Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very attractive German WWI grouping consisting of a 1918-pattern Black Wound Badge displayed together with a named Besitz-Zeugnis, or certificate of possession, issued to Trainfahrer Josef Winter of bayer. Pferdlazarett 14, Bavarian Horse Hospital 14. The document is dated 15 June 1918, placing its issuance only a little over three months after the Wound Badge was instituted.

The badge is the distinctive WWI Army pattern, displaying an Imperial German steel helmet over crossed swords, surrounded by an oval laurel wreath. Considerable wear to the black finish has exposed the lighter metal across the helmet and other raised details, while darker coloration survives within the recessed portions of the design. The badge and certificate are attractively displayed against red fabric within a later decorative gold-tone frame.

Most interesting is the accompanying named certificate. The handwritten recipient information clearly identifies Trainfahrer Josef Winter and his unit as bayer. Pferdlazarett 14. The document itself specifically references the Allerhöchste Kabinetts-Ordre of March 3, 1918, by which the Wound Badge had been established.

Condition is very good overall considering the age of the original pieces. The certificate remains clear and highly legible, showing even toning, light spotting, and minor discoloration. The badge exhibits substantial wear to its original dark finish, with exposed gray metal across the helmet and other high points, darker finish remaining in protected areas, and scattered age-related oxidation. Both pieces are mounted beneath glass in a later decorative frame with red fabric backing. As the badge has not been removed from the display, its reverse, attachment hardware, and any possible manufacturer markings have not been examined.

The document reads:

Den 15. Juni 1918.

Besitz-Zeugnis.

Trainfahrer Josef Winter
bayer. Pferdlazarett 14

hat das durch Allerh. Kabinetts-Ordre vom 3.3.18 gestiftete

schwarze Abzeichen für Verwundete

heute verliehen erhalten.

[handwritten signature]
Major u. Kommandeur
d. Et. Mun. Kol. u. Trains 15 [appears to read]

The commanding officer's signature is written in a highly stylized hand and is not sufficiently clear for us to provide a confident identification. The final command designation also remains somewhat difficult to read, although it appears consistent with an abbreviation referring to an Etappen-Munitionskolonnen und Trains command. Period German military abbreviation references use Et.Ko.M.u.T. for Kommandeur der Etappen-Munitionskolonnen und Trösse, referring to the commander of ammunition columns and transport trains in the communications zone.

15 June 1918

Certificate of Possession

Transport Driver Josef Winter
Bavarian Horse Hospital 14

has today received the

Black Badge for Wounded Personnel,

instituted by the Supreme Cabinet Order of March 3, 1918.

[signature]
Major and Commander
[of the apparent Etappen ammunition-column and train command No. 15]

In this context, Trainfahrer should not be understood as a railroad or locomotive driver. The Imperial German Train referred to the military supply and transport arm, and Trainfahrer was a contemporary personnel designation within that service. A 1914 notice concerning changes to the German Train specifically records the use of the designation Trainfahrer for enlisted personnel of the Train.

The German Army Wound Badge, originally termed the Abzeichen für Verwundete, was instituted by Wilhelm II on March 3, 1918, very late in the First World War. It provided a visible distinction for military personnel who had been wounded through enemy action. Under the original 1918 regulations, the Black grade was awarded for one or two qualifying wounds, the mattweiß or silver-colored grade for three or four, and the mattgelb or gold-colored grade for five or more. Bavaria formally adopted the award for the Bavarian Army by decree on March 11, 1918.

That Bavarian adoption is particularly relevant to this certificate. Josef Winter is specifically identified as serving with a bayerisches Pferdlazarett, making his June 15 document an early Bavarian example issued barely three months after the decoration became available to Bavarian personnel. Surviving museum collections confirm that Besitzzeugnisse of this general form were issued during 1918 to document entitlement to the Black Wound Badge.

Winter's assignment to Pferdlazarett 14 also gives the document an interesting logistical and veterinary connection. Horses remained essential to the German Army throughout WWI, providing traction for artillery, ammunition, supply wagons, medical transport, and countless other functions. Bavarian wartime horse hospitals were therefore substantial military establishments rather than simple veterinary aid stations. Archival research records that newly organized Pferdelazarette could accommodate as many as 300 animals. Their task was to receive sick horses from military formations, treat them, and return recovered animals to their units. Horses that could not be restored to service within approximately four weeks could be transferred farther to the rear or returned to Germany.

The certificate does not record when, where, or under what circumstances Josef Winter was wounded, and it would therefore be inappropriate to associate him with a particular battle from this document alone. Likewise, while the Black grade establishes that he qualified under the regulations applying to that grade, it does not by itself establish a specific single wound because the original Black Badge could recognize either one or two qualifying wounds.