Dave Danner

Mühlenfels, Ludwig v. *26.05.1855, †23.08.1920 22.03.1908 Kommandeur des Infanterie-Regiments Nr. 161 09.03.1912 Kommandeur der 44. Infanterie-Brigade 01.10.1913 Inspekteur der Landwehr-Inspektion Erfurt 02.08.1914 Kommandeur der 44. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade 14.02.1915 Kommandeur der 9. Landwehr-Division 17.06.1917 Kommandeur der 25. Landwehr-Division 21.12.1918 zur Disposition gestellt 03.01.1919 verabschiedet 21.03.1908 Oberst 09.03.1912 Generalmajor 17.02.1915 Generalleutnant

Indeed,

Here's a 1944 version of Guderian's signature, from an endorsement to a Beurteilung to a Panzer Lehr officer. And it's a two-fer, since you also get that of Fritz Bayerlein.

This one is apparently "Buhnenmeister", which was a title in the Wasserbauverwaltung.

An occupation this time:

Second is the 1870/71 Kriegsdenkmünze and 4th is the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnismedaille (Centenarmedaille).

Hullström received the Vasa in 1914. He already had the Waldeck Verdienstkreuz as early as the 1908 Sveriges Statskalender. It was not there in the 1905 Statskalender. I don't have 1906 or 1907.

RIP

Zieglmaier, I think.

He was placed z.D. on 21.7.1919 and given the Charakter of Generalmajor z.D. on 6.9.1919.

All I know of are the Prussian Crown Order 2nd Class with Swords, the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class, and the Austro-Hungarian Military Merit Cross 2nd Class with the War Decoration 2nd Class.

Actually, on further review of my Ostsee-Division officer list, I think it must be Lt. Krafft v. Kriegsheim from the MG-Eskadron of the 3.GUR. He had the WVK4X, so he is another Waldeck/Finland combination. No known connection to Hessen-Darmstadt, though.

Well, that answers my questions. Richard Michelmann, *23.3.1887 in Güsten, Anhalt; Zollsekretär in Halle a.S., mit dem 1.1.1917 Oberzollkontrollör ebenda, Sohn des Privatmanns Richard Michelmann in Bernburg, Anhalt; Lt.d.R. d. IR 135, am 29.12.1916 OLt.d.R. The Friedrichkreuz was awarded on 28.2.1915. Even with the Anhalt and Finland connections, I doubt I would have stayed in the bidding either.

Rather a random list. These officers are from several different units. Lt.d.R. Severin Keller was from the bay. Geb.Kan.Bttr. 12, while Lt. Heiko Ohling was from the 4.2.GRFußAR. Lt. Hans v. Winterfeld was from 2.MGK/JB 14, Lt. Friedrich Freimüller was from 1./JB 14, and Lt. Karl Krafft was from 2./JB 14. "Kobeling" is Lt.d.L. Wilhelm Köberling from 3./JB 4. Bauer was an active Lt. in 1./JB 4, whose first name I have not yet found. I have no idea who "Griegheim" is supposed to be. "Arnich" is Arnicke, of which there were two - Lt.d.R. Bruno Arnicke from the 95.RIB staff and Lt.d.R. Erich Arnicke from mob.Et.Kdtr. 326, both born in Finland. "von Zedwitz" is probably Lt. Egbert v. Zitzewitz from 5./3.GUR. "von Poser" is Lt. Hans-Arwed v. Poser u. Groß-Nädlitz from the Saxon Karabinier-Regiment. Lt.d.R. Gerhard Merkel was also from the Karabinier-Regiment. There were actually two Körners and one Koerner in Finland, all three from the Karabinier-Regiment (Lt. Gottfried Körner, Lt.d.R. Rudolf Körner and Lt.d.R. Richard Koerner). "Graf Schimmelmann" is Lt. Theodor Graf Schimmelmann v. Lindenburg from 1./3.GUR, although OLt. Heinrich Schimmelmann v. Lindenburg from 2./3.GUR was also a Cross of Liberty recipient. Lt.d.R. Hans-Wilfried v. Versen was from 2./1.GUR. And last is the aforementioned Lt. Georg Friedrich Graf zu Solms-Laubach from 4./3.GUR. By the way, you can eliminate Wilhelm v. Strantz. I have seen his HPA file. No HT.

All I have for Michelmann is the Lübeck Hanseatenkreuz and the Cross of Liberty 3rd Class. What else did the bar show?

Gerlinghaus was promoted to Lt.d.R. (Hagen) in PB 3 on 31.5.1916. I don't know if I have any more new HOH3X-Träger, although I am sure I have additional information on some known ones. I have not been able to keep up with this thread, so some of them you might already have identified.

He received his Dr.phil. from the University of Marburg on 26.7.1901. He was an Einjährig-Freiwilliger in Darmstadt from 1.10.1901-1.10.1902. He began education service with a Seminarjahr starting on 28.5.1903 at the Klinger. Oberrealschule in Frankfurt am Main, and a Probejahr starting on 1.4.1904 as a Hilfslehrer at the Kaiser Friedrich Gymnasium in Frankfurt am Main. He then transferred to the private Garniersches Institut in Friedrichsdorf in 1907.

Hptm W. Würtz is Went from IR 148. The "Hptm Hoffmann from Bromberg" is Alfred Paul Christian Hoffmann, *11.2.1883 in Posen, †5.4.1946 in Berlin-Dahlem. He was born in Posen, his father was a Rechnungsrat in Bromberg. He was an Oberleutnant in IR 21, promoted to Hauptmann on 10.10.14, commanded to the General Staff, retained in the Reichswehr, promoted to Major with an RDA of 1.4.25* and to Oberstleutnant on 1.2.30. In the 1932 ranklist, he was commander of the 3.Nachrichten-Abteilung and was retired as an Oberstleutnant at some point after that. If he was in the Wehrmacht, I have not come across him. His 1946 death certificate lists him as a "Schriftsteller" without reference to his military rank. Amtsrichter Dietrich Eggers from IR 77 was promoted to Hptm.d.R. on 30.9.14, after the wounding but before it was published. That's why the ranks don't match in the different sources. Landgerichtspräsident Dr. Schmidt is Albert. Webr55 posted about him earlier in this thread on 20 December 2020. A poorly edited article here - he was born in Groß Hehlen, Celle, not "Groß Hehlem, Oelle". He received his Dr.jur. from Rostock on 15.3.1913. He was wounded in 1916 with 3./IR 75. He received the MMV1 in May 1918 while on the staff of the 17. Infanterie-Division, to which IR 75, GR 89 and FR 90 belonged. ------------- * For some reason, most or all of the 1.4.25 Reichswehr promotions were actually made later that year around July and backdated.

Regarding W. Heck, there is a Lt.d.R. Wilhelm Heck who received the ÖM3K with RIR 265. I have nothing further on him or any other W. Hecks. No Hecks from Gr. Czyste in the Verlustlisten and no Hecks in RIR 265 there. The name is almost entirely found along the Rhine and Main rivers and nearby communities, not in West Prussia.

Regarding Kurt Lange, apparently they got the rank wrong. Then-Leutnant, later Generalmajor, Kurt Lange's father was Geheimer Justizrat Paul Lange in Deutsch Krone, later in Ballenstedt am Harz.

A bit more on Egger Rasmuß: Rasmuß, Johann Egger *30.11.1885 in Altona †10.10.1966 in Gettorf Rasmuß was promoted to Dr.jur. by the University of Jena on 7.8.1913 and was a Referendar in Kiel when the war began. He was still a Rechtsanwalt in Kiel in the 1941 Kiel Fernsprechbuch. He was commissioned a Lt.d.R. in FAR 26 on 20.2.12 and was promoted to OLt.d.R. on 18.6.17 with a Patent of 15.6.17. Gettorf is a village northwest of Kiel. ------- Regarding the later Oberst Johannes Leistikow, as the obituary notes, his father was a doctor. What is a bit weird is that Generalmajor Hans Leistikow had basically the same name, was also an HOH3X and HH recipient who later served in the Wehrmacht, and was also the son of a doctor; in his case, Generaloberarzt Ludwig Leistikow (†1910).

Zenke is Karl, according to the Stettin Adreßbuch. He may be the Zenke promoted to Lt.d.R. (I Berlin) in RIR 201 on 2.9.1915. The only other Zenke I found in the Militär-Wochenblatt was Lt.d.R. Walter Zenke, who was killed in action shortly after being promoted to Lt.d.R. in IR 172.

The Hauptmann from IR 81 was Hans Christian Friedrich Ferdinand Gustav Eduard Külp, *12.8.1885 in Cassel, †27.3.1963 in Hailer, Gelnhausen. Promoted to Hauptmann on 24.12.14. Carl-Leo Külp was born on 7.11.1885 in Bessungen, Darmstadt, and was living in Darmstadt after the war. He received the BZ3bX in 1914. He had a son who was killed in action in World War II as an Oberleutnant. Franz Arthur Külp was born on 11.4.1879 in Eberbach in Baden. He was in the field with RIR 118 before going to the Fliegertruppen. The SA3aX and SS3a mentioned in the Eberbacher Geschichtsblätter can be confirmed from Roth's list of Saxon awards and from the Sveriges statskalender.

This one bothers me. There were three Leutnants der Reserve Weil in the 1914 Prussian Army rank list, one each from FR 80, IR 83 and IR 143. There was one Bavarian Leutnant der Reserve, Oskar Weil from the 5.FAR. No Saxon that I know of. Paul Weil from IR 143 was killed in action in 1914. Something happened to Oskar Weil, who was a Gerichtsassessor in Wiesbaden, by Fleury on 12.9.1914 and he was in the hospital and the Ersatz-Abteilung until being retired as a Lt.d.R.a.D. on 21.2.16. Alfred Weil from IR 83 was commanded to the Fliegertruppe and was taken prisoner in 1916. It seems like he can be ruled out because (a) he was born and lived in Kassel, (b) IR 83 is not connected to Wiesbaden, and (3) he was promoted to Lt.d.R. on 18.12.13. They only began promoting 1912 Lts.d.R. to OLt.d.R. in the middle of 1918, so a 1913 commission would still be a Leutnant. This also would appear to rule out the various Weils promoted to Leutnant der Reserve during the war. Wilhelm Weil from FR 80 seems like a good possibility since FR 80 was from Wiesbaden. However, he was the most senior of these Lts.d.R. and was already a Hauptmann der Reserve in 1915. He was a Regierungsbaumeister in Betzdorf, given the Charakter of Reg.- und Baurat in 1918, and is shown with only the EK2 and Prussian Verdienstkreuz für Kriegshilfe in the 1918 Prussian court and state handbook. So the likeliest case is that the Wiesbadener Tagblatt got the rank or the name wrong. Weil might be right, since that is a family in Wiesbaden (there was a Leutnant d.L. Georg Weil born there in the casualty lists). But he was likely a Lt.d.R. (or Lt.d.L. Georg).

Friedrich Richard v. Canstein was not a Freiherr, or at least was not elevated to one until after 1938 at least. He is in the Taschenbuch der uradeligen Häuser under the house of "Rabe von Canstein", from which the Freiherr lines did originate. There he was listed as a Leutnant der Reserve in Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 9. He is listed in the Militär-Wochenblatt as "v. Canstein" (no "Rabe" or "Frhr."), promoted to Leutnant der Reserve der Fußartillerie (I Cöln) on 25 May 1916, at the time in Fußartillerie-Batterie Nr. 249. Fußa.Bttr. 249 was in fact a Tochterformation of FußAR 9. He was born on 24.2.1895 in Köln-Lindenthal and died on 20.9.1974 in Dattenfeld an der Sieg as an Oberst a.D. and Fabrikant. The HOH3X is mentioned in the 1986 edition of Gotha. Meier did not have the HOH3X at the time he received his LKEK (the Empfang was dated 14.5.1918, although the award was made on 30.4.1918), and he was killed on 6.7.1918. So that makes him likely the Meier gazetted in the MWB on 29.6.1918. He was born on 15.2.1892 in Sylbach a.d. Bega and was a Landwirt in Heerserheide, Schötmar.