Mike Dwyer

Not the same von Prittwitz und Gaffron

1. Leib-Husaren-Regiment Nr. 1 von Prittwitz und Gaffron rose to the rank of charakterisierter Oberstleutnant on retiring from Ulanen-Regiment Kaiser Alexander II. von Ru?land (1. Brandenburgisches) Nr. 3 on 18 May 1905.

Regards

Glenn

Thanks, Glenn, I was just curious when I saw the name.

This is fantastic news, Otto!

And here are some more of the names of the donor officers, who might give a clue as to the date.

Can anyone with better knowledge of Imperial research than me lend a hand here?

Thanks.

I couldn't help but notice on the edge of the cup the name von Prittwitz und Gaffron. I just received the postcard below yesterday. Same person? or just a relative??

Zoooooom in close on His Celluloidness's awards and that'll tell us which family he's from.

They all look alike to me otherwise.

That's King Friedrich August II of Saxony.

A "shadow" around the eagle?? Never seen that, or if I have, never noticed it.

I may be way out in left field here, but if the eagle was applied by a stencil, if the artist didn't paint over the edges of the stencil and left the dark stencil outline around the edges of the eagle, could this account for the shadowed or decal look?

Hi Mike, nice mini-bar! very nice indeed. These miniature medal bars are not easy to find.

Hi, Stogie

Thanks! I've only got a few things but what really made me want this mini-bar was that I own each of the full-sized medals too! Unfortunately, they're not on a single bar together like the mini-bar. I have a two-place bar with the EK2 and Honor Cross w/swords and I own a MVK w/crown & swords.

While not nearly as nice as Andreas' miniatures, I'm waiting on the postman to deliver this little beauty!

For some twisted reason, I have always had a fascination with monarchies, knights, and the idea of virtuous service. As a older child, and then teenager, I loved Napoleonic uniforms, but as I got older and more "mature" I developed a love for the clean, crisp, lines of the German uniforms from about the 1880's to 1914. I have to admit I even like some of the field gray stuff too! As far as the orders and medals, they're just too superb for words!!!

"Isn't it morally wrong to give me a warning when, in fact, I was speeding?"

"Don't you think it is about time you audited my return?"

Officer, will you hold my beer while I look for my license?

I'm reluctant to try unknown links given my computer limitations. can you do an "F11 print screen" on whatever it is?

I don't know if I can do that or not, it may be technilogically too advanced for me!

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Ask and ye shall receive.........

Yeah! I think Hank the Lion is my pesonal favorite!

God alone knows what that last ribbon is--

Rick,

I am probably the last person in the entire universe that should be responding to this because I know absolutely nothing about ribbon bars (and I'm probably going to prove that right now!!!), but........go to this ribbon chart at http://s115255626.alturo-host.de/adl/bander.htm, scroll down to the Preussen section and look at ribbon # 14. With a little fading it looks awfully close. Since I know nothing about the medals themselves it may have been impossible for him to have had that medal.

Mike,

Robert is focussing on two separate crowns--one on the top of the badge design or, more spoecifically, the shape of their wells on the reverse, and the absence or presence of crown hallmarks. Every badge is crowned, but Stogie and Robert contend that a period (1913-45) and therefore "original" badge should not have a crown hallmark

Thank you very much, I was a bit confused!

Stogie,

I am basically just a reader here! I know nothing about these badges and they aren't my real field of interest either. I tend to read anything you post because you seem to be extremely knowledgable and truly care about the truth. Perhaps I am being dense, but I'm a bit confused about the article.

You say "no crowns" but in the article some of the examples shown as 'real' badges have crowns, so is the colonel still in the "crown" camp and believe real badges did have crowns?

Paul,

I would love to buy a copy!

That is correct. The MMJO conferred PERSONAL lifetime nobility on COMMONERS-- rather like the English Knightage. It was not hereditary-- though just to confuse things, there WERE a number of old hereditary "Ritter von" titles which had NOTHING to do with the MMJO.

Rick,

I seem to recall reading on some other website (which I know doesn't necessarily make it true) that if a MMJO ritter had two ancestors who were also knights, then the title was hereditary. Was that information bogus?????????????

reverse.

Bob,

Absolutely beautiful!

The Brunswick War Merit Cross was founded on 23 Oct. 1914 by Duke Ernst August. It was awarded for both combat and non-combat (authorized on 17 Nov. 1915) service. A first class (pinback) award was authorized on 20 March 1918 causing the originals to become known as 2nd class awards.

The Bew?hrungsabzeichen, as I understand it, signifies two years of actual front line service; therefore, a ?proven? combatant; and again, as I understand it, this decoration may have been authorized as late as 18 Oct. 1918.

Wild Card

If I could expand this a little bit....

1. The receipient had to be a Brunswick native as of August 1, 1914 or if not a Brunswicker, an officer in one of its formations.

2. He had to serve two years of "unbroken service" in the field. This was caveatted to permit up to two months of hospital and/or home leave during the period of qualification.

3. The receipient had to have a record of good conduct (usually applied only to men in the ranks, being presumed for officers).

All requirements were waived in the case of death.

(Info obtained from http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/sho...rungsabzeichen)

Sal,

I don't believe that any machine is involved here. The Winker was trained to communicate by positioning a pair of flags in various configurations to represent letters of the alphabet and numbers. It was a line of sight thing and was limited to the distance at which it could be clearly seen by the person on the other end, be it by the naked eye or by binoculars or other some device.

Chip

Sal,

The semaphore Chip is talking about looks like this (US Coast Guard semaphoreman in action!)

Mike

Thanks Mike!

Is he still contesting it? I remember watching something about that on the news a few years ago.

Tony

Tony,

I honestly don't know the status of his contest. I know he filed a suit in German court some time ago. His father passed over him in favor of his grandson, Georg Friedrich, because he married outside of the house law on equal marriages (not once, but now he's on his fourth morgantic marriage!). His lawsuit basically argued that since the empire was no more, house law doesn't matter anymore and he should be the head of the house! Sounds kind of like having your cake and eating it too!

Another one of my favorite postcards! Bavarian General Ludwig Freiherr von Gebsattel.

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Christophe posted a photo of General d'Elsa in the field. Here's one of him all dressed up!

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OMG .. he who say's he knows it all ... "Der Expensivemeister" has made a total pigs ear of his description and understanding of this.

When I first found "Der Expensivemeister" site I was looking at his wares and he had a beautiful little white and blue porcelain box that had a W on the lid with the imperial crown above it, surrounded by the grand collar of the Order of the Black Eagle, and around that a blue belt with the words "'Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense' on it. In his description he said it was the "Hohenzollern family motto"!!!!! After I picked myself up off of the floor from laughing so hard, I sent him an e-mail advising that it was the motto of the British Order of the Garter and that Kaiser Wilhelm II was a knight of the Garter (until it was taken away from him during the war). I never heard anything back from Der Expensivemeister and he never changed his description either.

Otto,

This is the second or third time I have read the Carl Hans Theodor Holler story, and I find it just as fascinating and breathtaking as the first! I truly enjoy the stories and photographs that people have posted on the other forums you frequent showing their grandfathers and great-grandfathers in the Kaiser's army (or navy).

Here's a postcard I picked up of Crown Prince Willie's children. Anyone know who's who in the pic?

Tony

I would presume the tallest is the Crown Prince's eldest son, Prince Wilhelm Friedrich Franz Joseph Christian Olaf, who renounced his rights to the throne in 1933 and was killed as a Wehrmacht lieutenant at Nivelles, France 26 May 1940. His second son was Prince Louis Ferdinand Viktor Eduard Albert Michael Hubertus (1907-1994), who, upon Crown Prince Wilhelm's death in 1951, became the head of the Royal House of Hohenzollern. His third son was Prince Hubertus Karl Wilhelm (1909-1950), and his youngest son was Prince Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Christoph (1911-1966).

Prince Louis Ferdinand's grandson, Prince GEORG FRIEDRICH Ferdinand (born 1976) is the current head of the Royal House of Hohenzollern (though he has an uncle, Prince Louis Ferdinand Friedrich Wilhelm Hubertus Michael Kyrill, eldest son of Prince Louis Ferdinand, who contests his headship.)

Prince Georg Friedrich and the House of Hohenzollern have a website of some interest located at http://www.preussen.de/en/today.html