Early Rommel's career as w?rttembrgischer Gebirgsj?ger during WWI

[Claudio]

Dear forumites,

I'd like to show a couple of pictures I have taken during my daily excursion, after I attended the show in Stuttgart. During the show I saw an interesting leaflet about an exposition dedicated to the early Rommel's career with the w?rttembergischen Gebirgsj?ger during WWI.

Since I noticed that the exposition was only about 30 Km from Stuttgart, in Ludwigsburg, I decided to visit it on Sunday, the only day which the Torhaus is open to the public for free.

Here in the attachment I am showing you the details of this interesting "Ausstellung", which was was put together thanks to private contributions from private collections.

Claudio

[Claudio]

more details on the "Brosch?re"...

Edited April 7, 2008 by Claudio

[Claudio]

A picture about a document concerning a W?rttemberg'sche Military Merit Medal in Gold and the medal itself.

[Claudio]

Some Gebirgsj?ger's items like Tschakos and a Windjacke...

Edited April 7, 2008 by Claudio

[Claudio]

Overcoat, uniform and gas mask of a Gebirgsj?ger...

[Claudio]

A unique story about a Gebirgsj?gerin...

The exposition's guide told me that she joined the army during the confusion of early WWI, because of her hatred of the Italians who attacked the Austro-Hungarian Empire, after being allied with them. Only after an inspection for the personal hygiene of the solders, a NCO ordered all the soldiers to take off their shoes... he noticed that this very odd female looking soldier didn't have any hair on her feet toes... he became a bit suspicious and ordered her to go to the unit's doctor to undergo a more detailed inspection. He finally saw and confirmed that she was a women. She was immediately withdrawn from the combatant unit but could stay with the Gebirgsj?ger as medical assistant. I don't know if the story it's true... but it's quite a nice anecdote...

Edited April 7, 2008 by Claudio

[Claudio]

picture of the Gebirgsj?gerin...

[Claudio]

Heavy Winter coat, for guard duty...

[Claudio]

Brothers...

[Claudio]

some more Gebirgsj?ger's related items...

[Claudio]

Spr?sser's (Rommel's batallion commander) personal knife with also photo evidence of him wearing it.

[Claudio]

other Gebirgsj?ger-related items...

[Claudio]

Rommel with his Superior commander, Major Spr?sser.

[Claudio]

Now we arrive to the interesting part: all these items came from a collection of a Veteran Gebirgsj?ger who fought with Rommel. This veteran collected pretty much everything that had to do with Rommel, his commanding officer. There are some rumours that Rommel gave in the 20ies all his WWI stuff to this ex-comrade, because it was said that in one occasion he saved Rommel's life, but there're no solid evidence of that.

Here the wool coat of Rommel...

Edited April 7, 2008 by Claudio

[Claudio]

double posting, please delete...

Edited April 7, 2008 by Claudio

[Claudio]

Windjacke... I hate to post picture on these forums... sometimes I post them and after I reply on my latest posting it disappears!!!!

[Claudio]

I almost give up to continue this thread... I am having an hard time with this forum's software: pictures disappearing, long waiting for the pictures to upload... it doesn't really make a lot of fun...

Here some more of Rommel's personal items...

[jaba1914]

Windjacke... I hate to post picture on these forums... sometimes I post them and after I reply on my latest posting it disappears!!!!

Vary interessting. I live in Baden-W?rttemberg and never was on this exposition.

Thank you for showing this pictures.

Alex

[nesredep]

I almost give up to continue this thread... I am having an hard time with this forum's software: pictures disappearing, long waiting for the pictures to upload... it doesn't really make a lot of fun...

Here some more of Rommel's personal items...

Hello!

Just amazing.thanks for showing.Some item I never seen before.

All the best

Nesredep

[Claudio]

It was really an impressive, small but really interesting exposition...

Here a picture of Rommel with his brother, who fell in the Western Front (or at least I think to have remembered correctly).

[Claudio]

Everything you see on this picture, with the expetion of the leather gear and the PLM repro, was owned and worn by Rommel.

[Claudio]

This PLM is an original one in GOLD, but not of Rommel... they told me it was the PLM of the Officer who took Fort Douamont in Verdun... I forgot his last name... arrggghhh...

Sorry for the bad quality of the picture, but I didn't want to take them with the flash out of respect, although I could have if I pushed for it.

[Claudio]

Other Gebirgsj?ger stuff... there were a couple of visor cap shown in the exhibition, too. A couple of them, like the one on the top of this glass cabinet, has a light blue stripe around it, that means it was of the Train-troops (transport troops with mules and horses). Many of the early Gebirgsj?ger came from the Train-troops, also Spr?sser, I was told. That is interesting, too... I never immagined. I thought they came mostly from the J?ger or light infantry (Rifle) troops.

[Claudio]

Some more items... All these items had a story to tell. Very interesting... You could really get a better more intimate pictures of what these W?rttembergers went through during WWI. Most them started in a Schneeschuh company which rose eventually in a batallion, in order to face the French troops on the "Vogesen/Vosges" montains. When snow melted, they were trained to become the first mountain specialised troops of the Reich. The beginning was quite hard to put together enough troops who could ski (Telemark-Style). It was not uncommon, in the early phases, to see from very young recruts to 40-50 years old soldiers being put into the first Schneeschuh Kompanie, because of the lack of ski trained troops.

[Claudio]

Some more interesting images and copies of pencil portraits (right of Sp?sser).

Edited April 7, 2008 by Claudio