Kriegsmarine Schützenschnur

[Trance_Eyes]

Greetings fellow collectors,

I'm creating a thread specifically for the discussion of the KM Schützenschnur.

Now after researching the award it is clear that this is a long standing shooting award for all arms of the German Forces since 1720.

Please refer to the wikipedia entry for more information

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sch%C3%BCtzenschnur

Ok now I would like to present a few different KM Lanyards for your observation and opinions. Please feel free to show any of your own examples and information you have about the award.

Ok construction is primarily made from wool and of course only in blue specifically for the Kriegsmarine. They also come in different levels of achievement which is represented with 1 acorn, 2 acorns or in the case of KunstenArtillerie an acorn with wings. There is also an example with a gold badge on the upper circle that KM-Spain has in his collection.
It is also said they were constructed in silk too or perhaps a synthetic?

I will show photo's of different lanyards I have and we can take the discussion from there.

1. - Wool - No Acorn

[Trance_Eyes]

2. Wool - 1 Acorn

[Trance_Eyes]

3. With document

[Trance_Eyes]

4. Document

[Trance_Eyes]

5. Wool - 2 Acorns (I don't have a 2 acorn lanyard individually only on a pic recently posted from a forum member, hope its ok to display this - with thanks to Norm)

[Trance_Eyes]

6. Special award in wool with Gold badge.

This is in KM-Spain's collection, perhaps he'd like to elaborate on this specific award.

[Trance_Eyes]

Now this is where I display pictures of synthetic made Lanyards, I believe they were made in silk as a private purchase and the wool was standard Kriegsmarine issue. I'm not sure on this so please feel free to offer an opinion or some concrete knowledge if you have it

1. Synthetic - 1 Acorn

[Trance_Eyes]

2. Synthetic - 1 Acorn with wings for Coastal Artillery (Rare)

[Trance_Eyes]

3. Here is a synthetic I have on my Dress Uniform which maybe in doubt and a post war piece?

[Trance_Eyes]

4. Here is another jacket that came up for sale on e-stand last year from memory, it was a complete rig from an estate sale or family member from memory. The lanyard was with it so I'm assuming it is period.

[Trance_Eyes]

Some observations on construction are that there is generally 13-14 knots tied but in the above version there is up to 17 knots. I also have these pictures of the lanyard pictured in post #9 on my uniform.

[Trance_Eyes]

So there you have it folks, there should be able to be some discussion from what I have presented. Please post some opinions or anything relevant to the thread.

Cheers

Justin C

[Norm F]

Award Levels

Great work Justin! We need a good reference thread for the neglected KM Schützenschnur!

First regarding the 4 levels ("Stufen") of the Navy shooting lanyards, this has been quoted before from Angolia and Schlicht's Die Kriegsmarine vol. 2 p. 129 but is worth repeating here:

"There were four grades, each distinguished by the color of the metal used for the devices, and for the fourth grade, by a gold medallion affixed to the rosette. The grades were as follows:
1st grade: Device of black metal
2nd grade: Device of silver metal
3rd grade: Device of gilt metal
4th grade: Device of gilt metal; additionally, a gilt medallion affixed to the rosett.
The medallion of the fourth grade depicted a fouled anchor with an oval rope-like surround on a field inside a full laurel leaf wreath (after 1935 an oakleaf wreath). It measured 4.7cm high and 4.1cm wide.
The add-on devices and the make of the cords represented the various groups of performance as follows:
A. Rifle and machine gunners: An acorn of 3.5cm in length and 1.3cm diameter, with one circular groove for performance with the light machine gun, and two grooves for heavy machine guns; blue cord.
B. Light anti-aircraft gunners and observers: A winged shell of 3cm in lenght and 1.5cm in diameter; blue cord.
C. Chief of gun crews: A 3-3.3cm long shell of 1.3-1.5cm diameter; cords intertwined blue and aluminum. Chiefs of anti-aircraft gun crews: a winged shell by order (NTB 39. No266 V1) dated 6 November 1939.
D. Torpedo gunners: A 5cm long torpedo of 1cm diameter cords intertwined blue and aluminum.

Lanyards and devices could be mixed in various ways according to grades and groups of performance. Two such examples are:
E. 1st grade with rifle, 2nd grade as gun chief and 1st grade as torpedo gunner: Cords intertwined blue and aluminum with black acorn, silvered shell and black torpedo.
F. 4th grade with rifle, 3rd grade as gun chief and 2nd grade for light AA guns: Interwoven cords with gold medallion affixed to rosette; add-on devices consisting of gold acorn and shell and silver winged shell. "

I've been taking this description as the most authoritative but I notice from Weitze's website and some other internet vendor sites, some people think that a Level or Grade 1 lanyard is just the lanyard itself and that Level 2 has the black acorn and Level 3 the silver. I don't think this is correct however, not only because of Angolia/Schlicht's description but also because I have never yet seen a period photo showing an EM wearing the lanyard with no hanging devices on it at all. Furthermore, there is this older reference that was once kindly sent to me by Ron Berkeley on this forum. I don't know the publication source unfortunately but it is in German and attached here below.
It raises a further question however about which cords should be intertwined blue and silver. The older source examples shown suggest that silver is wound into the blue cord for levels 2-4, whereas Angolia/Schlicht say the blue and silver intwining is used only for Chief of Gun Crews and for Torpedo gunners. I tend to believe the latter and suspect that the older pictorial reference shows silver in the cord for Levels 2 to 4 simply because the particular examples chosen happen to indeed show the hanging devices for Gun Crew chief and Torpedo Gunner, both of which would have the silver/blue intertwined cords.

More to follow.

[Norm F]

Uniform accessory vs. Award

It's a bit ambiguous to me as to where these should be discussed: in the Uniforms/Insignia Forum vs. the Kriegsmarine War and Qualification Badges Forum.
The threads often find their way back to the Uniform section but personally I think them more relevant to the Kriegsmarine Awards forum.
I think of the KM lanyard braid itself as a uniform accessory, but the devices and medallions affixed to it as the awards, so logically the combined item could be featured in either forum. Certainly the existence of Award documents for the various levels favours their status as Awards Forum fodder.
Anyway, my first (and only so far) Schützenschnur is this dark blue silk one pictured here with no devices. I acquired it before I had done any research and have some doubts now. It's the right length and construction to be genuine but I have never yet seen another in this darker shade of blue and so cannot vouch for its authenticity at this time. They did however seem to come in various shades of blue, varying from light blue to medium-dark blue wool, and bright to darker blue silk. Angolia/Schlicht state that the standard Navy issue lanyards were in wool or interwoven wool/aluminum, while the private purchase lanyards could be in blue silk or interwoven blue silk/silver.
Without a hanging device, I think of it as an unissued uniform accessory and not an award of any Level at this time.

[Norm F]

Level 2

This was I believe previously posted on this forum by W. C. Stump, and I hope it's okay to repost. Apparently from Detlev Niemann which bodes well for authenticity I assume.
A Level 2 ("2. Stufe") award, private purchase silk lanyard with silver acorn for rifle marksmanship.