Chip

I am looking at the cuff buttons on the Marienberg tunic and they appear smooth to me. I don't see any coat of arms. Am I missing something? Chip

Hardy, Great photo! Chip

Jens, You are amazing! Chip

I don't believe so. At least I have never seen it in that context. It looks like one of the sleeve unit designations from the 208.I.D., the so-called "Querstrich Division". They used various combinations of stripes and "X" to indicate the unit within the division. These were worn on the lower left sleeve. Chip

Here is another. Once again the reverse side showing the field unit. "M.G.S.s. Abt.56". I have a box of these I have accumulated over the years. Are you looking for anything specific? Chip

I have a hell of a time trying to get these to come out so you can read them. Any tips Hardy? I suppose I could try some PhotoShop'ing to bring out the stampings. This one is hard to see but interesting. It's "Starkstrom Komp. Nr.115" and on the other side, "Ers.Btl.f.techn.-Sonderform." Chip

Given what I have read about German school teachers of the period, I think drill sergeants is more like it. Hardy, Very nice tag! Chip

The 1st Komp. designation must be before the formation of the regiment or very soon thereafter. "Schuetze" makes perfect sense for this time period as well, for they were not "Jaeger" until then. Given the lack of a Reichskokarde on his cap (in post #30), the odd scalloped pockets and cloth covered cuff buttons, I tend to think that the date must have been post November 11, 1918. The guy in post #28 is apparently a Bavarian from the looks of his cockade, but he is wearing a non-Bavarian Jaeger style Troddel. Chip

Thank you, Chris. ;)

I'm think'in Telegraphentruppen again. Chip

Chris, Nice Sterbebild. The unit name is a bit misleading. The Bavarians tended to think that the 3.Jäger Regiment was "theirs", even though they made up just half of the battalions. The 14th company really took it on the chin on June 6th and during the first attacks on the J-Werkes. The regimental history lists Rosenberger as "Josef". I have a Sterbebild to another man from the 14th company, who was killed the same day that Rosenberger was wounded. Chip

Chris, Absolutely makes sense. I think their art tradition also plays into this. Chip

Chris, Wow! What a beauty! Gorgeous artwork. I would have to have that out on display at all times. One would never get tired of looking at it. Chip

While on this subject, I thought I might get some opinions regarding a question I have had. You see so many M15 officer's field boards with subdued braid, but non-regulation bright numbers. I suppose that most of the uniforms that survived the war were in some cabinet in Germany or were kept behind the lines for walking out dress purposes. This might explain the lack of a need to wear subdued numbers and cyphers. On the other hand, perhaps the tailors had stocks of the bright insignia that they wanted to get rid of first. Any thoughts about this? Chip

Well, there were lots of units that wore the collar Litzen on the M15 Bluse. In addition to the Prussian guard (with its handful of variations), the "guard" units of the other states often had them as well. Think about the Hessian Leibgarde IR115, the Baden Leib-Grenadier Regt.110, the Bavarian Inf.Leib Rgt., the Saxon Leib Gren.Rgt.100, etc. Then you have to throw in a lot of the officers of the technical corps, Eisenbahn, Flieger, etc. Then there are the traditions regiments that have them "just because", like the Mecklenburg Jäger Batl.Nr.14, the Hessian FAR.Nr.25, etc. The list is actually rather huge. Take a look at the charts in "Deutschlands Armee in feldgrauer Kriegs= und Friedensuniform". It shows all the Litzen worn on the Bluse and the Friedensuniform. Chip

Andy, Thanks for verifying that. I was also curious to know when he became the unit commander. Regards, Chip

A friend has recently acquired a single shoulder board of a Major from the 3.Garde Fußartillerie Regiment. The regiment was raised on December 12, 1917 and members of the new unit initially wore the same shoulder insignia as that of the 1.Garde Fußartillerie Regiment, that is, a M15 Fußartillerie pattern shoulder strap with crossed Langgranaten in the center. An army order of March 4th, 1918 ordered the addition of white piping on the straps of the men of the regiment, thus differentiating them from the 1st Guard foot artillery regiment. The officer's board in question is a subdued (Feldachselstück) pattern with the white piping, indicating that it was made between March of 1918 and the end of the war. We think we have identified that the commander of the unit during this time period was Major H. Schopp. I was wondering if anyone had access to a regimental history of the 3.Garde Fußart.Rgt. or had any information on Schopp, especially during his service with the regiment. Thanks in advance for any help. Chip

Pretty cool to get your EKII from the Kaiser. A nice story for the grandchildren. :D

Wow! Nice 94th guy. Chip

Well, I'm adding Sofia and the museum to my list for the next time I get to Europe. Chip

Good advice from Jens. It will save you $50 or more for not having to locate and purchase the book. Chip

Daniel, I am not going to try to answer for Stephane, but I did want to suggest a very good book that could answer all of your questions regarding the imperial german army. I think if you are just starting out in this field, reading this book could get you very quickly up to speed on how the army was run and how that relates to your grandfather. The book is, "Handbook of Imperial Germany" by Janet and Joe Robinson and is available through Joe's website, http://www.pickelhauben.net/comments.htm or through Amazon.com. Chip

Chris, I would disagree with your assessment regarding the collecting of imperial era award documents. It is a quagmire of repros and forgeries and I would not suggest that anyone switch to collecting these. OK,OK maybe that is a little strong. But seriously Phil, it is a fun field to collect in. There has been a growing interest and competition for the past decade and I cannot see it letting up as more and more collectors come to see the great variety and interesting history of these documents. I think your documents are to Karl Sauernheimer. Notice how a basic private got such nice fancy documents. It's also pretty cool that so many of these documents have the original signatures of some very interesting general officers, not to mention such commanders as Willy Rohr, Ralf von Rango and many others. Chip

Beautiful photos! Especially love that Saxon. Thanks Jens! Here is something you don't see too often...a Matrosen Infanterie guy with a first class cross.

Chris, I have a rather poor photo of it somewhere. Let's see if I can come up with it. I really could not say if it was a one time piece. It was a large stoneware stein and now that I think about it, it may have been 3.Jäger Rgt., because it had the Karpathenkorps and the Edelweiss on it, as well as the "S".