Unit help for a member of a Thuringia Regiment (?)

[kunsho]

Hi,

Please could me help somebody to ID the Unit of:

Friedrich Sommer (* 1896)

His medals:

EK I

EK II

Schwarzburg Ehrenkreuz 3. cl. with X

Reuss Ehrenkreuz 3 cl. with X

below you can see ( a quick shot of ) his ribbon bar.... I have his name, but no unit and (unfortunately) I have no quick access to the necessary literature therefor...in my opinion he should have been a lieutenant in a Thuringian Regiment (96 ?)

Maybe some of you can help me out with some data.

Many thanks,

Matthias

Edited September 5, 2011 by kunsho

[Dave Danner]

From where did you get the name?

The only Sommer with the SEK3X was a Leutnant der Landwehr in RIR 82. His first name is not in the rolls.

[kunsho]

Dave,

I get the ribbon bar, the accompanying medal bar and his name directly from the family....unfortunately no papers have survived only a personal photo from the sixties (certainly without wearing any decorations).

Hmmm...so my suspicion (in fact of the combination of the Schwarzburg and the Reuss cross) the he was a member of IR 96 is not so solid...so I need next the regimental history of the RIR 82...but in my opinion he was too young for a Lt. d. L. ...

Thanks for your help Dave!

Matthias

Edited September 6, 2011 by kunsho

[Deruelle]

Hi Matthias,

There is no suspicion about Schwarzburg and Reuß combo ! I have a photo in my collection of one officer showing only iron cross and both orders.

Till the Reuß rolls has not been found we can't be affirmatif about the name. I have some name but no Sommer in my list.

Christophe

[kunsho]

Hi Christophe,

you misunderstood me, there is no doubt about the ribbons whether it is Schwarzburg, Reuss or not. That Friedrich Sonntag had earned the above mentioned medals is (in my opinion) a clear point. And I am not affirmatif about the name because the group is direkt from his family (and I do not belief that he changed the surname nor is the family so large that the medals can be from another ancestor).

Meanwhile I have found a Lt. Sonntag in 10. / IR 96. The second bataillon of IR 96 was the joint contingent of the Principality of Reuss older and younger line and was stationed in Gera, the birthplace of Friedrich Sonntag. The third bataillon was the joint contingent of Principality Schwarzburg Rudolstadt and Sondershausen. In cause of these special medal combination this unit was my first suspicion. According the regimental history "Sturmflut", from Arnold Bölsche, a Lt. Sonntag was from end of 1915 until begin of 1917 platoon- and company leader of the 10th company. I think this is the Sonntag I am looking for...BUT unfortunately there remains anyhow a litte doubt, because he is not mentioned in Dave's Reuss roll (Dave: is your Roll surely the accumulated Roll from both Reuss lines? ) and in the regimental history is no first name mentioned...

Does somebody know if the Thuringian archive do have any Thuringian officier files from WW 1, or a Kriegsrangliste " war rank list" of the Thuringian regiments or were they only stored in the (burned down) prussian war archive? In this case we have really a "eldorado" in our Wuerttemberg archive.

Best regards,

Matthias

Christophe, could you be so kind and show us your mentioned photo with the same combo? Is the inscription on the back maybe "Lt. Sonntag vom IR 96" that will help me a lot :D

[Dave Danner]

In your original post you said Friedrich Sommer, Now you have Friedrich Sonntag. Which is correct?

A Lt.d.L. Sommer received the SEK3X on 5.6.15 while serving in RIR 82. His award was from Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

A Lt. Sonntag received the SEK3X on 12.2.16 while serving in III./IR 96. His award was from Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.

I assume you just had the wrong name in the original post? Sonntag certainly makes more sense, since known SEK3X/REK3X combinations are almost all people with an IR 96 connection. Two exceptions are later Generaloberst Gotthard Heinrici (IR 95) and later Gen.d.Inf. Erich Lüdke (IR 71), both of whom received their SEK3X from Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

[kunsho]

:speechless1: really I wrote Sommer!! YES Dave you are right, of course originally I mean SONNTAG...and so this is another lesson how to keep your collector colleagues busy...

Sorry + Thank you

Matthias

:whistle:

[Deruelle]

Hi,

Here is the photo of Lt Leo Albert.

Christophe

[Dave Danner]

really I wrote Sommer!! YES Dave you are right, of course originally I mean SONNTAG...and so this is another lesson how to keep your collector colleagues busy...

Sorry + Thank you

Matthias

That clears that up!

Both Sonntag and Sommer are among those with no first names in the rolls. So now I can add Sonntag's first name and place and year of birth. Do you have any other vital statistics (day and month of birth, date of death, what he did in the 2.WK)? I am trying to include as much information as possible, to make the rolls more than just a list of names, but also a biographical resource.

I will be in Rudolstadt next month. I need to get some missing Ehrenkreuz information from the archives, and some information on other awards. I will also be looking at the Vorschläge for the Ehrenkreuz. I hope these will include the missing first names or other details as well as any other awards received at the time of the Vorschlag. I can also see if it says exactly what your guy got his award for.

Regards,

Dave