{"product_id":"imperial-german-enlisted-shoulder-strap-feldgrau-light-blue-piping-wwi-single","title":"Imperial German Enlisted Shoulder Strap Feldgrau Light Blue Piping WWI Single","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThis is a single enlisted man's shoulder strap (Schulterklappe) of the Imperial German field-grey service uniform, piped in light blue. It is an other-ranks strap rather than an officer's board, carrying no rank braid and therefore representing an ordinary soldier (Mannschaften). The piping (Vorstoß) is the identifying feature: on a line infantry strap, light blue marks the fourth regiment within its army corps, in the standard corps sequence of white, red, yellow, and light blue for the first through fourth regiments; light blue was also the branch color (Waffenfarbe) of the Train, the army's supply and transport troops. No regimental number or cypher is present on the strap, so the specific unit cannot be determined, and the plain face suggests either an unissued strap that never received its number or one from which the number is absent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe strap is made of field-grey wool cut to the standard form, with a pointed button end (Spitze) at the head worked with a buttonhole and a small twisted retaining loop, and a squared base that was sewn into the shoulder seam. The edges are piped in light blue wool. The reverse is backed in a natural cream cloth with a button slit worked through it at the head. The construction is that of the field-grey strap adopted for service dress in the years before and during the First World War.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe historical context is that of the ordinary German soldier's field uniform. When the German Army adopted field-grey and moved away from colored peacetime dress, the enlisted shoulder strap became the principal place where a man's regiment and arm were shown, through the piping color and an embroidered or applied regimental number in the branch color. The system tied every soldier to his place in the army corps structure, and the light blue piping here points to that fourth-regiment position or to the Train. A single ranker's strap is the most common survivor of the field uniform, and it is exactly the sort of modest, honest artifact that documents the experience of the men who filled the ranks rather than the officers who led them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe German terms are limited to the strap itself. Schulterklappe is the enlisted man's cloth shoulder strap, as distinct from the officer's braided Schulterstück; Vorstoß is the colored piping; feldgrau (field-grey) names the service color. No inscription, maker's mark, or unit stamp is legible in the provided images.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eIn condition the strap is complete and sound. The field-grey wool is intact with light surface wear and the expected nap loss, the light blue piping is present around the edge, and the pointed button end with its loop is undamaged. The reverse backing and button slit are intact. The face is plain, with no number present as described above.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eFor the collector, a single enlisted field-grey strap is an affordable and genuine piece of the Imperial soldier's uniform, useful for a display of branch and corps piping colors or as a representative example of other-ranks field dress. Its value is modest given that it is a single strap without a regimental number, and the light blue piping gives it a slightly less common branch color than the white or red of the senior regiments.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Derrittmeister Militaria Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50228123893999,"sku":"23-19","price":48.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/9169\/5855\/files\/23-19_1.jpg?v=1784852843","url":"https:\/\/derrittmeister.com\/products\/imperial-german-enlisted-shoulder-strap-feldgrau-light-blue-piping-wwi-single","provider":"Derrittmeister Militaria Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}