Comes with C.O.A.

*Very few German medic armbands from WWI survived. The fact this armband still contains the visible stamp date of 1916 makes it even rarer.

This incredibly rare sewn cloth 1916 dated medic armband was worn by a German soldier on the front line trenches during World War I. The First World War, mankind’s first high-technology conflict, resulted in unprecedented mass mortality. Medical services were confronted with overwhelming challenges in treating casualties from mobile warfare, trench warfare, battles on different fronts and infectious diseases. This medic band was made larger than the ordinary arm and was meant to fit snug over the German soldeir’s uniform. This served as a visual marker while in the trenches or other front-line operations of medics nearby.

During WWI German medics had a great impact; some of their innovations remain in use today, including the scientific evaluation of contemporary conflicts, the implementation of different echelons of care with a fast movement of patients, and the treatment of penetrating wounds.

During the First World War, high-technology armies with millions of soldiers were facing each other for the first time in history. The mutual armouries caused a never-known carnage on all fronts. On the German side alone, about 2 million soldiers were killed, 4.2 million were wounded and more than 20 million suffered from other diseases, highlighting the enormous challenge for the medics and another medical services. Moreover, the characteristics of warfare added to the problems. In the beginning, it was a mobile warfare in which the medical service had to follow the fighting troops. Soon it became gruesome trench warfare, in which the medical service could rely on a permanent infrastructure, but had to deal with infectious diseases. Furthermore, there were extensive differences between the Western and Eastern Fronts.