Selzer, Rolf Preußische Truppenstempel auf Blank- und Schußwaffen von ca. 1810-1875

Band 2

Many documents on German military history were irretrievably lost in Potsdam during the Second World War. Various Prussian regulations issued before 1866 are therefore no longer accessible. The source situation improved after 1867, when Prussia and the individual member states began a lively mutual exchange of information on military matters. A wide range of ordinance sheets, instructions, regulations and rules for this period are still available today in various Bavarian and Württemberg archives. Unfortunately, this only applies in individual cases for the period between around 1820 and 1867. Few regulations have survived. Mostly with the introduction of new (firing pin) rifles as instructions to the gunsmiths for stamping the weapons. This was the case for the infantry, the pioneers and, to a lesser extent, the cavalry. The first of the above-mentioned instructions are reproduced in Volume I. The following examples are therefore intended to give an idea of how to read the older Prussian troop stamps. The information does not claim to be complete or completely error-free. Some readings also allow several interpretations. Occasionally, Prussian troop cancels before the foundation of the German Empire cause confusion. This is certainly partly due to the stamp shapes deviating from later postmark regulations after 1877, as well as to the often complicated formation history.