Exhibit of the Month - Mar. '25
11.03.2025
As exhibit of the month - March 2025, we present to you the Prussian military boots exhibited in the MGS - Military History Collection Augustdorf, which were something special at the time and what it has to do with the saying "to tar everything with one brush".
Prussian military boots
Since the military convention between Prussia and the Principality of Lippe was concluded on June 26, 1867, the Fusilier Battalion was disbanded and the Lippe soldiers, 3 officers and 254 men joined the Prussian Infantry Regiment No. 55 (6th Westphalian). The Prussian uniform with the shoulder boards of the IR 55 on display here contains something new at that time. The boots!
Up until this time, it was common for boots to be made over a last. The last is a wooden or metal model foot over which the shoemaker stretches the leather when it is sewn together to make a shoe. So, to fold the leather over, to place it around the last. Each shoe size is made to a different last. A shoemaker who makes everything over a last only makes shoes of one size that do not meet the customers' varying needs. The saying has been around since the 16th century and expresses the idea of treating everything the same and not making any distinctions.
This means that the boots of the time were the same on the right and left and therefore could not have been particularly comfortable. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/1871, some people still wore military boots made over a last.