Leopold von Bayern in Prussian Uniform

[filfoster]

Leopold von Bayern wore the uniform of the 7th Prussian Dragoon regiment.

 

1. Does anyone know why? Was he ala suite or honorary chef?  And, in what year did he receive this honor?

 

2:   What shoulder boards is he wearing?  Prussian or Bavarian?  I understand that he would have worn the FM boards of the state (Bavaria) that he held that rank when the honor was given. He was made a Prussian FM in January, 1916.

 

3. Would he have carried the Prussian interimstab or the Bavarian?

[filfoster]

These boards are very large and there is no visible underlay. If the boards were regimental, they would have a cornflower blue base and a rose secondary underlay, visible. He had this appointment or right to wear the uniform of the 7th Dragoons pre-war; there are photos of him wearing it at the 1913 'Kaiser' maneuvers. 

I posit that he's wearing the same detachable shoulder boards, Bavarian general's cords on red base not visible, with the gilt '7' added between the lower crossed silver Bavarian FM baton arms, as he wore on the uberrock worn in the photos of him at the 1913 maneuvers, and also below. The size, and lack of visible base and underlay colors also support this. This was also the practice, I believe, of non-Prussian officers receiving appointments to Prussian regiments.

Can anyone corroborate or correct?

 

1 minute ago, filfoster said:

These boards are very large and there is no visible underlay. If the boards were regimental, they would have a cornflower blue base and a rose secondary underlay, visible. He had this appointment or right to wear the uniform of the 7th Dragoons pre-war; there are photos of him wearing it at the 1913 'Kaiser' maneuvers. 

I posit that he's wearing the same detachable shoulder boards, Bavarian general's cords on red base not visible, with the gilt '7' added between the lower crossed baton arms, as he wore on the uberrock worn in the photos of him at the 1913 maneuvers. The size, and lack of visible base and underlay colors also support this. This was also the practice, I believe, of non Prussian officers receiving appointments to Prussian regiments.

Can anyone corroborate or correct?

 

 

Edited January 24 by filfoster

[filfoster]

..the other likely possibility is that he wore regular red underlay shoulder boards and just had a '7' added. They are somewhat oversized, to my eye, as another point of interest.

[filfoster]

Only the interim stab remains to be completed. Will post another picture with that when I have it.

[filfoster]

All done!  Complete!

[ccj]

Nice display 

 

where’s you find the batons?

[filfoster]

18 hours ago, ccj said:

Nice display 

 

where’s you find the batons?

The Prussian interimstab (just visible) was purchased on ebay from a Taiwanese seller in the early 2000's. It is a wonderful copy, which disassembles much like an original.

The Bavarian interimstab is a custom made piece just completed. It was made by a Canadian historian and uniform/accoutrement recreatior who does mostly museum work. If you are interested, PM me and I can give you more information on it. As a custom one-off, it was not inexpensive. I would expect subsequent copies may be less, because the patterns, molds, etc. have been done now, at my expense.

Edited June 23 by filfoster

[filfoster]

I suppose one of the reasons no one has copied the Bavarian interimstab is because there were, excepting the usual royal honorary ones, only three Bavarian field marshals in the Great War, one being the King himself, Ludwig III, who did not take the field except to visit. His son, Rupprecht was, of course, an army commander on the Western Front. The king's brother, Leopold, a professional soldier, succeeded Hindenburg as the overall supreme commander on the Eastern Front, fronting, in the usual German army way, for General Max Hoffman, who actually ran it. 

The Bavarian field marshal batons, the parade batons, and the interimstabs, were beautiful creations. These are nicely illustrated in the well known reference book "Mythos Marshalstab"

Edited June 23 by filfoster

[ccj]

It’s a beauty.