IMPERIAL ARMY TUNIC?

[cartoonman]

As I sort through the pieces in my small collection of German militaria, preparing it for sale, I run into assumptions based on who-knows-what. For forty years I have believed this tunic to be a turn-of-the-century Imperial Army NCO tunic... but not based on anything I can remember! It's in good shape, with minor mothing. Otherwise a pretty solid piece. Can anyone confirm or correct this i.d.?

I also have a blue/red visor cap with raised cockades that may or may not go with the uniform. I'm looking to i.d. it, and set a reasonable price for the piece. It appears to me to be military-issue, not private, with reg/co stamp inside... I'll follow this posting with one of the cap...

Gene

[Mike Dwyer]

From the small photo it certainly looks like an imperial German uniform. What's on the shoulder straps?

[cartoonman]

The epaulets have a crown (Prussian?) with a "W," which I don't think is related to the outgoing US Administration... :-) See attached photo...

Gene

From the small photo it certainly looks like an imperial German uniform. What's on the shoulder straps?

[cartoonman]

The epaulets have a crown (Prussian?) with a "W," which I don't think is related to the outgoing US Administration... :-) See attached photo...

Gene

From the small photo it certainly looks like an imperial German uniform. What's on the shoulder straps?

[Mike Dwyer]

That would be the Royal Bavarian 6. Infanterie-Regiment Kaiser Wilhelm, K?nig von Preu?en, stationed in Amberg, raised June 18, 1725, part of the III Bayer. Armee Korps. If that's a 9 on the shoulder strap button the owner was in the 9th company.

[cartoonman]

Thanks, Mike! Yes, that's a 9 on the buttons... Your reply sent me scurrying down to the basement workshop where all the stuff is laid out... Inside the tunic, it's stamped: 14.Inf. Reg. 9.Komp. R.W. tragbar Thanks to your lead I found this info: Bavarian Infantry Regiment Nr 14 Hartmann. It was raised in 1814 in N?rnberg. (source: der Rittmeister.com) and this from Wikipedia: (At the outbreak of WWI) The 5th Bavarian Division was renamed the 5th Bavarian Infantry Division. The division's initial wartime organization (major units) was as follows:^[6] 9. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade Kgl. Bayerisches 14. Infanterie-Regiment Hartman...

And this begs the question from my third item: would that visor cap be appropriate for the tunic? Any guesses?

Gene (off to the sack)

That would be the Royal Bavarian 6. Infanterie-Regiment Kaiser Wilhelm, K?nig von Preu?en, stationed in Amberg, raised June 18, 1725, part of the III Bayer. Armee Korps. If that's a 9 on the shoulder strap button the owner was in the 9th company.

[Mike Dwyer]

Gene,

The coat may have originally been made/issued for someone in the 14th Infantry, but that regiment just had a yellow "14" on the shoulderstraps, somehow this coat has been converted to a 6th regiment uniform by changing the shoulderstraps. I'm not sure how that works.

If your blue and red cap has the Bavarian cockade (white with blue center) on the lower band (I can't really see it that well), then it would be entirely appropriate for this uniform coat.

[cartoonman]

Thanks, Mike... interesting info! It's all in the details, isn't it?! I checked the stitching of the epaulets and they are in fact stitched, very neatly, from the outside (Were uniform epaulets typically sewn from within, before the uniform was finished?)... so perhaps the soldier was assigned first to the 14., then to the 6. during the pre-war/early war shuffles?

The visor cap has the silver ("white")/blue cockade of Bavaria, for the lower one... the blue appears to be a tiny piece of material, not painted metal... so yes, it seems to fit the uniform...

Gene

Gene,

The coat may have originally been made/issued for someone in the 14th Infantry, but that regiment just had a yellow "14" on the shoulderstraps, somehow this coat has been converted to a 6th regiment uniform by changing the shoulderstraps. I'm not sure how that works.

If your blue and red cap has the Bavarian cockade (white with blue center) on the lower band (I can't really see it that well), then it would be entirely appropriate for this uniform coat.