The funeral of the Kaiser's wife

Here are 3 real photo postcards that I just got .
The funeral of the Kaiserin
One photo shows Hindenburg and Ludendorff also an officer wearing a steel helmet
with the side cutouts .Odd for a funeral ?
The other 2 cards show the sons in full military dress .
Steve

It seems that we are seeing Pickelhaube front plates covered with black fabric, a subject that was discussed on this forum a while ago.

Steve,

the officer behind the Field Marshal is wearing the M18 model steel helmet with “ear cut-outs”. He is the Field Marshal’s son, the then Hauptmann (later Generalleutnant) Oskar von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg. As a serving Reichswehr officer, he wears the then current uniform and not that of the “old army”.

Regards
Glenn

911car said:

It seems that we are seeing Pickelhaube front plates covered with black fabric, a subject that was discussed on this forum a while ago.

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Bruno
I think that you are correct
Steve

Glennj said:

Steve,

the officer behind the Field Marshal is wearing the M18 model steel helmet with “ear cut-outs”. He is the Field Marshal’s son, the then Hauptmann (later Generalleutnant) Oskar von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg.

Regards
Glenn

Click to expand...

Glenn
Thanks again for the I D
Steve

Interestingly, both of the Kaiser’s wives are buried at Sanssouci. When the Kaiserin died in 1921 Wilhelm was not allowed to attend and could only accompany the casket to the German border. His second wife died in an Internment camp in Germany in 1947.

More real photo postcards of the death of the Kaiserin .
April 11, 1921
We see von Hindenburg and some troops of the 1 G R zu Fuss
Since it was 1921 and we see lots of the military still wearing their uniforms and spiked helmets
the question comes up
were their helmets from pre WWI or were they wearing newer helmets ?
It is also clear that some of the helmets have the black mess covering the helmet plates .
The Kaiser was not allowed back to Germany for the funeral of his wife .
Steve

Great! Thanks for sharing.

She was a very religious and kind-hearted woman and did a lot for the poor people. That is why she was very popular with the people.
Unfortunately, in Germany it is still not very appreciated.

Nice post...very informative...

KAGGR#1​

Since it was 1921 and we see lots of the military still wearing their uniforms and spiked helmets
the question comes up
were their helmets from pre WWI or were they wearing newer helmets ?

Click to expand...

It's a real question.....if post war manufactured, do these helmets respect the pre-war regulation ????
regards

pppara said:

Nice post...very informative...

It's a real question.....if post war manufactured, do these helmets respect the pre-war regulation ????
regards

Click to expand...

I think that they did
maybe just slightly different material ?
Steve

KAGGR#1 said:

Since it was 1921 and we see lots of the military still wearing their uniforms and spiked helmets
the question comes up
were their helmets from pre WWI or were they wearing newer helmets ?
View attachment 25503View attachment 25504View attachment 25505

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Steve, spiked helmets were made anew till at least the 1930's. The catalog below is dated 1932.

911car said:

Steve, spiked helmets were made anew till at least the 1930's. The catalog below is dated 1932.

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Thanks Bruno
I do not see a catalog below
were you going to do an attachment?
Is it the Junker catalog?
Steve

For some reason, I cannot attach this image, Steve.
Yes, the well-known 1932 Junker catalog.

911car said:

For some reason, I cannot attach this image, Steve.
Yes, the well-known 1932 Junker catalog.

Click to expand...

It is larger than my scanner
so I did it in 2 parts
not the best scans
but we get the idea
Steve

Whilst looking at similar photographs taken on the occasion of the funeral of the Kaiser's mother in 1901, I noticed for the first time what appears to be another funeral order of dress practice: the sashes (Schärpe) and waist belts also appear to have been darkened and in some cases almost blackened. We see it on Steve's photographs above and on this one below from 1901. General der Kavallerie Alfred Graf von Schlieffen is leading this section of the procession.

Regards
Glenn

911car said:

It seems that we are seeing Pickelhaube front plates covered with black fabric, a subject that was discussed on this forum a while ago.

Click to expand...

The cockades, epaulets, belts. The Kürassier "Königin" Pommersches Nr.2 Officers had the trophies on their Hohenfriedberg Brustschilder veiled as well. Years ago I posted a topic on King Albert of the Belgians Dragoner Nr.16 helmet. Brussels Army Museum. Still not clear on what occasion he wore this. Cockades and Wappen have this very thin black mourning veil. Pics are gone. Will repost. Regards.https://www.pickelhaubes.com/xf/threads/dragoner-helm-with-mourning-veil.11054/
The picture on the left shows General à la suite to the Kürassier Regiment "Königin" (Pommersches) Nr.2, General von Vietinghoff.

I have a Garde officer's helmet wearing the haarbusch that still has the black netting over the cockades.

Khukri said:

he cockades, epaulets, belts.

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Indeed,

one can clearly see the darkened epaulets in the 1901 image. I checked the 1896 officers' clothing regulations page 37, paragraph 51 which states that epaulets, shoulder boards, sashes and portepees should be "eingeflort." Flor is gauze or crape so presumably to cover with such.

Regards
Glenn

I had to upgrade this older post of mine as the pics were vanished.