Mystery Imperial shield?
- Thread starter Wolfsburg
- Start date
Total stab in the dark, but the crown is absolutely the German State Crown. This was separate and distinct from any of the other crowns of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, etc. I'll give a little history for the context of it, then I will give you my flat guess.
When the German Empire was created, there was a lot of politicking regarding what the new Kaiser would be called. Eventually they settled on "German Emperor" which was a compromise with the Catholic states in the south, who were less-willing participants in unification. (Wilhelm I would have preferred "Emperor of Germany", but this was simply not acceptable, particularly to Bavaria).
The German State Crown was created as a symbol for the Empire as a whole. An actual gold version of it was never created, it mostly existed on paper and a few models were made. The crown was used as a symbol for anything that was of national, rather than individual state character (Schutztruppe, Navy, East Asian Expedition, Territorial govt of Alsace and Lorraine, etc.)
Wilhelm remained King of Prussia as well as German Emperor and there was a bit of a tap dance regarding which symbolism was used on what. Anything tied to Prussia, including the Army, continue to use the Prussian crown in symbolism, such as belt buckles etc. Below you can see the difference in belt buckle between Prussian Army and Imperial troops such as Navy/Seebataillon or Schutztruppe :
In any case, now that I have painted the context, my thought is that it was some sort of shooting prize, possibly from a naval or colonial veterans association. I really am not sure, and that is just a guess, but the fact that it used the very distinctive State Crown, rather than their individual state makes me think that it had something to do with one of the Imperial institutions. People in this period were still very proud and loyal to their individual states; it is not dissimilar to much of the pre-Civil War US, where you were a resident of your state first and an American second.
Sorry I couldn't pin it down better.
AndyB
Senior Member
I believe Chrisftk is right, and possible there could be upper case W in special caligrafy version.
Wolfsburg
Senior Member
Don't apologize! This is a damn sight more than what I knew before! I really appreciate the input! This was on a 1904 Kar98 that was in abysmal condition and someone had tried to restore. The stock was a replacement but I feel like the silver shield had likely been on the original stock and haphazardly added to the replacement. That doesn't seem like something some can just readily find. A potential schutztruppe veteran connection makes a lot of sense.
Thank you! I thought it might be a highly stylized "W" but that was also a question I had!
