Bundesrepublik ShutzenSchnur

[Sivart]

I was recently awarded the Scutzenschnur and was dismayed to find that it was made of plastic or some synthetic non-metal substance. I had always thought that it was made of metal - does anyone know if the older versions were made of metal? If so, where can I get one in gold?

Here is the certificate that came with the award.

Thanks

Sivart

[ehrentitle]

Sivart - Are you talking about the cord or the oval plate with the German eagle attached to it? I have a set of Bronze, Silver, Gold West German Schutzenschnur from when I was stationed in Germany in the 80s. The oval pate is metal on all of them and the cord appears to be made of a silver metalized thread that is cold to the touch. Both are non-magnetic and the whole thing light weight so I'm thinking that maybe aluminum or another non ferris metal was used. Kevin

Edited February 9, 2008 by ehrentitle

[Sivart]

I was talking about the oval disc, having never handled one before I was just suprised to note how light and almost cheap the whole thing felt. I assumed that this was due to it being a recently produced award as opposed to an older version. Thanks for the info Kevin.

Sivart

[Gordon Craig]

sivart,

Interesting the Bundeswehr is issuing plastic shooting cords. Does the cord still have the silver metallic threads running through it? I would really like to see a picture of one if you can post it here. If you were thinking of replacing the plastic one with one of the earlier metallic style ones then it would probably be best to get the whole thing not just the shield. Gold cords are not easy to find but do show up from time-to-time on ebay.com and more often on ebay.de. If they are going to make them out of plastic in the future they will certainlygo up in price quickly.

Regards,

Gordon

[Dave Danner]

I believe that I have an extra metal plate in gold. Shoot me a PM.

[Sivart]

I believe that I have an extra metal plate in gold. Shoot me a PM.

Thanks for the generous offer Dave, but I already got ahold of a metal plate over here. I don't have it in hand yet to compare it to the one I was given, but I will shortly. Thanks again for the offer, that is exactly the type of thing that I enjoy so much about this forum and its members, the regular display of gentlemanly character.

[JensF.]

The cord is always made from aluminium and the disc is made from hollow stamped brass with a bronze, silver or gold plating. They never used plastic! Have you got pics of it?

Edited March 6, 2008 by JensF.

[Sivart]

The cord is always made from aluminium and the disc is made from hollow stamped brass with a bronze, silver or gold plating. They never used plastic! Have you got pics of it?

I have found out that the award I was given was made by a US company as a replacement for the original award. I missed the original award ceremony with the Bundeswehr unit we shot with, so my award was handed to me by some guy at BN HQ a few months later. I have to assume that somewhere down the line someone else decided to swap the German made award for the US knock-off. The cord was not metal, it was some type of dyed fiber. The plate was not plastic as I initially thought, but it was some weak type of metal, my pliers proved that rather quickly! I have had the whole thing replaced and even took my replacment to the Bundeswehr post adjacent to mine and had them check it out. I will post pics of both after the weekend.

Sivart

[Sivart]

Here they are, side by side. The German made one is on the right.