Schützenschnur questions

[Tom Y]

I just got 2 Schützenschnürre and need some help. The first one is as I expected, with a fairly loosely woven knot on the shoulder end, but the other one is made of smaller cords with a much tighter weave and a wood or cardboard and silk backing on the knot. I assume the loosely woven one takes the badge. Is there any reason for the difference?
Also, other than the obvious one of appearance, what is the difference between a Schützenschnur and a Schützenpreis?

[Dave Mosher]

Tom

The schutzenschnur was an individual shooting proficiency award and the Kaiserabzeichen (I think that is what you were asking) was an annual award through a competition bestowed to the ncos and men in best company in a regiment within a particular Armeekorps and was worn on the upper right arm.

There were individual shooting proficiency awards back to 1850, but the schutzenschnur started in 1894 and the Kaiserabzeichen started in 1895. The schutzenschnur initially started out as eight classes until 1912, which added two more classes for a total of ten. The first three classes had the white/red/black threads (white/blue for bavaria) with 1-3 acorns, respectively. Classes four through ten had SILVER/red/black threads (SILVER/blue for bavaria) with 1-3 acorns from class 6 to class 8, respectively. Also, of course, starting at CLASS 5 through class 10, the shield was added. There were specific shields for prussia, wurttemberg, saxony and bavaria. On class 9 and 10, 1-2 acorns of gild thread were added, respectively.

You have a schutzenschur for either the foot troops or cavalry. An artillery schutzenschnur would have metal projectiles vs acorns. From the photos I can't tell whether the threads on your schutzenschnur have white or silver in them. If the threads are white, I believe they are both class 1 awards, neither would have the shield attached, and the difference is just based on different manufacturers.

I hope this helps,

Dave

[Tom Y]

Thanks, Dave. That's what I thought , but wanted confirmation. The threads are white, so I guess I'll have to wait to mount the cypher