Imperial German Oldenburg Dragoon Regiment 19 Hauptmann Shoulder Board Cypher

An original Hauptmann’s silver-cord shoulder board (Schulterstück) of Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 19, the dragoon regiment raised within the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg. The reverse carries a collection label reading “Fig. 5.3 – DR 19.” A gilt crown above an interlaced cypher, with a pair of rank stars, denotes Hauptmann.

The board is built of flat braided silver cord worked in the herringbone pattern, mounted on a white wool underlay. The lower field carries a gilt crown above an interlaced cypher, with one six-pointed rank star (Stern) set above and a second below. A vertical button slit is worked at the head, and the squared base terminates in cut cord ends.

Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 19 was the dragoon regiment of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, one of the smaller north German states, and its crowned cypher honours the Oldenburg chief. As dragoons, the regiment served as light cavalry for reconnaissance, screening, and mounted action.

The crowned monogram is the cypher of the Grand Duke of Oldenburg; the precise letters are not cleanly resolved in the provided images and are therefore left unattributed. The crown marks the regiment as one held under a royal chief, and the two rank stars are the distinction of a Hauptmann.

Condition is good. The silver cord retains good braid definition with the expected tarnish, and the crown and cypher are present and secure. The two rank stars differ in tone, one silvered and one gilt, which suggests that one may be a later replacement. The white underlay is sound, the collection label is intact on the reverse, and the base shows cut cord ends in the manner normal to the unfinished tuck end. No restoration is otherwise evident in the provided images.

Oldenburg material is among the scarcer fields in Imperial German collecting, and a captain’s dragoon board carrying the Oldenburg cypher fits squarely within the collect-by-state framework, making it a desirable representative piece for a small-state or cavalry collection.