Who is Oskar Romberg?

[Dave Danner]

This is the kind of annoying research matter that drives me crazy. I imagine Rick would have really enjoyed getting annoyed by it as well, as well as solving it. 

Among Württemberg officers decorated in World War I is Major a.D. Oskar Romberg, who received the Knight's Cross with Swords of the Order of the Württemberg Crown on 18 February 1916 as Kommandant of mobile Bahnhofs-Kommandantur 3/XIII.  According to the Militär-Wochenblatt, he also received the Iron Cross 2nd Class.

So who was Oskar Romberg? In the Personal-Nachrichten in the Württemberg Militär-Verordnungsblatt for 1915, we find that Hauptmann a.D. Romberg was formerly in Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 180, and was given the Charakter of Major a.D. on 25 February 1915 while serving as Adjutant of the Landwehr-Inspektion Stuttgart. He then received a Patent as Major a.D. on 21 December 1915.

Our next stop is the list of retired officers in the 1913 edition of the Militärhandbuch des Königreichs Württemberg:

So, we find that Oskar Romberg, born in 1866, was promoted to Hauptmann on 23 March 1901, and left active duty on 20 March 1911. That means that the last edition of the Prussian Army rank list in which he would appear is 1910 (the rank lists were usually published in May).  We go to the 1910 rank list, and there is no Hauptmann Romberg. We check the personnel changes for IR 180 listed in the 1911 rank list, and there is no retirement of a Hauptmann Romberg shown:

But wait! Who is this Hptm. Geigle, who did retire from IR 180 before May 1911?

We go to an earlier (1908) edition of the Militärhandbuch des Königreichs Württemberg, and we find no Hauptmann Romberg with the 1901 date of rank shown in the 1913 edition, but we do have:

Hmm. Hauptmann Oskar Geigle, with the same birth date and the same date of rank as Hauptmann a.D. Oskar Romberg. What a coincidence!

Checking the Personal-Nachrichten in the Württemberg Militär-Verordnungsblatt for 1911, we have this personnel action dated 20 March 1911: 

And this personnel action dated 18 October 1911: 

Now as you have no doubt guessed, Geigle and Romberg are the same person. But the really annoying thing is that nowhere in the Württemberg Militär-Verordnungsblatt or the Prussian Militär-Wochenblatt or the rank list is this fact mentioned. Up to March 1911, he is Geigle. From October 1911 on, wherever he is mentioned, he is Romberg. 

The only direct confirmation I found that Geigle and Romberg are one and the same is this notation in the Ulm marriage register, which dates the name change to 24 April 1911, one month after he left active duty. Romberg, by the way, was his mother's maiden name.

I wonder if someone has his medal bar somewhere. Oskar Geigle was a rather well-decorated peacetime officer, and Osker Romberg added a few war decorations.