generally show enlisted native Askari troops wearing plain brass box buckles without a roundel. Askari Sergeants seem to be shown wearing the buckle shown here with the attached roundel. White troops also wear the box buckle with the roundel. Is this regulation or simply artistic license shown in the uniform plates? I have also noticed this buckle with a brass roundel instead of being made of white metal. Again what is the difference if any?

At any rate, this uncleaned brass box buckle has a white metal roundel that contains the "Gott Mit Uns" declaration around the edge and the more angular German Crown of the Empire. The roundel is lead soldered onto the brass buckle as is common with this style of buckle. These buckles were generally worn on brown leather belts by the various Colonial Troops known as Schutztruppen and Polizeitruppen.
 

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Thank you all for your kudos. You know I found this Colonial buckle crammed in the corner of a display case at an area militaria show. I thought it was a "one-looker" original buckle when I first saw it so I quickly snapped it up. I also found a very scarce Bavarian Gendarmerie buckle at the same show that I bought from a WWI collector friend. This nickeled buckle was one made in the so-called small Prinzen size with only one prong on the roller bar. It was a good show for me and this is what always seems to happen to me in that it is either feast or famine. Lots of goodies or nothing to buy.
 

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Here are photos of my Bavarian Gendarmerie buckles.

Both of these examples are in the smaller size as compared to a WW1 German Military Buckle.

The nickel silver example is one-piece stamped construction. The brass one has an applied disk to the buckle box frame.

One is for Rural Police, the other one is for City Police. I am sorry to say that I can never keep them straight as to whether the brass color one is for city police, or rural police, and vice versa for the nickel silver example.

Best Regards,

Alan


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Here are 4 of my Imperial German Navy or Imperial German Colonial Buckles.

The first 2 that I post are pre-1895 models. They are the 1st & 2nd type of buckles.

The last 2-buckles that I post are as follows: Example on the left is a model 1895 buckle by maker Adolph Barr of Deuben. The example on the right is a model 1916 buckle in 2-piece steel construction.

Best Wishes,

Alan

Two pre-1895 buckles. The First & Second Model Navy or Colonial Enlisted Pattern.

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Left side example: Model 1895 buckle. Right view buckle: Model 1915 in two piece steel construction.

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Gents,

I picked up a nice unmolested German Colonial (Schutztruppen) enlisted belt buckle recently that I thought I would show. Similar to the more common Prussian belt buckle with the crown for the King of Prussia (Wilhelm II), this one has the Imperial Crown indicating Wilhelm as the Emperor of the German Empire. This Imperial Crown insignia was worn by soldiers and sailors of the Empire serving in branches, such as the Navy, instead of German State forces that made up the bulk of the Army. This brings up a couple of questions.

I notice that buckles of this style shown in period colonial uniform plates seem to generally show enlisted native Askari troops wearing plain brass box buckles without a roundel. Askari Sergeants seem to be shown wearing the buckle shown here with the attached roundel. White troops also wear the box buckle with the roundel. Is this regulation or simply artistic license shown in the uniform plates? I have also noticed this buckle with a brass roundel instead of being made of white metal. Again what is the difference if any?

At any rate, this uncleaned brass box buckle has a white metal roundel that contains the "Gott Mit Uns" declaration around the edge and the more angular German Crown of the Empire. The roundel is lead soldered onto the brass buckle as is common with this style of buckle. These buckles were generally worn on brown leather belts by the various Colonial Troops known as Schutztruppen and Polizeitruppen.


I forgot to mention that your excellent example buckle actually appears to have a Tombac buckle box, and not brass. Maybe I am not seeing the color correctly from your excellent photos.

Yes, it was worn by the Colonial Troops. It was also worn by the Imperial German Navy Enlisted Troops. Same buckle worn by both branches.

Generally speaking, collectors will refer to these Tombac buckle box examples as "private purchase" buckles versus the brass buckle box examples that were actual issued buckles.

I can't recall ever seeing a Colonial or Navy brass buckle box with a brass disk applied to the front. I have only ever seen brass buckle box or tombac buckle box with a white metal or neusilber disk attached. I would be curious to see an actual example buckle with a brass Navy or Colonial disk applied to the front.

Best Wishes,

Alan
 
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Here's an excellent web site reference I've known about for many years. It was started in 2003 by Chris Dale. Thankfully the website is still operational, unlike many other Imperial German referrence web sites that I have seen over the years that are no longer functioning.

 
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Alan,

Thanks for showing, and describing, your very nice buckles. I love seeing what others collect and the more you see the more you know.

As to the Colonial/Navy box buckles with a brass disk, I wondered if they might be fakes. Frankly, I have only seen a couple of these at shows and I paid little attention to them at the time. I remembered them when I ask about the plain buckles (without a disk) shown in wear by Askari EM in uniform plates. I have seen a couple of the plain box buckles and they looked original but I took them for generic buckles at the time. I am not really a buckle collector so my knowledge is a bit shallow unless it is Police related. I do believe the body of my buckle is Tombac.

George
 
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