Schneider mystery

[Dave Danner]

In the 1914 and 1918 Ranglisten der Kaiserlich Deutschen Reichsmarine and in the Ehrenrangliste der Deutschen Marine, we find a Marineinfanterie officer, Maj. Schneider, who led the Skutari Detachment and was later a battalion commander in the 3.MIR and then regimental commander of the 2.MIR. He received the Knight's Cross of the House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords and the Oldenburg Friedrich August Cross 1st and 2nd Classes, among other decorations. He also had a peacetime RAO4 and an Order of the Zähringen Lion, Knight 2nd Class with Oakleaves.

He entered the Army on 22.3.1888 and the Marineinfanterie on 1.10.1908. His Dienstalter as Major was 1.10.13 K12k.

According to these sources, his name was Paul Schneider and he was born on 31.5.1869.

The 1914 Vollständige Dienstaltersliste shows the following for Maj. Schneider of the Marineinfanterie:

- 21.9.89 Lt. [sek.Lt.]

- 22.3.97 OLt. [PremLt.]

- 15.9.04 Hptm.

- 1.10.13 Maj.

According to various rank lists and the Militär-Wochenblatt, the officer with these promotions had the following career: commissioned as a Sek.Lt. in IR 129, transferred to IR 142 on 17.5.1892, discharged from the Army on 30.9.1908 and appointed into the Marineinfanterie on 1.10.1908.

Here's the mystery: according to the Stamm- und Ranglisten sämtlicher Offiziere des 3. Westpreuss. Infanterie-Regiments Nr. 129 von 1881 bis 1906, the Hptm. Schneider with this career path, down to every detail up to 1906, was not named Paul, but was named Arnold Friedrich Hermann, and was born on 27.3.1865 in Carthaus bei Danzig.

Any ideas which might be correct? The IR 129 Stammliste is very detailed, but I suspect it might be wrong. It has him leaving the Hauptkadettenanstalt on 22.3.1888 (which fits the Army entry date in the Navy lists), but if he were born in 1865, 23 is awfully old to be graduating from the HKA. 1869 is a far more likely birth year for such a person. I don't have an IR 142 Stammliste, if one exists, so I can't check that.

Here is the Stammliste entry:

Here are the 1918 Navy and Ehrenrangliste entries:

[Glenn J]

Dave,

his first name as given in the 6th Supplement to the 1905 Ordensliste for his 18 January 1911 award of the RAO4 is Paul.

Regards

Glenn

[Dave Danner]

Do you suppose the "Arnold Friedrich Hermann" born on 27.3.1865 was someone else, maybe not even a Schneider, whose entry was accidentally mixed up? There was an Oberförster Schneider in Carthaus (Karthaus) bei Danzig, for what it's worth.