These shoulder straps belonged to an enlisted man of the 8th Lorraine Infantry Regiment No. 159, a unit of the Prussian Army during World War I. These field-grey shoulder pieces are typical examples of the uniform identification of German forces during the period between 1915 and 1918, when the traditional colorful pre-war uniforms were replaced by field-grey service uniforms.

The Infantry Regiment No. 159 was established on October 1, 1897, in Mühlheim an der Ruhr and received the traditional designation “Lorraine,” although it was stationed in the Rhineland. This naming was part of Prussian tradition maintenance, which provided various regiments with historical or regional designations. The regiment belonged to the XVI Army Corps and was part of the 30th Division.

The shoulder straps for enlisted men consisted of field-grey cloth and bore the regiment number on the base cloth. In the case of IR 159, this was the number “159,” typically applied in red color. The field-grey coloring was consistently enforced from 1915 onwards, after the colorful peacetime uniforms proved completely unsuitable for the conditions of modern trench warfare.

The regiment participated in numerous important engagements of World War I. After mobilization in August 1914, it fought on the Western Front, including in battles in Flanders, on the Somme, and in the Champagne. The unit suffered considerable losses during the four-year war and had to be reinforced multiple times. These shoulder straps, dated around 1916, originate from the period after the devastating battles of attrition at Verdun and on the Somme.

The uniform regulations of the Prussian Army precisely specified how shoulder straps were to be designed. For enlisted men, they were significantly simpler than those for non-commissioned officers and officers. While non-commissioned officers wore additional braiding and officers had gilt or silvered shoulder straps with fringes, enlisted men's shoulder straps were limited to the dyed base cloth with the regiment number.

The garrison town of Mühlheim an der Ruhr was of central importance for the recruitment and reinforcement of the regiment. The industrial region of the Ruhr area provided a considerable portion of the manpower for the Prussian Army. Many of the soldiers of IR 159 were workers from the mines and steel mills of the region, who were called to the colors at the outbreak of war.

The preservation of such shoulder straps over more than a century is remarkable. The indicated condition 2 suggests well-preserved pieces in which the regiment number is still clearly recognizable and the cloth shows no major damage. Many of these equipment items were lost after the war's end, destroyed, or deteriorated through improper storage.

For collectors and historians, such shoulder straps offer important insights into the material culture of World War I. They document not only military organization and uniforms but also indirectly tell of the fates of the men who wore them. IR 159 was demobilized and disbanded after the armistice in November 1918, along with the entire Imperial Army.

These shoulder straps are thus authentic witnesses to a vanished military world and the enormous upheavals that World War I meant for Germany and Europe.