Alpenkorps1915

Hi Chris,

as I wrote you before, the photo looks much like, as it's been taken in Tyrol 1915. I've never saw those white patches in Romania.

Kind regards
Immanuel

Fritz, your photo shows mostlikely men from the Freikorps time. The Edelweiß was used by some Freikorps too. I highly doubt that the young fellow wearing it, ever saw battle in Tyrol in 1915.

Greetings

Immanuel

Yes, but the EW I'm talking about is from a staff memeber of the Alpenkorps, so he never got in touch with the Leiberverein.

Regards
Immanuel

Hmm could be possible, but "my" Major died in 1943, so at least my Edelweiß is not pre 1945. Also why should the family changed the badge? They had one of the most impressive estates of their grandfather I've ever saw, alsmost complete to the gear.

Regards

Immanuel

Hi Chris,

as I mentioned to you an FB before and as Andreas wrotes, the new book is more about biographies and small stories about the first combat mission of the Alpenkorps in the Dolomite mountains. It also contains more then 300 unpublished photos, which I bet you never saw anywere else before.

The book contains 320 pages and costs 24,90€.

Have a look here for a 30 page review!

https://www.athesia-tappeiner.com/sites/default/files/datenblatt/zeugnisse_dolomitenfront_9788868392888.pdf

Kind regards

Immanuel

On 22.10.2017 at 05:15, Fritz die Spinne said:

Probably the holding point for my small collection. A small grouping brought three more--all are 40mm across the longest point, but the small is 34mm. Shall I consider that WWII?  Regarding the DAOV, having read the thread often, I am happy to include these two with the collection.

Top row, the first two are steel. The rest are not magnetic, and appear to be Neusilber. 

Hi Fritz!

You bought the lot on ebay Nice one!!! The lowest is an original Alpenkorps Edelweiß insignia! I got the exact same model directly from the grand doughter of an former AK-Major!

I also like the one at the top right corner, because you can see that the "DÖAV" letters were filled with other materials. So thise one was reused as a headgear insignia. The one on the left upper corner I would consider as an original too, you can see this version quite often on original photos showing AK members.

Kind regards
Immanuel

Is realy no one interested in this book? I can remeber that the Alpenkorps was a much discussed topic in this forum.

Kind regards
Immanuel

Hi there! I'd like to share some great news with you:

A new book about the German mountain troops of WW1, the Alpenkorps ("Alpine Corps") is available now! The book was translated from German into English by no one other then the well known expert for German military ofWW1 and my good friend Marshall V. Daut (Iowa, USA). He did a superb job not only by translating the book, but also because he sliped in his great knowledge, which enriches the text even more.

You will get the first book in English which describes the Alpine Corps first mission in South Tyrol from May to October 1915! Basically, the 188-page book discusses the wartime circumstances that resulted in the forming of the Alkpenkorps to bolster Germany's Austrian ally in Tyrol on the Italian Front in 1915. You will find fascinating information about the Corps' formation, its early struggles, its combat and behind the lines life, and how the A-K has been perceived between the world wars and in modern literature. The scholarly, yet entertaining book is heavily annotated with footnotes and references, as this was originally my Master's Degree thesis that I expanded for his initial book.


What will you find in this book?

- 75 photos, mostly of Gebirgsjäger and skiers, but also some lanscape shots from South Tyrol which show the Alpenkorps in action. Marshall and I focused mainly on studio portraits which are great for uniform studies! There are also two maps added at the end of the book, to show where the Alpenkorps fought in summer 1915
- all photos are described by Marshall with great photo captions that focus on the uniform specifics and specialties, again this is very good as a reference for uniform studies!
- you get a timeline that shows the most important dates that concern the Alpenkorps battles and campaigns in WW1
- Marshall and I added a glossary photos of German words and concepts that might be unfamiliar to the native English-speaker with little or no understanding of the German language and/or Germany's military traditions


At the moment the book will be firstly only available in Germany. Soon it will be also available (as paperback or e-book) in the US, UK, Canada and Australia (most likely via Amazon or other major online vendors)

How can I get a copy?

In the next days I will receive some copies from my publisher. You can buy a copy (if you wish, I'll sing it) directly from me for a price of 25€ + 3,45€ priority shippment (world wide!) or + 1€ shipping (if you live in Germany). Feel free to write me a PM or a message at my e-mail adress: immanuel_voigt at yahoo.de so that we can discuss the details. Thanks!

Payment is via SEPA money transfer (in Europe) or via Paypal (rest of the world).

If you need more information, feel free to write me!

Kind regards
Immanuel

For anyone who speaks and reads German, I wrote a scientific essay about the Edelweiß badge of the Alpenkorps which appeared in the Magazine called "Der Schlern" in November 2014 under the titel "Das Edelweiß des Alpenkorps. Neue Forschungsergenisse". You can also find some nice photos in this essay, which prove my theory that the "original" Edelweiß from 1915 looked like the one of the German and Austrian Alpine Society (Deutscher und Österreichischer Alpenverein, D.Ö.A.V.). Besides this version, the men of the Alpenkorps wore a lot of differend types of Edelweiß badges, which I think were mostly traded, maybe sometimes bought.

Does the reverse tell any date? I have seen men wearing 2 Edelweißbadges on their collar in 1915, so it's not impossible.

The photo in #661 shows the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the "Völkerschlacht" in Leipzig 1913 and the opening ceremony of the "Völkerschlacht Denkmal" wich was build from 1898 until 1913.

to # 64:

Addressed to:

An Fraeulein Marie Flaenig

in Nangdorf b. ( meaning bei or near) Zwickau

Muetzen Grund.

Text: 31. 12. 1914

Liebe Marie.

Ich gratuliere Ihnen zum neuen Jahr und wuensche Ihnen viel Glueck und Gesundheit nebst Ihren lieben Eltern das es Ihnen bei der schweren Zeit recht gut gehen moege. Gruessen Sie bitte die Famililie Moeger unser Sohn ist seit acht Tagen wieder zurueck von ??? wegen Krankheit. Es gruesst Ihnen freundlich Franz Richter und seine Frau nebst Sohn. Schreiebe bald wieder ( last two words in margin)

Inscription on face of postcard " Als er wiederkam"

For those who would like a summary in English: the card is addressed at an acquaintance , expressing new year well wishes in these difficult times. The writer's son has returned home because of illness. He ill write again soon. Picture inscription says " When he returned"

Bernhard H. Holst

You forgot some words or read them wrong, but also the writer of the card wrote some words wrong.

The adress reads:

An Fräulein Marie Flähmig

in Stangdorf [stangendorf] b. Zwickau

Mülzen [Mülsen] Grund

Gera (Reuß), d. 31.12.1914

... unser Sohn ist von Breslau seit acht Tagen wieder zurück wegen Krankheit.

I think that the badge became accepted as "alpenkorps" irrespective of if one served in 1915 or not. I remember seeing photos to men of a reserve infantry regt attached to the alpenkorps later in the war... and the men adopted the Edelweiss!!

I mean the thought that men from former Alpenkorps units came to another unit (like for example they've been wounded) is not that deviously. So I see a possibility for taking the Edelweiß with them. But it seems odd that so many Württembergian wear it too. And to be honest, I can't imagine that the Edelweiß badge was just on sufferance by the NCO's and the Officers, not in Germany where military discipline and drill were done in some kind of perfection. Also Kaiser Wilhelm II. spoke again "scharf gegen Eigenmächtigkeiten im Anzuge,

wie sie zum Schaden der Manneszucht vielfach jetzt in Erscheinung treten". That was also the reason why the Prussian War Ministry firstly was against the badge. Only due to Kraff v. Dellemensingens order to wear the Edelweiß without permission it stayed with the Alpenkorps. So one could say it wasn't that easy keeping the Edelweiß badge.

Alpenkorps1915: Haven´t the book Krafft never been published?

No the whole Kriegstagebuch is more or less unpublished. There is a Krafft biography by Thomas Müller "Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen (1862-1953). Porträt eines bayerischen

Offiziers (= Materialien zur bayerischen Landesgeschichte Bd. 16), München 2002". He used the KTB as a source and also quotes a lot, but it's not as the whole KTB is published as one book.

If I were in Munich, I should take my lorry with me to take away all the papers I´d like to read...

If you want to do so, it would cost a fortune! I payed quite some Euros to get some copies, but they were worth it. The most interesting thing is Krafft v. Dellmensingens Kriegstagebuch. Very interesting to read.

Never seen such an Edelweiß and I've never heared of an Alpen Verein Tirol. But sounds fitting ;)

Prussian, it still bothers me that I haven't looked up the files in the Bayerische Hauptstaatsarchiv Abt. IV Kriegsarchiv about the Edelweiß badge when I went to Munich in 2010. I was 2 weeks in that archiv to collect material for my paper about the AK during the campaign in Tirol 1915.

I've never seen a AK photo where the guy wore such a Edelweiß with a crown on it. I also never read something in the books and magazines.

Good morning

thank you for your quick and interesting reply! And thanks for your nice welcome too

If you assume that the Württembergians just "bought" them self an Edelweiß, was it still possible to wear it? I don't think so, because the big discussion about the Alpenkorps units wearing it in 1915 showed me that it wasn't so easy. I mean if the NCO's and the Officers would had allowd such thing, wouldn't every WGB member proudly buy an Edelweiß? Not even the Alpenkorps replacement troops were allowed to wear the Edelweiß because they didn't served in Tirol 1915. An order from 1916 frobid the replacement troops to wear the Edelweiß. Bavaria also began to register in the troop records (Stammrollen) who was a legitimate owner of an Edelweiß badge. In this case it seems hard to belive that the Württembergians just bought them self an Edelweiß.

Another thought of me was, that some men (Württ.) just wore the Edelweiß for the photoshot and took it of after the shot. But that makes also not much sense to me to be honest ;o)

You confused me a bit with the Wtt.Geb.Kan.Batt.6 =)

My thoughts were that the Wtt.Geb.Kan.Batt.6 was the only Württembergian unit that served during the campaign in Tirol 1915 as a part of the Bayerische Gebirgs-Kanonen-Abteilung Nr.2, so it was a mixed unit (Bavarians/Württembergians). I'm only speaking about the campaign in Tirol because this was the time when the Alpenkorps got the Edelweiß. So technically these members were allowed to wear an Edelweiß because they are "Tirol Veterans"!

Later in 1917 you are totaly right, more Württ. units came to the Alpenkorps. Rommel fought with the WGB in Slovenia at the Isonzofront as a part of the Alpenkorps.

I need to look up the book (I think it was Albert Reichs "Das Deutsche Alpenkorps im Westen und Rückmarsch in Serbien") were I found the note that the Bayerische Gebirgs-Kanonen-Abteilung Nr.2 was a mixed unit.

best regards

AK1915

PS: you have a very nice collection of Edelweiß badges, I only got 3 badges so far!

Good evening gentlemen.

I'm new to the forum and also want to add something to the this excellent topic. I've been following this thread for quite a while now and it's a nice discussion so far. But I want to add another point which bothers me for a long time and which counldn't answered satisfiable for me yet. I had some discussion with differend people, mainly here in Germany about that topic, but again the question isn't answered by now.

.

I'm speaking of Württembergians wearing the Edelweiß badge on their headgear. Technically only a few Württembergians were able to wear an Edelweiß "officialy" namely the members of the Württembergiesche Gebirgskanonen Batterie 6. These were the only Württermbergians which were part of the Alpenkorps during the campagin in Tirol 1915 (May-Oktober). Strictly speaking only these men were allowed to wear an Edelweiß on their hat, because the Edelweiß badge was only one time granted to the Alpenkorps members in May/June 1915.

But how does it come that one find a lot of photos showing mostly members of the WGB (Württermbergisches Gebirgs Bataillon) wearing an Edelweiß?

Personally I'm still looking for the answer. But I'll give you the thesis that I heared during my discusions and write down my opinion about them!

1) The Edelweiß badge was granted a second time to the troops.

There is no evidence for this thesis.

2) Members of the WSSK (Württembergische Schneeschuh Kompanie) were transferred to the Badische Schneeschuh Bataillon Nr. 2 before the campaing of Tirol.

I've never heared or read about this in the books and the files of the Alpenkorps. So for me it's highly unlikely that WSSK members were transferred to Prussian unit.

3) After the campaign of Tirol members of differend Alpenkorps units went voluntary to the newly forme WGB because the Württembergian War Ministry looked for volunteers. So these men brought their Edelweiß from the campaing with them into the WGB.

This sound more plausible then thesis 2! But if this realy happend as it's being claimed, I would know if it was that easy to leave your current unit just to form a new one. I also heared the argument that mostly those men came to the WGB that weren't popular in their units. But that sounds like the WGB was a bunch of rowdys mixed up with all the men the other units "didn't like". Secondly, was it that easy let's say to change from a Bavarian unit to a Württembergian unit?

That's all for the moment, I hope you don't mind my English. I wonder what's your opinion on this.

Have a nice evening

AK1915