![]() ![]() Two Prussian hussars regiments used this symbol at this time :the 5th and 8th, the later even shown a complete skeleton on its shako. Actually it was already present in Prussia at the time of Frederic the Great, whose inspiration for this emblem might have come from some Pandurs units. The style originated in Britain in the late 19th century. It's also largely an exaggeration (approaching a myth) that Hugo Boss had much of an influence on the look of Nazi uniforms: those uniforms were based on a universal style used by almost all armies since before WW 1, from Australia to the USA, to Japan etc. The totenkopf used by the SS is different from that used by the German army in WW2. The army protested this however so the Nazi version had to be altered with the addition of a rather goofy oversized jaw to placate them. The Nazis tried to co-opt it in the 1930s in order to cash in on its extensive history with the German army. It stayed as a famous and respected symbol for the Prussian Lieb hussars into the early 20th century and then was absorbed into the German army. The history of its use for the Germans begins with the Purussian hussars in the 18th Century and the Brunswick forces who went to fight for the British in the Napoleonic wars. As others have stated it was used by almost all European armed forces. The meaning is both "loyalty unto death" and about remembering your own mortality, not "badassery" or anything else.Īn excellent reference on the subject is "Death's Head" by Joost Holscher.Īs a symbol for soldiers it pre-dates even that by pirates actually. The skull continued to be used throughout the Prussian and Brunswick Armed forces until 1918, and some of the stormtroopers that led the last German offensives on the Western Front in 1918 used skull badges.Īs others have said the symbol is very, very old. ![]() Other sources claim that the "Black Brunswickers" were so equipped while Friedrich Wilhelm of Brunswick lived, as a sign of revenge on the French. During the Napoleonic Wars, when Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, was killed in battle, his troops changed the colour of their uniforms to black or apple green, with a Totenkopf on their shakos in mourning their dead leader. In 1808, when the regiment was reformed into Leib-Husaren Regiments Nr.1 and Nr.2, the Totenkopf remained a part of the uniform. These Hussars adopted a black uniform with a Totenkopf emblazoned on the front of their mirlitons and wore it on the field in the War of Austrian Succession and in the Seven Years' War. 5 (von Ruesch), a Hussar regiment commanded by Colonel von Ruesch. Use of the symbol as a military insignia began with the cavalry of the Prussian army under Frederick the Great. The SS picked up on this and used it themselves to co-opt that history to mold themselves as an elite force. It was mainly to signify their high levels of badassery. The deaths head (Totenkopf) is a symbol that had been in use by many German and Prussian military units in history, going back hundreds of years. ![]()
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