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I look forwward to seeing the list with its many "von Oerztens", as I have worked especially hard on id'ing all 30 of the active duty officers listed in the 1914 Rangliste. I was gratified to know I was correct in all 30 first names when a few years back I exchanged letters with a member of that family seeking info on several members of his extended branch of the family tree. He even shared some particularly interesting and informative family documents which confirmed my previous work. We'll just have to wait and see if this might assist with id'ing the recipients on your roll.

The von Levetzow mentioned on page 740 of the Ehrenrangliste, who was reactived during the War and served with Armierungs-Batl. 9 , had last served with Hus. R. 12 until retiring in 1907. This Rittm., Erdmann von Levetzow, was commissioned in Drag. R. 4 in 1889, tranferred to 1. Garde Ulan. R. in 1894 and then to Hus. R. 12 in 1901. He was born 25.08.1868. Sounds like a strong candidate for your missing Rittm. a.D., as the spelling of that last name varied quite a bit. Andy

Christer, The von Bassewitz I mentioned in the previous post is Karl Friedrich von Bassewitz, born at Goldberg 22.10.1878. He belonged to the "Sch?nhof" line of the von Bassewitz family from Mecklenburg. His father was a judge born in Mummendorf and his grandfather owned two eststes, Mummendorf and Blumenhof in the area of Grevesm?hlen. So, there is at least part of your Mecklenburg connection. HIs great-grandfather, also a land owner, was born in Neustrelitz. Andy

Christer, Looks like you have photos of the staff of Art. R. 403. That is Major Hardt, commander of Art. Regt. 403, along with other officers in the regiment. I do not have Hardt's first name, but at the beginning of the war he was a captain attached to the staff of Art. R. 17 in Bromberg. The names on the back of the first picture are Hptm. Hillmer I/403 Hptm Genest III/403 Major Hardt Hptm von Bassewitz II/403 The second picture Hptm. Genest III/403 Major Hardt, Regt. Kom. Leutnant Eberle (Adjutant III/403) In May 1914 there was a Hptm. Hiller in FAR 38, a Hptm Genest in FAR 40, a Hptm. von Bassewtiz in FAR 84. I think it's safe to say Eberle was a wartime Lt.- no Art. Lt appears in the 1919 Dienstaltersliste. A very nice set pf photos. Andy

Gustav Borggreve, *12.04.1825 ?05.10.1903. When he retired as a Major and commander of Landwehr Bezirk Warendorf on 09.04.1878 the only decoration he had was the 25 year long service cross. This mght be explained by the fact that he retired for the first time as a captain on 13.03.1866. He was recalled in 1870 for 5 months in 1870 as an acting LOC commandant. In Jan 1871 he was given the "Charakter" as a Major and made commander of the Landwehr District, a position he held until his second retirement in 1878 as noted above. Andy

Over the last few months, I put together a list of all the officers who served in the 5. GRzF and GGR 5 from its creation in 1897 to 1914 as reflected in the Ranglisten. So far, I have been able to identify all of them except the following few. I would appreciate any assistance in obtaining their first names, dates and places of birth (never hurts to ask!). At some point, I plan on creating a "homegrown" Stammlisten with their careers, as none where ever published during the regiments' existence. IF you do havee any information, I would also appreciate a source citation. Thanks very much in advance Andy Name Rang Date of Rank as LT Regiment gefallen von bis Ziethen, von* Sek.Lt. 17.11.1892 5. GRzF 1897 1897 Kuycke, von* Sek.Lt. 18.10.1895 5. GRzF 1897 1897 Ledebur, Frhr. von* SL.-Oblt. 18.04.1896 5. GRzF 1897 1910 Wegerer, von* SL.-Oblt. 20.03.1899 5. GRzF 1899 1913 Katzler, von* Leutn. 20.03.1899 GGR 5 1899 1907 Schaper, von* Leutn. 18.08.1899 GGR 5 1900 1901 Uechtritz u. Steinkirch, von* Leutn. 18.08.1901 5. GRzF 1902 1906 Grueber, Ritter u. Edler von* Leutn.-OL. 18.08.1902 5. GRzF 1903 1908 Zitzewitz, von* Leutn. 18.08.1902 GGR 5 1903 1903 Oertzen, von Leutn. 10.06.1904 5. GRzF 1906 1908 Schmettau, von* Leutn. 19.08.1909 5. GRzF 1910 1912 Oloff,* Oblt.-Hptm. 18.08.1899 GGR 5 1912 1912 Wierss,* Hptm. 27.01.1900 GGR 5 23.08.14 1913 1914 Grundmann,* Leutn. 22.06.1912 5. GRzF 12.10.14 1914 1914

Paul, I am finally able to get back into the forum. Here is GM Gronau's career to add to your files with this wonderful bar. If you have any questions, let me know. ! Andy Carl Gronau (1855-1945) 27.01.14-08.09.16 Kom. d. 22. Feldart. Brig. (Cassel) 19.06.09-27.01.14 Kom. d. 4. Garde Feldart. R. (Potsdam) 1904-19.06.09 I./Lehr R. d. Feldart. Schie?sch. (J?terbog) 18.04.01-1903 II./Feldart. R. 36 (Danzig) 1900-18.04.01 b. St. d. Feldart. R. 36 (Danzig) 1898-1899 Lehr. a.d. Feldart. Schie?sch. (J?terbog) 1895-1897 k. als Lehr. a.d. Feldart. Schie?sch., Mitgl. d. I. Abt. d. Art. Pr?f. Komm., ? l.s. Feldart. R. 3 1892-1894 Chef 3./Feldart. R. 3 (Brandenburg) 01.04.90-1891 Dir. Offiz. d. Art. u. Ing. Sch., Sekret?r d. Stud. Komm. d. Art. u. Ing. Sch., v. Feldart. R. 33 22.03.87-01.04.90 i. 4./Feldart. R. 27 (Wiesbaden) 1886-22.03.87 i. 7./Feldart. R. 3 (J?terbog) 1885 i. 8./Feldart. R. 3 (J?terbog) 1882-1884 Adj. I./Feldart. R. 3 (Wittenberg) 1881 i. 1./Feldart. R. 3 (Wittenberg) 1879-1880 k.z. Art. u. Ing. Sch. v. Feldart. R. 3 1876/77-1878 i. 1./Feldart. R. 3 (Wittenberg) PRAO3mSchl PKrO2 PDK MG3 JV5 Gen.Maj. 22-04-14 B Oberst 20-03-11 Ji Oberstlt. 18-05-08 C Major 19-09-01 B2b* Hptm. 18-10-91 B2b2 Oblt. 22-03-87 Leutn. 17-10-76 *Ern. 18-04-01

In most instances, a name like that means the person (or relative) was adopted. A famous example is GFM Erich von Lewinski gen. von Manstein. His mother's sister, married to a von Manstein was unable to have children. Erich was one of several children in his family, and so before he was born his parents offered him to his aunt and uncle to adopt. Consequently, he was named von Lewinski gen. von Manstein to indicate his "true" while still allowing his adopted name to be used. Over time, von Lewinski seems to have been dropped and historians tend to refer to him simply as von Manstein, though this is not entirely correct. Andy

Here are a few more first names for the list: 11- Erich von Widekind 12- Karl von Pentz 13- Adolf von B?low 18- Karl Frhr. von Pechmann 24- Walter Kuhr 28 - G?nther Meinhold ( a future Gen.Maj.) Andy

For your consideration: Paging through the Stammliste of IR 31, I came across six Frhr. Treusch von Buttlar-Brandenfels. Looking at the photo, which shows a young Adjutant (the Sch?rpe (sash) is the give away), I could find only one of the six who served in that capacity. He is Wilhelm, born 27.07.1838 and died on 22.07.66 of wounds suffered at K?niggr?tz as a captain in IR 17 (to which he transferred on 24.04.62). Wilhelm left the cadet corps and was attached to the regiment as an ensign on 07.06.53. He was promoted to Sek.Lt. on 19.03.54, not yet 16 years old! He served as the Adj. of the first battalion from 01.10.56-23.07.59, which helps to give a timeframe for the photo. Wilhelm is also the first of that family name to have served in IR 31. The 1859 Rangliste shows that IR 31 garrisoned Erfurt, minus II./IR 31, which was in Wei?enfels. The 1859 Rangliste lists Frhr. Treusch von Buttlar-Brandenfels as the Adj. of I./IR 31, but does not show any awards. So, what are the ribbons in the photograph??????? Based on his age, he could not have particpated in the 1848/49 campaigns. Any ideas, gentlemen?? Andy