Description
This is a consignment item. It is a trench art “hate belt” (more accurately, a souvenir belt) probably made near or after WW I’s end. It is fashioned from a daily-wear German (Prussian) soldier’s belt and buckle, the kind worn by all Prussian enlisted men. The brown leather belt measures about 34″ in length. It sports a prewar brass buckle whose center features a silver-toned Hohenzollern Crown. The center also displays a very small dent on its surface. The familiar phrase “Gott Mit Uns” is emblazoned on the brass section that encircles the crown. Stitched onto the belt’s exterior in groups of three and four are twenty-seven different coins that appear to hail from Belgium and France. Soldiers from both sides stitched coins, badges, buttons and so forth to belts to have souvenirs of the war’s glory days. The belt is in good overall condition and is ready to wear or display.