Jump to content
News Ticker
  • I am now accepting the following payment methods: Card Payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal
  • Latest News

    Recommended Posts

    Hello,

    I am looking for books or longer articles on the topic "Reitendes Feldjägerkorps". Preferably in German.

    Does anyone know where to find information like this, except the wikipedia article?

    PS: I dont understand their duties in WW1. Did they transport important post and letters to foreign countries? I heard they used the train, so no horse? Military Action? and what has the forest topic to do with it.... Sorry...so many questions.....

    Best regards,

    Nicolas

     

    Edited by Nicolas7507
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Originally their members were recruited only from foresters (Jäger , Förster) , you can find it in older rank lists on the first sides...only a small number of men , they were the FedEx of their time and transported important documents between higher military positions.....as far as I know it has nothing to do with the later Feldjäger or Feldgendamerie . There is one book about this from the end of 19th century but it is not cheap , you can find it in some antique book stores

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Your best reference would be the Geschichte des Königlich preußischen Reitenden Feldjägerkorps von 1740 bis 1919, bearb. v. Otto Heym (Berlin, 1926).

    As Heiko noted above, the corps was not large. There were 73 Feldjäger when the war started, along with 8 Anwärter who were soon admitted to the corps.  Another 43 were transferred into the corps during the war.  These usually replaced those who had been transferred or commanded to regular units or were casualties.

    Most of those who saw action at the front served with regular units, especially Jäger batallions. 22 members of the corps were killed in World War I, but of these, only one died while in Kurierdienst (Hptm. Gustav Toepffer).  14 were killed with Jäger batallions.  Two were aviators.  One, Hptm. Walter v. Dreßler, was killed in the bomb attack which killed Field Marshal Hermann v. Eichhorn. Hptm. Friedrich v. Reichenau was killed in 1918 as a battalion commander in GGR 3.  47 were wounded, again mostly with regular units.  

    Six received the House Order of Hohenzollern and 81 received the Iron Cross 1st Class.  Of the 91 Feldjäger in the July 1919 rank list of the corps, 54 have Austro-Hungarian decorations, 35 have Bulgarian decorations, and 38 have Turkish decorations.  They also had numerous Landesorden from the various states.

    Regarding transport, here is an excerpt from the history:

    58c610e1d6360_RFKAuszug.thumb.jpg.283d965b120d4b1752d28d0967acdcad.jpg

     

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Dave,

    Thanks for your fantastic answer.

    Yes, the book seems good but 450€ is a bit mich for me.:D

    It seems that this Korps was smaller than I thought. 

    As I get a ribbon bar with turkish, bulgarian and austrian awards of the RFK today this should improve the chances for an ID.

     

    Regards,

    Nicolas

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    As promised here is the bar. A classic Godet with the famous wreath ( Note the 2 different sites).

    The awards:

    EK2 1914

    Österreichisches MVK 3.Kl mit Kriegsdekoration

    Liakat - Medaille in Silber mit Schwertern

    Eiserner Halbmond

    Bulgarischer Ordern für Tapferkeit 3.Klasse

    The previous owner told me, that there are 2 possible owners of the RFK:

    Hauptmann Kurt Kaehne

    Hauptman Friedrich Barchewitz

    As the Reichswehr ranklist and the pre-war ranklist are useless in this case...any chance to get an exact match?

     

    Best regards,
    Nicolas

    20170313_145253.jpg

    20170313_145322.jpg

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Hi,

    the Ehrenrangliste lists both officers as serving in the RFK throughout the war, both starting as Leutnant in 1914. Barchewitz listed as Hptm at end of war. Contrary to your statement, Kaehne is listed as Major a.D., if Kaehne ended the war as you stated as Hauptmann, he must have been listed in early Reichswehr Ranglisten which I do not own as the Ehrenrangliste was published in 1926.

    GreyC

    Edited by GreyC
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    The previous owner is correct.  Both Kaehne and Barchewitz had this combination.  Kaehne also received the Russian Order of St. Stanislaus, but due to the war many German officers would not wear enemy awards, so that does not exclude him.

    Both were alive in the 1930s so they would have added the Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer, and both were Forstbeamter so they may have received the Treuedienst-Ehrenzeichen. But they may have had new ribbon bars made rather than tear up the older ones.  Kaehne was killed in an Allied bombing of Berlin on the night of 22./23.11.1943.  Barchewitz died on 7.2.1974 in Lüneburg.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    • 1 month later...
    • 2 months later...
    12 minutes ago, Militaria Hunter said:

    Hello,

    For my first post on GMIC, here a pair of epaulettes of a Leutnant der Reitendes Feldjägerkorps, circa 1900-1912

    David

    IMG_4751.JPG

    Hi David, 

    these are epaulettes from a Major, a Leutnant had no bouillons.

    Kind regards
    Andreas


    Kind regards
    Andreas

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Hi David,

    I am not sure the field officers' epaulettes could belong to a Major in the RFJK. In peacetime the highest rank held was that of a Premier-Lieutenant/Oberleutnant. Both the Chief and Commander of the Corps were General officers. There were no field officers on the establishment. 

    Regards

    Glenn

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    • 4 years later...

     

    On 13/03/2017 at 19:21, Dave Danner said:

    The previous owner is correct.  Both Kaehne and Barchewitz had this combination.  Kaehne also received the Russian Order of St. Stanislaus, but due to the war many German officers would not wear enemy awards, so that does not exclude him.

    Both were alive in the 1930s so they would have added the Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer, and both were Forstbeamter so they may have received the Treuedienst-Ehrenzeichen. But they may have had new ribbon bars made rather than tear up the older ones.  Kaehne was killed in an Allied bombing of Berlin on the night of 22./23.11.1943.  Barchewitz died on 7.2.1974 in Lüneburg.

     

    By coincidence I found this nice photo on eBay today. Possibly Major a.D. Kurt Kaehne as an Oberleutnant (?). The ribbon bar matches mine (just a different order) and the EK1 rules out Barchewitz.

     

    It was also taken in Berlin-Charlottenburg, the residence of Kaehne.

     

    Major a.D. und Oberforstmeister Kurt Kaehne
    * 08.04.1883
    + Nacht vom 22.-23.November 1943 (Bombenangriff)

     

    15.05.1905 Leutnant
    18.09.1915 Hauptmann
    Major a.D.

     

    Charlottenburg, Spandauerstraße 1 

     

    Regards,

    Nicolas

    s-l1600 (1).jpg

     

    1914.png

    1918.png

    RFK1.jpg

    Edited by Nicolas7507
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...

    Important Information

    We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.