In the Kingdom of Württemberg, place-name signs had been affixed to the town hall or town center in every municipality since 1811 and originally served as a means of orientation for non-residents. Originally the panels were made of wood.
From 1863 the panels were replaced by cast iron panels. The tablets were made in the royal ironworks (e.g. Wasseralfingen).
In 1876 the Württemberg Ministry of the Interior (at the urging of the Prussian military) ordered that the place-name sign should be replaced by unit signs.
The reason for this was that not all soldiers took up service in 1870.
The reason for this was that you did not know which unit to join.
When men moved, the new unit of the respective location automatically became valid.
The localities were not very enthusiastic about the "Prussian panels", especially since they also had to pay 6 guilders for them.
With the conversion of the upper offices into rural districts (around 1930), the boards were removed again. Now and then you can find these panels as small memorials in the villages.