Mike Dwyer

Thanks, Ian, a very interesting list!

Glenn, Not meaning to hijack the topic, but wasn't the Johanniter Order a bit out of favor during the Third Reich? Wasn't it kind of politically incorrect for von Schlieben to be wearing the white cross on his Wehrmacht uniform? I know others did this too, I've seen photos, but I remember reading somewhere that the Order had some very hard times under Hitler. I would think it could cause problems for a career military officer.

Ian, It literally translates as Honour Knight of the Order of Saint John. This is a German, Protestant, branch of the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem (commonly called the Knights of Malta). You have your own version there in the UK known as the Venerable Order of Saint John in the British Isles, they also run the St. John Ambulance Corps. The Johnitter Order still exists today and HRH Dr. Oskar Prinz von Pruessen is the current Herrenmeister. They have a great website (all in German) located at http://www.johanniter.de/org/orden/deindex.htm

I found a website, located at http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/regcomm79.htm, that lists Austro-Hungrian Army regimental commanders from the year 1879. The list shows the commander of 6. Uhlanen-Regiment Kaiser Franz Joseph being Oberst Joseph Traxler von Schrollheim. That's about all I could find.

Well, I'm no expert, but I'll take a stab at it. Since there's no lace around his collar I'd say his rank is Gefreiter (corporal). I'm having a problem with his regiment though. You say it appears to be a 10 on his epaulette (I can't really tell) and that he's a Wurrtemberger. My problem is lack of knowledge, I don't know if the unit numbers on the shoulder straps were from the army numbering system or if they used the state's numbers. There is the 10. W?rttembergisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr.180, but I thought they would have a 180 on their shoulder straps, not a 10, but I'm probably wrong so this may be the regiment you're seeking. I can't find a number 10 unit of any other type in the Wurrtemberg army, so that's probably going to be the right one. I'd wait until someone more skilled than I am gives a second opinion though!

Wonderful photos and postcards Robert!

Dolf, Here is a drawing of the neck cross of St. Michael of the Wing. Unfortunately it's done as a Microsoft Word document and not a picture, so I can't post it as a photo. Knight__St_Michael_of_the_Wing.doc

Very nice collection, Dolf! I noticed you have the order of Villa Vicosa there too. The head of the royal house of Portugal, HRH Dom Duarte, Duke of Braganza still awards that order. I have two friends here in the states who are knight commanders of Villa Vicosa.

AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! My eyes, my eyes!!!! I just can't believe it!

I find it rather odd that all three of these jewels have a popular version of the United States eagle on them. This particular eagle was widely used in older times and not so much today.

Beautiful medals, Solomon!

Otto, Absolutely fantastic! It is truly wonderful that you can have these documents belonging to your ancestor.

How stupid of me! Of course you're absolutely right! I must have been thinking of the Russian hussars who were known for using canaries!

Regimental Finches! Hussars used canaries!

As for Canadian police mess dress, there must be some exception (or at least was) because around 1991 I attended the annual meeting of the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers (ASLET) in Mobile, AL. There are also members from other countries too, not just the US. At the big banquet on the last night there was a sergeant from some Canadian police agency that was sitting at the table next to mine and he was wearing a blue mess dress uniform.

You're absolutely right! That's why I originally said in my original post that it looked like a rapier, it was that cross T that brought that to mind.

Hi, again, I did notice that I didn't say anything about the last part of your question! I believe these were worn for parade dress on the pre-war blue uniform. I know there were plans for a feldgrau peacetime uniform and it may have had a parade version with these too (I don't really know). My guess would be pre-1914. (Oops! I now see that GlennJ and Chip have addressed that issue too!!!)

The first set (with the dark blue material) is for a medical officer, I believe they're Prussian (the thin line on the silver braid trim is hard to see, but it appears to be black). The second set I also think are Prussian. I think they're for a hauptman (captain) in Infanterie-Regiment von Coubi?re (2. Posensches) Nr.19. I'm not one of the experts here, so you may want to wait for some more opinions! Well, that's what happens when you take to long to type up your entry! I was busy checking on-line references and then when I post, one of the more knowlegeable folks here has beat me to it!

I've seen photos of lots of German military swords and they all seem to follow a fairly common pattern. I was looking through evilBay today at some German royalty/military postcards and I saw this one of Prince Moritz zu Schaumburg-Lippe. The sword he's wearing looks almost like an old rapier and doesn't look like any of the German military swords I'm used to seeing.

My late father and I joined my Blue Lodge at the same time and went through all three degrees together. When we received the Master's degree they did him first so that when it came time to raise me and they removed the blindfold, he was the one standing there to do it. I ended up going through the chairs and became Master in 1982, he served as chaplain for 5 years, including my year as Master. I feel myself very fortunate to have shared that experience with him. I also own my maternal grandfather's Masonic ring and my maternal great-grandfather's Masonic lapel pin.

You're right Ed, it's a rather prolific family! We were, of course, mainly concerned with living members who were actually alive while the German Empire still existed.

According to the source I used for Prince Georg Wilhelm you are correct, Prince Wilhelm Karl is still living.

Daniel, I was watching a show on the History Channel, Discovery, PBS (one of those educational type channels!) about Queen Victoria a month ago or so and they had several scenes dealing with Prince Andreas, the current head of the ducal house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. They had his historian on there showing letters between Princess Victoria and her future husband, Prince Albert, scenes of the prince walking around his estate with his estate manager, and scenes from his "palace". While it was very nice looking, the "palace" looked more like a very large, old, house to me than a palace. Anyway, my point was apparently Saxe-Coburg-Gotha got to keep at least some of their stuff too. (Now that I'm more awake, I'll edit this and add some other things I just remembered!) The Prussian royal House of Hohenzollern still has Castle Hohenzollern in southern Germany, which is still used by the family and houses a museum. http://www.preussen.de/en/today/hohenzolle...D12A03A42B62980 The princely House of Hohenzollern still has Castle Sigmaringen. http://www.hohenzollern.com/ I could be mistaken, but I believe the royal house of Bavaria still has at least one of their palaces. There could be others out there too, I just don't know.

As some of you know, I collect postcards mostly of royalty and nobility. Usually when I look at them, or we all talk about Kaiser Wilhelm and others, I think of them all in the past tense. I know that Archduke Otto, the crown prince of the Austrian empire, son of Kaiser Karl, is still living, but he's about the only one I ever think of as still being with us. Today I was reading some royalty news and was kind of shocked to read that the younger son of the last reigning Duke of Braunschweig (photo attached) just recently died! Prince Georg Wilhelm, born in 1915, died on 8 January 2006. I just forget that there might still be a few of the royals and nobles born under the old Empire still out there somewhere.

Very, very nice photo. Field artillery??? According to Daniel Murphy in another thread, Elo Sambo, who was originally from Kamerun, was a kettledrummer in the mounted band of the Leib Garde Hussars. There's a photo of him in the thread located at http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=4649