Unknown buckle

[kirby]

I think this is some kind of Imperial period buckle. The face plate shows a cathedral in Cologne Germany and has the words Dom zu Koln. Thanks for any help with what this was used for.

[Ben Evans]

A first for me Kirby, maybe some commemorative buckle or a local defence/police/fire buckle? Very interesting though

[Guido]

My congratulations to your big deal, Kirby!

I think the shown buckle is quite interesting. Never saw a similar one before. Maybe a kind of souvenir for Cologne tourists?

Best,
Guido

[bigmacglenn]

I'm leaning toward Guido's suggestion, that this may indeed be a souvenir item...Or would the Cathedral have had caretakers with such a buckle? Of course always open to other opinions! Cheers, Glenn

[zwerge]

I don`t see it as a souvenir item as it is made to be used on a military style belt.....jmho....Pete.

[bigmacglenn]

The type of belt used is common in Germany even today...even the chimney-sweeps have their own buckle, and as a German BoyScout I had a buckle that fit the old-style leather belt as well...Cheers, Glenn

[NortonI]

Maybe a catholic boyscout buckle / souvenir sold at a scoutmeeting in Cologne? Whatever it is, very nice and a true mystery. Conrratulations Kirby.

[drmessimer]

Kirby: Here is an email address that might be the source for the answer to your question; stefan.wunsch@netcologne.de/ If that doesn't work--it certainly should, but this whole cyber communication thing is just applied magic--contact the main site at: www.geschichte-n-köln.de there are links that will take you to the one I provided.
I suggest that wnen you send the email to the first listed source, include the photo of your buckle. If you don't speak and write German, I will be glad to contact the expert on your behalf and forward his asnwer to you, or post it here in the thread. Good luck. Dwight

[drmessimer]

Kirby asked me to contact sources for information in Köln, which I did. The first contact drew a complete blank, but the second contact, the Köln Stadtsmuseum, provided this information. I have posted the German reply below for those who read German, and an English paraphrase of the reply for others.


Sehr geehrter Herr Prof. Dr. Messimer, ich habe Ihre Anfrage an verschiedene Kollegen weitergeleitet, aber leider kennt niemand eine solche Schnalle. Sie scheint jedenfalls nicht zu einer offiziellen Uniform gehört zu haben (militärisch ohnehin nicht, die Soldaten und Polizisten trugen Schnallen mit WR = Wilhelmus Rex). Der Lorbeerkranz und der vollendete Dom legen nahe, die Schnalle in Verbindung mit der Domvollendung 1880 zu sehen. Möglicherweise wurde sie als Souvenir verkauft.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen

i. A. Rita Wagner
Leiterin der Graphischen Sammlung
Presse & Öffentlichkeitsarbeit

Rita Wagner, Manager of the Graphics Collection, Press and Public Relations, passed the photos on to her colleagues, none of whom could identify the buckle. The assessment is that it is definitely not part of an official uniform (parenthetically) soldiers and police wore a buckle with WR, which represents Wilhelm Rex. The wreath and completed cathedral suggest that the buckle is associated with the completion of the cathedral in 1880. It was possibly sold as a souvenir.

I will try some other archival sources and post the answer(s) here. Dwight

[Ben Evans]

Good info Dwight, many thanks for that, so the buckle could in fact be pre WW1?