Dave Danner

I'm guessing that Ricky Martin's "Livin' la Vida Loca" is their new marching song?

I think it is Tahitian.

Was ich sehe in GoogleEarth. Das Gebäude wurde beschädigt, aber blieb den 2.Weltkrieg erhalten.

Eigentlich vielleicht habe ich die genaue Gebäude nicht in den richtigen Lagen. Glenn, wenn du dies liest, waren die "Platz am Zeughause 1" Anschriften an der Südseite des "Unter den Linden".

Ja, im Zeughause. An der Norddseite der Gebäude "Hinter dem Gießhause" und and der Südseite "Platz am Zeughause". Vielleicht waren die Stäbe zu groß für das Gebäude und das andere Gebäude war nötig, als nicht nur das Korps-Generalkommando, sondern auch die Stäbe der 1. u. 2. Garde-Divisionen, der Garde-Kavallerie-Division, der 2., 3., u. 4. Garde-Infanterie-Brigaden, und der 1. Garde-Kavallerie-Brigade waren im Zeughause. Und ferner die Geschäftszimmer des Gouvernments von Berlin, der Kommandantur von Berlin, des Oberkommandos in den Marken, und der Schloßgardekompagnie. Hinter dem Gießhause 3 - Generalkommando des Gardekorps Hinter dem Gießhause 3 - 1. Garde-Division Hinter dem Gießhause 3 - 2. Garde-Division Hinter dem Gießhause 3 - 2. Garde-Infanterie-Brigade Hinter dem Gießhause 3 - 3. Garde-Infanterie-Brigade Hinter dem Gießhause 3 - 4. Garde-Infanterie-Brigade Hinter dem Gießhause 3 - Gouvernment von Berlin Hinter dem Gießhause 3 - Oberkommando in den Marken Hinter dem Gießhause 3 - Schloßgardekompagnie Platz am Zeughause 1 - Garde-Kavallerie-Division Platz am Zeughause 1 - 1. Garde-Kavallerie-Brigade Platz am Zeughause 1 - Kommandantur

Entschuldigung, ich habe das Gardekorps vergessen: Hinter dem Gießhause 3. Das ist im Zeughause.

III.AK: Genthiner Straße 2, am Landwehrkanal gegenüber dem Bendlerblock.

His name was Konrad Kießling, not Kißling, at least according to the Kriegsstammrolle of the 9.Komp., bay. RIR 6 and the Kriegsstammrolle of the Ersatz-Bataillon, RIR 6. He was born on 21 May 1886 in Lechhausen and was a butcher in Nuremberg in civilian life. I don't think the medal bar goes with the documents. Kießling also had the Bavarian Dienstauszeichnung 3.Klasse, awarded on 12 February 1918.

Murken, Reinhard Wilhelm Friedrich • geb. 27.10.1885 in Wildeshausen, Großherzogtum Oldenburg • 1.4.13-1.8.14 wissenschaftl. Hilfslehrer, 1.4.10-1.4.11 Einj.Frw. IR 79, 4.8.14 in IR 79 einberufen, 30.10.14 Lt.d.R., 3.12.18 entlassen, 1.4.19 Oberlehrer in Hameln, Studienrat. • EK2 (31.5.15), EK1 (7.7.17), HOH3X (5.5.18), OFAK2 (29.6.15), OFAK1 (24.7.17), OV3bX (14.7.18), FKE, evtl. TrDA25 (1.4.10 Dienstalter im höheren Schuldienste Preußens) He may be out, depending on the Treuedienst-Ehrenzeichen. His seniority date in the Prussian/German education service was 1 April 1910. Military time also counted, so he would have been eligible for the Treuedienst-Ehrenzeichen in 1935. So the question is whether he would have had a ribbon bar like this made, and whether he would have left off the Treuedienst-Ehrenzeichen.

Major General Jeffrey S. Tshabalala, Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force. First five ribbons appear to be: 1. Military Order of weSwatini 2. ?-Royal Order of the Swazi Crown 3. King Mswati III Coronation Medal 4. USDF LS&GCM 5. USDF Meritorious Service Medal The bottom row may be decorations from other countries, as would be common for a general. I don't recognize any of them. Dave

Hopfe was a reserve officer so he is not in the 1910 Stammliste for IR 71. Where did you get the Oberstleutnant part from? His EK2 entry in the Ordensliste is: "15063. Hopfe, Friedrich Christoph, Sek.-Lieut. i. d. Res. d. 3. Thüring. Inf.-Rgts. Nr. 71." There is a Friedrich Christoph Hopfe listed as a Kaufmann in the 1882-83 address book for Erfurt. That is likely him. The 1909 Deutsche Ordens-Almanach had a Friedrich Hopfe, Kaufmann and Kgl. Lotterieeinnehmer in Erfurt with the RAO4, but no war decorations. That could be him, with the war decorations missing, but possibly more likely Friedrich Hugo Hopfe, who was also a Kaufmann in Erfurt. The 1910 jubilee medallion seems to indicate he was still alive in 1910, so it is odd there is no DOA entry. Regards, Dave

The date is 8 December 1914. The "19" was just dropped to save space. I don't see an Otto or Jakob Sitzler from Adelshofen in the casualty lists, so he and Jakob junior appear to have survived the war. There are several other Sitzlers from Adelshofen in the lists, though, so there may have been other brothers or cousins killed in the war.

But those are modern ranks. The Imperial German and Ottoman armies didn't have warrant officers. I can't find a good reference to the Ottoman equivalents to German enlisted ranks, but I think it was something like this: Başçavuş - Feldwebelleutnant Başçavuş muavini - Offizier-Stellvertreter Çavuş - Feldwebel Çavuş vekili - Vizefeldwebel Onbaşı - Unteroffizier Onbaşı vekili - Gefreiter Asker - Soldat (Grenadier, Dragoner, Pionier, etc.) One problem is that there were fewer ranks in the Ottoman Army. If I remember correctly, one went from Onbaşı (no stripes) to Çavuş (one stripe) to Başçavuş muavini (two stripes) to Başçavuş (three stripes), but I may be off. Do you have any documents or information on documents where we know the actual German rank of a German recipient, as well as what was written in osmanlıca?

Rusler is not a German name. It may the Ottoman spelling of Roßler, Rosler or Rußler. Maybe Rößler or Rüßler. For a language where vowel differences are as important as Turkish, the Perso-Arabic script was a terrible choice. Would "Başçavuş Muavini" correspond to an Offizier-Stellvertreter? The unit is likely Armee-Kraftwagen-Kolonne Nr. 715, which was part of Army Group Yıldırım.

I'd narrow it down to those who were commissioned during the war, since he's probably someone who received the Verdienstmedaille as a Fähnrich or Vfw.d.R.

I'd probably say "subordinate officers and officials". He could also be from a command echelon, like a corps command, or an Anstalt.

Hi, Here is the entry for the Infanteriekadettenschule in Prag in the 1914 Schematismus: Of the candidates here: Tollich and Welser are still shown with the D3 in the 1916 Rangliste, while Schiller doesn't have his MDZ listed, but was junior to Tollich. That would appear to leave Anton Tlustý. He is not in the 1916 Rangliste, the 1916 Hof- und Staats-handbuch, or the 1916 Landwehr Schematismus, so he was either retired or dead by then.

It looks like he might be trying to attach it to through the buttonhole, but working around the strap for the gas mask.

I literally have a picture of "old" Adolf: Born 14. September 1876 in Freiburg. He was a banker there, and died in 1960. His family appear to have been prominent bankers in Freiburg, so they probably screwed my family on a loan at some point. He was a one-year volunteer in 1898 and was promoted to Lt.d.R. in IR 169 on 19 December 1903. At some point, he moved to the Landwehr. In 1914, he was a Lt.d.L. in Landwehrbezirk Freiburg im Breisgau. On mobilization, he went to IR 113. He was promoted to OLt.d.L. on 24. December 1914, while serving in IR 113. He was promoted to Hptm.d.L. on 20 July 1916, while serving in the I. Ers.Btl. of IR 113. He has a personnel file in the Landesarchiv in Karlsruhe which might have more detail. He does not appear to have received the Zähringen Lion.

Yes, Bulgaria followed the same basic rule as most European monarchies of the era (and some to this day). Officers received the class of an order of knighthood appropriate to their rank and enlisted men received a cross or medal, usually associated with that order. There were exceptions, such as the Red Baron, a Rittmeister, receiving a class of the Order of the Red Eagle normally given to colonels. And in several states the lowest class of the order was often awarded to very senior NCOs, such as the German Feldwebelleutnant. This appears to be the case in Bulgaria, where the 6th Class of the National Order for Military Merit, the silver cross in your post, was awarded to some senior NCOs and warrant officer-equivalents. This would also appear to be the case with the 6th Class of the Order of St. Alexander, which was also a non-enamelled silver cross. Since the Tsars of Bulgaria from Ferdinand I on were Saxe-Coburgs. it shouldn't be surprising that this is similar to the pattern with the Ducal Saxe-Ernestine House Order, which had several classes for officers, associated merit crosses for senior NCO/officials, and merit medals for regular NCOs and enlisted men.

Paul, I am not sure I am following you. There are five medals on the bar. Eberhard v. Kamecke was entitled to those five and no more. Why is he not a likely candidate? Schubert, by contrast, was entitled to at least one more medal - the Iron Cross 2nd Class (he also received the EK1 on 19.3.15, but of course that's not relevant to the medal bar) - and was by regulation of the principality required to return his peacetime SEK3 in exchange for his SEK3X. He received the SEK3X on 27 October 1914, so its not like he didn't have time to return it. Furthermore, he survived the war by 14 years. Even if he didn't remount his peacetime medal bar during the war, as Chris suggests, he had plenty of opportunity after the war. There are guys who only got the Iron Cross during the war, who may have kept their pre-war medal bars and worn the EK2 from the buttonhole, but as noted Schubert had at least one award which he would have had to fix on the medal bar. And fourteen years to do it. So, for it to be Schubert's bar, you have to make a series of assumptions - no mounting of the EK2, no mounting of the SEK3X, no returning of the SEK3, no other wartime awards for which we don't have rolls yet, no fixes at all to his medal bar for over 18 years. That seems to make him less likely than v. Kamecke. It's not 100% either way, but in my opinion it does not lean in Schubert's direction.

The language is Latvian. It appears to be for something related to maritime rescue. The first word is "Latvijas", "glābšanas" means rescue and "uz ūdeniem" means "on the water" or "at sea". I can't make out the other word.

Your second picture is not the Military Order for Bravery, but rather the Silver Cross (6th Class) of the National Order for Military Merit. The Military Order for Bravery had these classes: Grand Cross - monarchs 1st Class - mainly generals 2nd Class - mainly colonels and lt. colonels 3rd Class - mainly majors and some captains 4th Class - captains and lieutenants In 1915, the 3rd and 4th classes were divided into two grades each. In each case, the 1st grade was a pinback cross and the 2nd grade was a breast badge. This was similar to the way the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class are divided. I know of colonels with the 1st Class, so the classes weren't rigid. The Soldier's Crosses had four grades: 1st - gilt cross with ribbon bow 2nd - gilt cross without bow 3rd - silver cross with ribbon bow 4th - silver cross without bow These were generally awarded based on rank, with the silver cross for junior enlisted men and the gilt cross for NCOs, but multiple awards could be made. There is a picture in my book on Bulgarian awards of a Yefreitor (lance corporal) with three Soldier's Crosses. At least one has a bow, but they are hard to make out. The Military Order for Bravery was the basic bravery decoration, but during wartime the lower classes of the National Order for Military Merit could also be awarded "on the ribbon of the Military Order for Bravery" and could also be awared with a "war decoration" wreath as a special combat distinction. The Order of St. Alexander could also be awarded with swords, but I think this was mostly awarded for military merit rather than bravery.

I don't think this is Schubert's bar. Schubert received Swords to the SEK3 on 27 October 1914. Even if you assume this was a pre-war bar that he never updated with his EK2 and any other awards, he was required by Schwarzburg-Sondershausen to return his peacetime award in exchange for the SEK3X. For what it's worth, Schubert was also later nominated for the SEK2X, but that was never approved. I think a more likely candidate is: Eberhard v. Kamecke 7.1.1865 in Graudenz. Vater: Generalmajor z.D. Hermann v. Kamecke (7.6.1822-27.4.1900) 24.8.1884 in das IR 71 eingetreten 21.1.1885 Uffz. 14.4.1885 Port.-Fähnrich 11.2.1886 Sek.-Lt. (Y) 14.9.1893 Prem.-Lt. (H25h) 20.5.1897 z. Kgl. Württ. IR 120 kommandiert 22.5.1900 Hptm., vorl. ohne Patent 16.6.1900 erhielt Pat. als Hptm. (F2f) 15.9.1905 in das IR 116 versetzt 27.1.1911 ausgeschieden Hptm. v. Kamecke had the RAO4, KO4 and SEK3 in the 1910 rank list, and should have received the DA around the time the rank list was published. He disappears after 1911. I can't find a death announcement in the Militär-Wochenblatt, but he appears to have died before the war. He was not recalled and doesn't show up in the Ehrenrangliste. He is also completely missing from the 1919 edition of Gotha. Gotha has an annoying habit of removing people from later editions if they die without issue, unless they were killed in action.

Some info: http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/IR_161