Imperial German Army training handkerchief?

Nick

Nick

New member
The final piece of militaria that came in the packet I received contained the following item. It appears to be a "cheat sheet" or "Dummy's Guide" for the new recruit. Has anyone come across one of these before and is it possible to date it? Its in remarkably good condition, so I wonder if perhaps it is some sort of reproduction and actually not that old.

The photo file is quite large (3MB, about 3000x3000 pixels). I intentionally left it that way so that viewers could scroll around the picture and see all the details. If its taking up too much server space, moderators just let me know and I'll replace it with a smaller version after those who want to download a copy have had a chance.

Nick
 
hi,

I've never seen that before, and would be interested in reading what our fellow collectors have to say!
 
Nick,

Great piece.
Hope this is an original.

but:...I wouldn't mind to find a replica though...

Francis
 
Hey Nick,

Nice piece indeed.

The first thing I would do is test it under a UV/black light to see if it glows ( :?: :cry: [-o< :x :-x [-( ) or not ( :thumb up: ).
 
I have seen these. In several variations. A "souvenir" gift often given to recruits going in. I doubt that it .is a repro.
 
I agree with Joe, it is very unlikely that it is a reproduction, especially as it came with family photos. I would date this between 1888 and 1898, as it has instructions for the Gew88, which would have been replaced on the hankies with the Gew98 by 1898, I have seen several of the later versions, they are fery interesting, and a great part of your family history.
Best
Gsu
 
Thanks all for the feedback. I've now scanned the item at 300 dpi, but given its size (roughly 23 inches square) the scans had to be done in quadrants. The good news is that those who have an interest can now read the whole thing much more easily. Perhaps someone can even stitch the four quadrants together into a single composite image (I don't have the software for that).

Ron, since I'm not a militaria collector (except for British campaign medals and for those we don't really care if the ribbon is a replacement), I don't have a Black U/V light, but I might take the item to a local video arcade or Spencer's Gifts at the mall where I might find one.

Gustaf, your dating estimate would correlate nicely with the time that Reinhold Nestmann completed his service in the early 1890s.

Nick
 
RON said:
The first thing I would do is test it under a UV/black light to see if it glows
Click to expand...
Well, in a less-than-precise examination this past weekend I took the handkerchief to the local laser tag arcade, which is illuminated by black lights. Don't worry, I didn't take it into the "combat zone", but rather the observers arcade. Anyway, the handkerchief remained dark, while the white stripes on my shirt were flourescing nicely.

Nick
 
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