German NCO of Füsilier-Regiment "Königin" Nr. 86, Studio Portrait in Waffenrock with Wound Badge and Mourning Band, Postmarked Rendsburg 1919, RPPC

This is an original German real-photo postcard: a studio portrait of an NCO taken just after the First World War. He stands three-quarter length beside a table and holds a pair of gloves. He wears his pre-war dark blue Waffenrock (dress tunic). The white shoulder straps carry the crowned cipher of Füsilier-Regiment "Königin" Nr. 86, whose Chef (honorary colonel) was Empress Auguste Viktoria. He also wears:

• a peaked cap (Schirmmütze) with two cockades

• cuffs with three buttons, and light braid (Tresse) on the cuffs marking his NCO rank

• a belt with an other-ranks buckle

• a striped ribbon in the buttonhole, probably the Iron Cross 2nd Class

• a silver Wound Badge on the left breast

• a black mourning band on the left sleeve

The wound badge and the ribbon show that he served at the front. The old pre-war dress uniform, worn in 1919, makes this a late and unusual portrait. By then the Imperial Army was being demobilised and its old regiments were being disbanded.

The back was written in purple ink in old German script (Kurrent), apparently dated "19/7. 19" (19 July 1919). It was mailed with a 10 Pfennig Germania stamp, tied by a Rendsburg postmark dated 20.7.19, with a second clear strike beside it. It is addressed to a "Fräulein … Blunck", care of a Herr Sievers, "Landmann" (farmer). "Rendsburg" is crossed out in blue, so the card was probably redirected to another place.

Item Details

• Format: Original real-photo postcard (RPPC)

• Subject: German NCO of Füsilier-Regiment "Königin" (Schleswig-Holsteinisches) Nr. 86 in his pre-war Waffenrock

• Key Detail 1: White shoulder straps with the crowned cipher of FR 86 "Königin"

• Key Detail 2: Silver Wound Badge and ribbon in the buttonhole (probably Iron Cross 2nd Class)

• Key Detail 3: Black mourning band on the sleeve; NCO braid on the cuffs; peaked cap

• Publisher: None printed

• Reverse: Divided back, written and mailed; 10 Pf. Germania stamp; Rendsburg postmark 20.7.19

• Dimensions: Approx. 3.5 x 5.5 in (9 x 14 cm)

• Date: 1919 (message dated 19 July 1919; postmarked 20 July 1919)

• Condition: Circular marks or impressions on the left side of the front, light surface wear and slightly rounded corners. The back is toned, with a small pencil price note. Please see scans.

About Füsilier-Regiment "Königin" Nr. 86
The Füsilier-Regiment "Königin" (Schleswig-Holsteinisches) Nr. 86 was a Prussian infantry regiment raised in 1866. It was garrisoned in Flensburg and Sonderburg as part of the IX Army Corps. Its Chef was the Queen of Prussia and German Empress, Auguste Viktoria, and her crowned cipher appeared on the regiment's shoulder straps. The regiment fought on the Western Front throughout the First World War and was disbanded after the war, as the old army was reduced to the small Reichswehr. The silver Wound Badge was introduced in 1918 for men wounded three or four times. Portraits like this one, taken in the old peacetime dress uniform after the war, are a late record of the Imperial Army's final months.

Sold as pictured. Please examine all images carefully and feel free to ask any questions before purchasing.