Item number: X48

Year: AD 1914-1918

Material: Copper

Size: 82.6 x 77.7 x 22 mm

Weight: 82.66 g

Provenance: Sidmouth Antique Centre 2020

This is a German First World War officer’s cigarette case made of copper, incorporating the central medallion from a German army belt buckle bearing the motto “Gott Mit Uns”. The case is of hinged rectangular form with rounded corners. The exterior is darkly patinated and textured, with the applied circular badge mounted centrally on the lid. The badge shows an imperial crown surrounded by a laurel wreath and the inscription “GOTT MIT UNS.” The reverse of the case is similarly textured. The interior retains its original hinged construction and elasticated straps for securing cigarettes.

The idea behind “Gott mit uns” is much older than Imperial Germany. The phrase itself is German and means “God with us”, but the concept originates in the Bible, specifically Isaiah 7:14, in which the Hebrew name Immanuel literally translates as “God with us”. From Late Antiquity onwards, the belief that God granted protection and favour to a ruler or army became a recurring element in Christian political and military thought.

Although the ancient Romans did not use the German wording, the Christianised Roman Empire of the fourth century increasingly connected military success with divine sanction. Emperors presented victories as evidence of God’s support. The later Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire likewise employed Christian invocations on standards, coins, and official imagery, expressing reliance upon divine protection, though not as a fixed Latin military motto in the form later seen in Prussia.

Throughout medieval and early modern Europe, similar religious war cries and inscriptions were adopted by Christian rulers. Latin forms such as “Deus nobiscum” (“God with us”) appeared in various contexts, reinforcing the notion of sacred authority and providential support in warfare.

Imperial Russia employed a comparable expression in Church Slavonic and Russian, “С нами Бог” (“God is with us”), which conveys the same biblical idea and has long-standing use in Orthodox liturgy and military symbolism. While not identical in wording, it reflects the same tradition of invoking divine favour in support of state and army.

The specific German wording “Gott mit uns” became closely associated with the Kingdom of Prussia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It was formally adopted as a royal and military motto in the early eighteenth century and subsequently retained after German unification in 1871 under the German Empire. The inscription appeared on belt buckles, standards, and other insignia. During the First World War, most German Army enlisted men wore buckles bearing the imperial crown surrounded by a laurel wreath and the inscription “GOTT MIT UNS.”

This cigarette case appears to have been made by adapting such a buckle, most likely removing the central disc and mounting it onto a copper case body. The workmanship and materials are consistent with trench art, a term used to describe objects made by soldiers or prisoners of war from military equipment, scrap metal, or battlefield debris. Trench art from the First World War often includes items fashioned from shell cases, bullets, and uniform fittings. These objects could be made at the front, behind the lines, or after the war as souvenirs and mementoes.

Cigarettes played a significant role in the daily life of soldiers during the First World War. Tobacco was widely distributed in rations and parcels from home, and smoking was regarded as a comfort in the harsh conditions of trench warfare. Cigarette cases were practical items, protecting tobacco from damp and damage in muddy environments, and they also served as personal possessions that could be decorated or customised. An adapted case such as this would have combined utility with patriotic symbolism.

As an object, this case reflects the material culture of the German officer class during the Great War, the importance of religious and imperial motifs in military identity, and the wider phenomenon of trench art as a response to industrialised warfare. It stands as both a functional personal item and a small-scale expression of loyalty, belief, and remembrance within the context of the First World War.

物件編號: X48

年代: 公元 1914-1918 年

材質: 銅

尺寸: 82.6 x 77.7 x 22 mm

重量: 82.66 g

來源: 錫德茅斯古董中心 2020

這是一件德國第一次世界大戰軍官用香煙盒，由銅製成，並嵌有一枚德國陸軍腰帶扣中央徽章，該徽章刻有格言「Gott Mit Uns」（上帝與我們同在）。此盒呈鉸鏈式長方形，四角圓潤。外部表面呈深色包漿並帶有紋理，圓形徽章鑲嵌於盒蓋中央。徽章圖案為帝國皇冠，周圍環繞月桂花環和銘文「GOTT MIT UNS」。盒背面亦為相似的紋理處理。內部保留原有鉸鏈結構及彈性固定帶，用以固定香煙。

「Gott mit uns」這一理念遠早於德意志帝國時期。該語為德語，意為「上帝與我們同在」，其思想源自《聖經》，特別是《以賽亞書》7:14，其中希伯來名字「以馬內利」字面意思即為「上帝與我們同在」。自古代晚期以來，上帝賜予統治者或軍隊保護與恩寵的信念，成為基督教政治與軍事思想中的反覆主題。

雖然古羅馬人並未使用德語表述，但四世紀基督教化後的羅馬帝國，日益將軍事成功與神聖認可聯繫起來。皇帝將勝利呈現為上帝支持的證據。後來的拜占庭（東羅馬）帝國同樣在軍旗、錢幣及官方圖像中使用基督教祈禱語，表達對神聖庇護的依賴，儘管並未以後來普魯士所見那種固定的拉丁軍事格言形式出現。

在整個中世紀及近代早期歐洲，類似的宗教戰鬥口號與銘文被基督教君主採用。拉丁文形式如「Deus nobiscum」（「上帝與我們同在」）在各種場合中出現，強化了神聖權威與戰爭中天意支持的觀念。

俄羅斯帝國亦使用相近的教會斯拉夫語與俄語表述「С нами Бог」（「上帝與我們同在」），傳達相同的聖經理念，並長期存在於東正教禮儀與軍事象徵之中。雖然措辭不完全相同，但反映了同一種在國家與軍隊名義下祈求神聖庇佑的傳統。

德語表述「Gott mit uns」於十七及十八世紀與普魯士王國密切相關。十八世紀初正式被採納為王室與軍事格言，並於1871年德意志帝國統一後繼續沿用。此銘文出現在腰帶扣、軍旗及其他徽章上。第一次世界大戰期間，多數德國陸軍士兵佩戴的腰帶扣上皆有帝國皇冠，周圍環繞月桂花環和銘文「GOTT MIT UNS」。

此香煙盒似乎是以此類腰帶扣改製而成，很可能將中央圓形徽章拆下並鑲嵌於銅製盒身之上。其工藝與材料特徵符合「戰壕藝術」（trench art）之範疇，此術語用以描述由士兵或戰俘利用軍事裝備、廢金屬或戰場殘骸所製作的物品。第一次世界大戰的戰壕藝術常見以砲彈殼、子彈及軍服配件製成。這類物品可於前線、後方或戰後製作，作為紀念品與紀念物。

在第一次世界大戰期間，香煙在士兵日常生活中扮演重要角色。菸草廣泛列入配給物資及家鄉寄來的包裹之中，吸煙被視為戰壕艱苦環境中的一種慰藉。香煙盒為實用物品，可在泥濘環境中保護菸草免受潮濕與損壞，同時亦可作為可裝飾或個人化的私人物件。如此改製的香煙盒，結合了實用性與愛國象徵意義。

作為一件物品，此盒反映了第一次世界大戰期間德國軍官階層的物質文化、宗教與帝國象徵在軍事身份中的重要性，以及戰壕藝術作為對工業化戰爭回應的更廣泛現象。它既是一件實用的個人物品，也是於第一次世界大戰背景下，忠誠、信仰與紀念之小型具體表現。