UBB.threads Forums Edged Weapons Edged Weapons Accoutrements Forum An Odd Portepee

Gents,

I picked up an interesting Austro-Hungarian sword knot this weekend and it is a puzzlement. It is a variation Officer/Official knot from the time of Emperior Karl, who took the throne on 21 November 1916 and ruled until he relenquished his power in 1919 (and was then deposed). The knot itself is an interesting variation in that the lower stem, crown, and ball are made of stamped metal instead of real bullion embroidery. The bottom of the ball has a black velvet insert and I believe this particular knot style is for Beamte (Officals) rather than a Military Officer.

The interesting thing is that it has black/red/gold cloth colors on the stem of the Portepee that covers the "K" that has been on the knot for a very long time. The fellow I got it from did not even know that it was Austro-Hungarian so there is no back story for it. It seems to me that the Imperial Emperior's initial was covered up for postwar use. The problem with that is that the colors are not Austrian, which are red/white/red. I first thought they were perhaps provincial or municipal colors but they are not it seems. Provincial and municipal colors only consist of two colors during this time period and these three colors are not found in Austria or Hungary.

It seems that the black/red/gold colors in this order are German. They were used in this configuration by the German Weimar Republic and by two short lived independent states of Waldeck-Pyrmont (which became part of Prussia in 1921) and Reuss (which became part of Thuringia in 1920). My current thinking is that perhaps the knot was used by one of the Freikorps that existed in immediate postwar Germany but who knows?

I am certainly open to suggestions as to who may have worn this knot after 1918.