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| They ate what?|They may have? | Rations |
If you want to know what, or perhaps better, how the German soldier ate, take a close look at what he was given to eat with. It is no coincidence the German mess tin was designed to accommodate a one dish meal, and the utensils he was issued were handy for eating that type fare.
Consider the “Goulaschkanone,” the German infantry company’s rolling mess facility; it had a single large cooker which could make enough stew or soup for an entire company - and cook it on the move. Then the cooker could be cleaned and used to make the morning coffee.
As a counterpoint, consider a US “mess kit”—it has flatter trays with compartments which work very nicely with the traditional US meat, potatoes, and vegetable fare, and the US soldier got fork, spoon and knife with which to eat that sort of meal. Bottom line guys, Germans - particularly Germans then - did not eat the way we are used to eating.
The staple food of the Imperial Army was a “stew”; it was usually pork-based (this was, in fact, the reason given for excluding orthodox Jews from compulsory service in the Army—basically, that their dietary restrictions could not be accommodated) but could contain beef or fish (or later, no meat at all).
Basically, the soldiers’ fresh meat rations (which could also mean sausage) were combined with whatever vegetables were available. Staples into the mix could have been potatoes, barley, or rice (later turnips or rutabagas—it’s the same word in German, by the way--Rube), onions, and spices. Dried or locally procured fresh vegetables were used for other ingredients - carrots, peas, beans, cabbage, lentils.
These were combined into a soup (Suppe) or stew (Eintopf—the two are almost indistinguishable in that they are both quite thick) that could be served out, eaten, and the uneaten portion saved in the mess tin for later consumption, either cold or reheated. The stew contents, including the meat, were chopped up to bite sized portions; note that the Eßbesteck doesn’t have a knife on it. These were not just haphazard collections of whatever was on hand; there are myriad German recipes for these type meals which were the common mans’ “daily bread.” Speaking of bread, it was issued to the soldier daily.
German cuisine has been adapted to the way we Americans eat. As such, when we think of “German food,” we come up with things the German eat, but generally not the way they eat them. In my house, we like potato pancakes (Kartoffelpuffer) and Bratwurst (German Bratwürste are white and contain liver, BTW, unlike the Americanized Johnsonville version) with apple sauce. To us, it’s good German fare, but no German would eat it that way because it’s essentially combining two meals - Bratwurst and Kartoffelpuffer. Nonetheless, that’s how my family has eaten this combination since well before I was born. Bottom line, German soldiers did not get served Bratwürste, potato salad, sauerkraut, and beets - it’s just not how they ate, and even had they wanted to, the Army was not set up to provide that sort of messing in the field.
Regarding sausages, we think immediately of “Brats” and Landjäger. In Germany, the term “Wurst” (sausage) differs from “Würstchen” (literally, “little sausages,” but it’s translated the same). The former is what we would call lunch meat. Bologna, head cheese, blood sausage, Leberkäse (liver cheese), Schinkenwurst (ham sausage) and the dried sausages like Landjäger and salami. It also subsumes the spreadable “potted meats” like Leberwurst and Mettwurst. Fresh sausages, like Weißwurst, Bratwurst, Knackwurst, Bockwurst, etc., are generally classified under the term Würstchen. Whatever style, sausage is a mainstay of German cuisine, but the Würstchen tend to be “snack food” vice main meals; if you go to am Imbiss (snack stand - called a Stehkneipe (because you stand to eat) in Berlin) these are what you get.
green (or string) beans;
lentils;
cabbage (in all its varieties, red cabbage, sauerkraut, etc.)
barley; or
any of the many variey of beans.
One thing we commonly eat that they didn't--corn (even as recently as 20 years ago, Germans still considered corn as fit only for fodder).
The individual soldier probably didn't have much of any of this though. He was allotted a daily ration of some amount of fresh (or frozen) meat; tinned meat, cheese or fish; vegetables; bread; jam; coffee; condiments; etc..
One prepared meal a day was served; and morning coffee was generally provided. Whatever portion of the soldier's daily ration was needed to prepare the "communal meal" was held back and used to cook that (and it usually consumed the vegetables); the remainder of the ration was issued out to the soldier to make his own meals for the rest of the day. Generally, there was nothing in that portion that needed to be cooked.
At the time, most Germans in their civilian life ate two "cold" meals--usually breakfast and supper--consisting of bread and some meat, fish, or jam and only one cooked meal a day. (As a footnote, canned vegetables were allegedly part of the "normal" iron ration, but eating the iron ration could only be done if ordered by an officer, and violation was heavily penalized. The iron ration was held in reserve for dire circumstances only.)
In 1914, German field service daily rations consisted of:
- 750 grams - bread or 400 grams - egg biscuit or 500 grams - field biscuit
- 375 grams - fresh meat or 200 grams - preserved meat
- 125 - 250 grams - vegetable or 1,500 grams - potatoes or 60 grams - dried vegetables
- 25 grams - coffee or 3 grams - tea
- 20 grams - sugar
- 25 grams - salt
The meat ration was gradually reduced, falling to 350 grams at the end of 1915, and to 288 grams by mid-1916, when one meatless day a week was introduced. In October 1916 it was cut to 250 grams. Portions of preserved meat were cut to 150 grams. Soldiers not actually in the frontlines had only 200 grams of meat from June 1916.
Company commanders could order a daily ration of a half a litre of beer, a quarter litre of wine or 125 ml of brandy, rum or arrack. The dail tobacco ration was two cigars or cigarettes or 30 g of pipe tobacco.
In the frontlines soldiers often had to rely on their "iron rations." The "iron rations" consisted of:
- 250 grams - biscuit
- 200 grams - preserved meat or bacon
- 150 grams - preserved vegetables
- 25 grams - coffee
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25 grams - salt
