Commissioned Officers' Badges of Rank 1866-1914

Introduction.

Since the latter part of the Napoleonic Wars, the badge of rank of the Prussian officer had been the epaulette worn on both the service tunic and the undress top coat - the "Überrock". In order not to expose themselves to unnecessary enemy attention during the 2nd Schleswig War of 1864 against Denmark, officers had removed their epaulettes and consequently difficulties of leader recognition had arisen. To alleviate this problem, the so-called "Feldachselstücke" (field shoulder pieces) were introduced in 1866. With very minor modifications, the patterns prescribed for General and field officers remained in vogue until 1945. The pattern initially adopted by captains and subaltern officers were constructed of flat narrow silver tresse with a point at the button end. These were replaced in 1888 by order of the A.K.O. of 12 July 1888 by a pattern constructed of four flat cords stitched together and interlaced in the individual state colour. 

1866 Pattern "Feldachselstücke" - Captains and Subaltern Officers:

The shoulder board had an underlay in the piping of the unit and two parallel stripes in the colour of the state. The different ranks were designated by gold-plated rank stars with the Premier-Lieutenant wearing one and the Captain two such stars. Similarly, numbers and regimental ciphers were also gold plated metal. This pattern of shoulder board was taken into use by the Bavarian army in 1873. The board was secured to the tunic by "Passenten" in the same pattern of tresse ornamented in the state colour. Illustrated below is a shoulder board of a Hauptmann in the 2. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß with the red underlay piping of that regiment and with black stripes denoting a Prussian regiment. The measurements are in millimetres.

Epaulettes and 1866 Pattern Shoulder Boards for General and Field Officers and 1888 Pattern Shoulder Boards for Captains and Subalterns:

The dress badge of rank during this period was the epaulette. This elegant badge of rank consisted  of a large metal half moon or crescent (Kranz) in the button colour and a shoulder board (Feld) normally in the colour of the shoulder straps as worn by the NCOs and Privates and edged with red piped silver tresse. The epaulette was secured to the tunic by a bridle known as an Epaulettenhalter piped in the state colour. The epaulette was lined usually in red cloth. General and Field officers were further distinguished by the addition of bullion wire in the button colour. it should be noted that hussar officers did not use the epaulettes and that cuirassier officers had an extended epaulette in order that the Kranz extended beyond the cuirass. 

State Colours:

The 1888 pattern field shoulder boards of the captains and subaltern officers were formed of four flat silver cords stitched together and flecked in the state colour. They had an underlay in the piping colour of the unit, however hussar officers' shoulder boards did not have any underlay. Individual ranks were designated as follows:

Prior to the 1st of January 1899, the Oberleutnant was titled Premier-Lieutenant and the Leutnant as Sekonde-Lieutenant.

The field shoulder boards of the staff officers (Major through Oberst) were formed from two 5mm wide silver soutache braids, parallel to each other and interwoven. They were flecked in the state colour and had an underlay in the piping colour of the unit . Until 1888 they were constructed with six "bends" or Bogen and from then onwards with five. Individual ranks were designated as follows:

A further difference was the type of shoulder board worn by hussar field officers (See illustration right). Unlike the stiff-backed and lined board of the remaining field officers, they wore a silver plaited pattern interwoven with black silk flat cord secured with a single loop. This pattern remained in use until the introduction of the simplified field pattern for all field officers in 1915/16.

The field shoulder board of the General officers was similar in construction to that of the field officers but differed in three distinct areas. Firstly the board was constructed from three as opposed to two soutache braids, the two outer braids in gold and the inner in silver and only four instead of  five "bends" or Bogen in the construction of the board as with the field officers. Rank stars and ciphers were silver. Individual ranks were designated as follows:

*Generaloberst mit dem Range eines Generalfeldmarschalls. Literally a Colonel-General with the rank of Field Marshal - a personal honorific. Prior to this time brevet or "Charakterisierter" Generalfeldmarshalls had existed. Those with the rank of General had two stars and crossed batons and Colonel-Generals had three stars and crossed batons.

  The following illustrations are taken from the 1900 publication by Carl Henckel and depict the various ranks of commissioned officers from differing contingents of the German Reich. Of note is the pre 1909 general officers' full dress uniform. Also of particular note is the distinctive Bavarian pattern sword knot (Portepee).

For a comprehensive listing and illustration of just about every peace time epaulette readers are recommended to consult L'Armee Allemande en 1914 by Didier Lainé and published by Chromos Service, Paris 1984. This trilingual book details on a regiment by regiment basis all headgear, epaulettes etc of the German officer corps in 1914.