Shoulder Boards

[Fritziii]

Are these boards German?

Thanks

[Fritziii]

No thoughts?

[kaiserwilhelm2]

These appear to be Bavarian Offiziersstellvertrer straps (not boards - those are the hard ones worn by officers).

[Alan Wilson]

The pink color is for an Administrative (Intendantur) Official. The blue color I am not sure.

[Fritziii]

Thanks guys!

[Chip M]

These are Beamtenstellvertreter boards. The bursting bomb insignia were added later to spice them up, but were not normally worn on this type board. We don't know the state, as there are no Beamten devices on them. The blue stripe in the lace is standard for all Beamten of all states and does not indicate Bavaria. If it was Bavarian, it would have the Bavarian shield and crown device on it.

Shoulder board is the correct term in English, as in German, these are called Achselstücke or Schulterstücke, same as the officer's boards. The closest Beamten color to the "pink" is a faded red. The only other color that comes close is carmine, which is a darker shade of red. So, this red color was primarily worn by telegraph construction officials. The color was Ponceaurot, which was a scarlet red. The blue would be hellblau and was worn primarily by military justice officials. Both pieces are missing their state devices.

I suspect these pieces came out of a warehouse (they are unworn) and were picked up by a souvenir hunter, who added the bomb insignia. It's a common occurrence to see these odd placement of devices on unissued boards. Most frequently, it was done during the period by soldiers, much like the way they adorned souvenir belts.