Dave Danner

No luck at the archives. There was no HPA file, no casualty card, no SS file, and no SA file. He probably retired before 1945, so his file was no longer with the active officer files. He is also not in that "Offiziersliste 03.01.39" being published on the Panzer-Archiv.de forum. There are names missing from that list, however. I don't have any original 1939 seniority lists or Stellenbesetzungen to check. If he entered service in September 1909 and had his 25 years' service by September 1939 (how late did they award Wehrmacht DAs?), then he could only have been out of qualifying service for no more than 5 years. Since he is not in Reichswehr rank lists, that leaves a few possibilities: (1) He was an E-Offizier in the Kriegsmarine, whose DA is identical. Not likely, but I don't have any Navy references to check. (2) Polizei (3) Angestellter im Reichswehrdienst If he is not in the 3.1.39 Offiziersliste but he was active before the end of 1939 to get the WHDA1, then he could have been a Reichswehr/Wehrmacht civilian official (and perhaps reserve officer) and went on active duty in 1939. Most Army officers who went from the Imperial Army to the police to the Wehrmacht were transferred from the police on 15.10.35, but I suppose he could also have stayed in the police until 1939. Long story, short: I got nothin' to add.

I know that usually applied with other jubilee medals, but I am not sure about that with regard to the Centenary Medal. For Bavaria, for example, the Kaiser was the Inhaber of 6. Infanterie-Regiment Kaiser Wilhelm, König von Preußen. However, in the Militär-Handbuch des Königreiches Bayern, nach dem Stande vom 1. Dezember 1897, the only officers in 6.bay.IR with the Centenary Medal are Prem.Lt. Friedrich Bogendörfer [later "Ritter von"] and Hptm. à l.s. Karl Burkhardt. And Burkhardt got the medal not because of his regiment, but because he was commanded to the Prussian Gewehr-Prüfungs-Kommission in Spandau. Regards, Dave PS: in case anyone is interested, here is a list of Saxon junior officers commanded to Prussian commands who should have received the Centenary Medal in March 1897. Many of these were generals and colonels in World War I. I did not include IR 105 and FußAR 12 officers, since they all got it. Sächsische Offiziere in Preußischen Dienststellungen in 1897.pdf

In 1897, Bierey was commanded to the Militär-Reit-Institut in Hannover. I am not sure about Brück or Fischer. They were then in their respective regiments. The Centenary Medal is not listed in Saxon rank lists. In Bavarian rank lists, however, there are a number of random officers with the Centenary Medal who are not in regiments in Alsace-Lorraine and not commanded to Prussian formations. I suspect there may have simply been a quota, for example 2-3 awards per regiment or 10 awards per corps or something similar, and the awards were random. Or perhaps some other criterion.

The Centenary Medal was awarded to non-Prussians who were under Prussian Army commands, This means primarily those Saxon and Bavarian units stationed in Alsace-Lorraine. For Saxony, these were IR 105, based in Straßburg in Elsaß under XV.Armeekorps, and FußAR 12, based in Metz under XVI.Armeekorps. I am not sure, but I believe it would also include the 7. u. 8. (Kgl. Sächs.) Komp. of Eisenbahn-Rgt. Nr. 2 in Berlin. There were also scattered Saxon officers assigned or commanded to Prussian units, headquarters, schools and staffs such as the Großer Generalstab, the Militär-Turnanstalt, the Artillerie-Prüfung-Kommission, and the Feldartillerie-Schießschule, to name a few.

Many regiments were stationed in areas which had large Polish populations or later became part of Poland. But many of these remained primarily German. That's why I went looking through casualty lists to see how "Polish" some of these units were. IR 18 (1. Posensches) and IR 19 (2. Posensches), for example, seem mostly German. A few other regiments which seem to have a fair number of Polish members: • Inf.-Rgt. Graf Schwerin (3. Pommersches) Nr. 14 • 3. Posensches Inf.-Rgt. Nr. 58 • Inf.-Rgts. Nr. 345, 346 & 347 [formed from reserve, Landwehr and Landsturm units in Posen, Pommern and Westpreußen] • Inf.-Rgt. Nr. 352 [mainly raised in Oberschlesien] By the way, I mentioned above that Lorraine units were often manned by troops from the Rhineland and Westphalia, since Lorraine had a small German population. Apparently, this also included easterners, including Poles. Here is a sample of some of the casualties in Preußische Verlustliste Nr. 92 (3 Dezember 1914) for 1. Lothringisches Inf.-Rgt. Nr. 130: • Chmielewsky, Alexander, Musk., 10./IR 130, Wrotzke, gefallen • Cichanowski, Anton, Musk., 6./IR 130, Monkowarsk, Bromberg, Posen, schwer verw. • Dombrowski, Boleslaus, Musk., 7./IR 130, Gronowo, Löbau, Westpreußen, gefallen • Fiolkowski, Johann, Musk., 1./IR 130, Zamysly, Schildberg, Posen, leicht verw. • Gliemietzki, Josef, Freiw., 4./IR 130, Borrek, Karthaus, Westpreußen, leicht verw. • Golembka, Franz, Res., 4./IR 130, Gußwitz, Rawitsch, Posen, gefallen • Gwosdzik, Franz, Musk., 6./IR 130, Radlin, Rybnik, Schlesien, vermißt • Janicki, Stanislaus, Musk., 10./IR 130, Blocziszewo, Schrimm, Posen, vermißt • Kakolewski, Stanislaus, Musk., 4./IR 130, Karczewo,Schmiegel, Posen, leicht verw. • Kapola, Stanislaus, Musk., 2./IR 130, Deutsch-Presse, Schmiegel, Posen, gefallen • Kolodszitczyk, Johann, Musk., 12./IR 130, Zabrze, Schlesien, leicht verw. • Majewski, Thomas, Musk., 6./IR 130, Klein Wissek, Wirsitz, Posen, schwer verw. • Marziniak, Franz, Musk., 6./IR 130, Slonien, Posen, gefallen • Mikolaczak, Ignaz, Res., 1./IR 130, Pierzschno, Schroda, Posen, gefallen • Sokolowski, Leo, Res., 4./IR 130, Wieczyn, Pleschen, Posen, gefallen • Swiontkowski, Bronislaus, Musk., 7./IR 130, Brattian, Löbau, Westpreußen, gefallen • Wroblewski, Stanislaus, Musk., 6./IR 130, Konary, Rawitsch, Provinz Posen, gefallen • Zaremba, Nikolaus, Res., 1./IR 130, Wruzew, Krotoschin, Posen, leicht verw. This is just a sample. There were a lot of others not clearly Polish, since many Germans had Polish surnames. And they were mixed in with many ethnic German names. So at least in this case, there wasn't even a "Polish" company within the regiment.

Regiments were mixed. Poles and Germans from the same area tended to serve in the local regiments, though some may have been more "German" than others. Also, within regiments, Poles might be concentrated within particular battalions or companies, which would streamline command and control, given potential language difficulties. You can get a picture of how Poles fit into German units by looking through the Prussian casualty lists. You will see Poles and Germans dying side by side throughout the war. If you search the casualty lists for some distinctly Polish names - such as Stanislaus Wiśniewski for example - you will find a number of units with a higher percentage of Poles. Some examples below (hardly a complete list). Niederschlesien • Res.-Inf.-Rgt. Nr. 19 • Res.-Inf.-Rgt. Nr. 38 Oberschlesien • Inf.-Rgt. Keith (1. Oberschlesisches) Nr. 22 • Res.-Inf.-Rgt. Nr. 22 Pommern • Inf.-Rgt. Prinz Moritz von Anhalt-Dessau (5. Pommersches.) Nr. 42 • 6. Pommersches Inf.-Rgt. Nr. 49 • Ldw.-Inf.-Rgt. Nr. 49 Posen • Gren.-Rgt. Graf Kleist von Nollendorf (1. Westpreußisches) Nr. 6 ["Westpreußisches" in name, but stationed in Posen] • Inf.-Rgt. Graf Kirchbach (1. Niederschlesisches) Nr. 46 ["Niederschlesisches" in name, but stationed in Posen and Wreschen] • Inf.-Rgt. König Ludwig III von Bayern (2. Niederschlesisches) Nr. 47 ["Niederschlesisches" in name, but stationed in Posen and Schrimm] • Inf.-Rgt. Freiherr Hiller von Gaertringen (4. Posensches) Nr. 59 • Res.-Inf.-Rgt. Nr. 46 • Res.-Inf.-Rgt. Nr. 49 • Ldw.-Inf.-Rgt. Nr. 46 Westpreußen • Inf.-Rgt. von Borcke (4. Pommersches) Nr. 21 ["Pommersches" in name, but recruited in Westpreußen] • Ldw.-Inf.-Rgt. Nr. 21 As you can see with some of the regiments above, even the name is not a straight clue to a recruiting area. That's true elsewhere in Germany. Lorraine regiments tended to recruit in Westphalia and the Rhineland, for example, since Lorraine did not have a huge German population. The list above has some oddities, too. The Pomeranian regiments here, IR 42, IR 49 and LIR 49, had a lot of Poles, but Pommern had a tiny Polish population, less than one percent. So these "Pommersches" regiments were also likely recruiting in places like Posen. Provinz Posen was about 60% Polish. Provinz Westpreußen was around 35-38% Polish. Provinz Ostpreußen was more German, with about 16% Poles and other Slavs and around 5% Lithuanians. In Provinz Schlesien, it was around 20%, but Oberschlesien had a Polish majority. Hope this helps, Dave

I don't know of any Reichsheer matches. More likely, then, he went to the police and returned to the Army in 1935. The most likely candidate is Georg Meissenburg of IR 96. He was not a Reuß citizen, but from Mecklenburg-Schwerin: Georg Helmuth August Friedrich Meissenburg, born 14.8.1891 in Alt-Schönau, Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He entered IR 96 as a Fahnenjunker on 1.9.1909, was promoted to Fähnrich on 17.5.1910, and to Leutnant on 27.1.1911 with a Patent of 29.1.1909. He went to war with IR 96 and was lightly wounded in November 1914. He was promoted to Oberleutnant on 22.3.1915 and is still shown as an Oberleutnant in the 1919 Dienstaltersliste. The Ehrenrangliste has him as a Hauptmann a.D., so he probably received a "bump" to char. Hptm. after leaving active duty. The jubilee medal is from Reuß jüngere Linie, not Reuß ältere Linie. Heinrich XXVII. Fürst Reuß j.L. was married to Prinzessin Elise zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg on 11 November 1884, so their 25th anniversary was in November 1909. As a young Fahnenjunker in IR 96 at that time, Meissenburg was probably stuck with ceremonial duties and could have received the Ehrenzeichen for this. He is shown in the 1914 rank list with the Braunschweig decoration, the only IR 96 officer with it. Since that is not an officer-grade award, he may have also received it as a Fahnenjunker for duties related to the jubilee. His Mecklenburg-Schwerin Militärverdienstkreuz 2.Klasse was gazetted in June 1915. He was awarded the Fürstlich schwarzburgisches Ehrenkreuz 3.Kl. mit Schwertern from Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt on 30 July 1915. So three of the awards on the medal bar are confirmed - Braunschweig, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. The Reuß awards are a good possibility, given his service. I can check if he has a Wehrmacht Personalakte when I next get to the National Archives. If he was still on active duty in 1945, perhaps as a Wehrbezirk officer, he may have a file there. If we are lucky, we might get his full service record. Regards, Dave

Erich v. Zaluskowski, born 13.10.1869 in Wesel, died 1.8.1914 in Altenburg as a Hptm.z.D. and Bezirk-Offizier at the Ldw.-Bez. Altenburg. • Kronen-Orden 4.Kl. • Centenarmedaille • Herzoglich Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden, Ritterkreuz 2.Kl. • Fürstlich Schaumburg-Lippischer Hausorden 4.Kl. • Sachsen-Altenburgische Regierungsjubiläumsmedaille He also was an Ehrenritter of the Johanniter-Orden.

Probably GGR 2, given the prominent photo of Kaiser Franz Josef, but maybe these two Kaiser photos were a common thing. I don't see an Oberleutnant by the name of Schimke anywhere, though. There was an Offizier-Stelllvertreter Schimke, promoted to Lt.d.L. in 1919, but that wouldn't be this guy.

No. During World War I, Hessen-Darmstadt awarded its other decorations for war merit: • Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen, "Für Tapferkeit" - for bravery • Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen, "Für Kriegsverdienste" - for war merit • Krieger-Ehrenzeichen in Eisen - pinback badge for repeated acts of bravery • Militär-Sanitäts-Kreuz am Bande des Allgemeinen Ehrenzeichen, "Für Tapferkeit" - for bravery and war merit by medical personnel • Militär-Sanitäts-Kreuz (am statuten Bande) - for other war merit by medical personnel • Kriegsehrenzeichen - for merit and meritorious service on the homefront There is little evidence of more than a handful of awards in World War I. No wartime award records of Hessen-Darmstadt survived World War II, but secondary sources show awards of the Philipps-Orden with swords to be almost non-existent. According to Neal O'Connor's research, only one wartime award shows up in a post-war ranklist and only one award shows up in a wartime navy ranklist (and it may have been for colonial action right at the beginning of the war). I have not encountered a single award among the records of myriad Hessian officers whose personnel files I have reviewed, many of whom have multiple other Hessian awards. I also have not yet encountered a single award with swords gazetted or reported in the Darmstädter Zeitung or other journals, or mentioned in dozens of Todesanzeigen for otherwise well-decorated Hessian officer casualties. Since the primary sources are gone and the secondary sources are incomplete, there is always a chance of finding other WW1 awards, so we can't say with certainty. But I would say the number is inconsequential compared with the total number of awards prior to 1914. Regards, Dave

Actually, we have a candidate. Rick L and I compared the Mecklenburg and Saxon awards, and came up with a very good possibility: Prehn, Thomas, Dr. jur. * 20. Sept. 1887 in Tannroda Dr. jur., Univ. Leipzig, in 1911 Lt.d.R., Res.-Jäg.-Btl. 13 • Saxony: Albrechtsorden, Ritterkreuz 2, Kl. mit Schwerten, awarded on 25.5.16 • Saxony: Verdienstorden, Ritterkreuz 2, Kl. mit Schwerten, awarded on 13.10.16 • Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Militärverdienstkreuz 2. Klasse, gazetted on 26.4.15 Given the connection between JB 13/RJB 13 and the prince of Reuss, the Reuss decoration is certainly possible, but, as noted, we may not be able to confirm. And there could be other Saxon recipients of the MMV2 not yet identified. But right now Herr Dr. Prehn seems like a good guess. Regards, Dave

It should look like this:

Waltershausen did not have the MMV2. There are way too many Müllers with only a last name. Also, my MMV2 list ends in Sept. 1917, so there could be even more Müllers. This of course does not matter for Frhr. v. Waltershausen, who was already dead. Also, I am way behind on updating my Reuß lists, but I have come across a few more Saxons with the order. I will be in Greiz later this year and will possibly find more. None had the MMV2, so they aren't relevant to this ribbon bar. And I can't tell you how many Saxon orders I have found in Wehrmacht personnel files which were not in Rothe's books. This is especially the case with late-war awards of the SV3bX. So there still may be other potentials out there.

In the 1914 GHzgl. Hess. Ordensliste there is only one: Karl Rolshausen, Hofkammerrat a.D. in Darmstadt (HP3bKrX am 31.10.1884) There were three in the 1909 Deutscher Ordens-Almanach. One was Rolshausen above. One was Maj.z.D. Eugen Fink, Bez.Offz. beim Ldw.Bez. I Darmstadt, who died on 16 May 1911. The third was Friedrich Neßling, Hofkammerrat in Darmstadt. His HP3bKrX is not in the 1914 Ordensliste. He received the HP3aKr on 3 June 1908.

No Reuss military award rolls survive. All award records for Reuss Elder Line were destroyed. For Reuss Junior Line, there are some files with award recommendations, but no award rolls for most military records. There is a roll for non-military awards, which actually has a few military awards mixed in, but it only includes a tiny fraction of these awards.

There is no Reuss regimental connection to any Bavarian regiment, so the Reuss medal likely indicates he was born there. You can try to search in Ancestry.com's Bavarian Army records under birthplace for Reuss or for various cities in the two Reuss principalities like Greiz, Gera, Schleiz, Lobenstein or Zeulenroda. You might get lucky and find a candidate or more, but you would not be able to say with certainty, since there could be other candidates. Also, whoever digitized the records for Ancestry.com did a horrible job in spelling the names of people and places, especially for places outside Bavaria. So even if you searched for every town in Reuss as a birthplace, you wouldn't find them all. But, again, you might get lucky and find some potentials. That grade of the military merit cross on the ribbon for war merit usually went to junior military officials in the rank of Beamten-Stellvertreter: Zahlmeister-Stellvertreter, stellvertretender Lazarett-Inspektor, stellvertretender Feld-Magazin-Inspektor, Waffenmeister-Stellvertreter, etc.

Ziegler, Hans Waldemar, geb. 28.5.1884 in Potsdam 14.01.05 in d. FR 35 eingetreten 19.10.05 Fähnr. 18.08.06 Lt. 20.12.10 in d. IR 155 versetzt 20.05.13 Abschied aus d. aktiven Heere unter Anstellung bei d. Res. Offizieren d. Rgts. 27.01.15 OLt.d.R., zzt. bei d. FFA 17 21.11.16 Hptm.d.R., zzt. bei d. FFA 43 Regards, Dave

He was a police officer. The first document is from the British occupation authorities and relates to the de-Nazification process. He was found to be in Category IV, which was Mitläufer, or "fellow traveler". This was based on his Nazi Party membership from 1933 and membership in various Nazi-run professional organizations. The second document is for his Wound Badge in Black. The third document is a certification that he saw combat. He joined IR 87 on 12 November 1916, and was on the front in positional warfare on the Somme from 23 November 1916 to 12 February 1917. The document pre-dates the Honor Cross for Combatants, so he wasn't asking for the certificate for that, but possibly for membership in a front soldiers' veterans group or some other perk. It is not the fuller Dienstbescheinigung which would document all his war service, promotions, wounds, decorations, etc., so it probably wasn't something he needed for his job.

Krüger is in the 1918 Dienstaltersliste under Hauptleute der Feldartillerie with the 17.2.14 date of rank. As a field artillery officer commanded to the general staff, he would not likely have been in an LIR in 1914.

No Johanniter in the 1919 Gotha, but again, maybe later.

A minor something to add to the discussion. This is from a series of notes on personnel matters by the IIa of Army Group G around August 1944.

Brother in law. Georgine Therese Wanda Charlotte Freifrau von Hadeln, née Freiin von Natzmer * 18.10.1884 in Trebendorf, Landkreis Cottbus † 3.6.1959 in Essen X 24/25.6.1907 mit Karl Moritz Wilhelm Freiherr von Hadeln (* 7.12.1876 in Arolsen, Hptm., GJB, schwer verwundet 1914, Maj.a.D., † 1930, older brother to Fritz) • 1921-32 Kreisvorsitzende der Evangelischen Frauenhilfe Cottbus • ab 1931 Bundesführerin des Bundes Königen Luise Kinder: • Ingeborg Charlotte Therese Ida Freiin von Hadeln, * 24.8.1908 in Berlin • Heinrich-Hajo Wilhelm Freiherr von Hadeln, * 6.3.1910 in Berlin, gef. 12.1.1943 bei Orlowskaja i.d. Ukraine als Sturmbannführer u. Kdr. I./SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt. 10 "Westland" Regards, Dave

Chris, see post #174.

There is an Otto Tölle, born in Eckstedt, I. Verwaltungsbezirk Weimar, Großherzogtum Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, who shows up four times in the Prussian casualty lists. 1. lightly wounded in 1914 as a Gefreiter der Reserve in 7.Komp., IR 94 (this was Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach's home regiment). 2. lightly wounded, remaining with the troops, in March 1915 as an Unteroffizier der Reserve in I./RIR 251. 3. lightly wounded in August 1915 as an Unteroffizier der Reserve in 9./RIR 251. 4. severely wounded in May 1916 as an Unteroffizier der Reserve in I./RIR 251. After being wounded in 1914, he would have returned from the hospital to the Ersatz (replacement) battalion of IR 94. Ers./IR 94 was one of the replacement battalions responsible for forming RIR 251 at the end of 1914, so that would explain his move to the new regiment.

If you go to GoogleEarth's Street View, Genthiner Straße 5, just to the south of the building on the corner, is pixellated so you can't see it. They usually do that to sensitive goverment builidngs, so perhaps there is still a Bundeswehr presence there. A similarly pixillated street view is that of the old Kaserne of the Garde-Schützen-Bataillon, now headquarters of the Bundesnachrichtendienst.