German Reichsgendarme EM Pickelhaube M1895

[Robert]

Was there some distinct flavor to the Landjäger? And I don't mean the sausages..
From what I know, Landjäger also existed in Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Braunschweig. I think they had a more civil appearance than the Gendarmerie and were assigned to civil administration, with a recruitment separate from the army.

 

[joerookery]

Funding is the big issue – and it is quite confusing at least to me.

In addition to the convention Baden and Hessen concluded special agreements concerning their gendarmerie corps. Although the members of the gendarmerie corps were considered as being military personnel (Personen des Soldatenstandes) they were paid out of regional Hessen and Baden funds and the Grand Dukes had the right to appoint their officers.

 

[RON]

Guys, since a Wachtmeister der Reichsgendarmerie Brigade Elsaß-Lothringen would have an NCO mit portepee cockade with the silver ring -- same as Chas's helmet which is pretty identical to mine except for the cockade (see 1st post, 2nd photo here) -- I suppose my helmet (posted right at the top of this thread) is NOT of a Wachtmeister but of a lower rank (the equivalent of EM in the Army or Schutzmann in the Police, correct?

I suppose that rank was simply Reichsgendarme... or was it Reichsgendarme zu Fuss (to distinguish the latter from Reichsgendarme zu Pferde if it ever existed in the Reichsgendarmerie? And if so, their helmet would have a square visor and round chinscales, correct?

 

[RON]

Better photos:

And the Coat of Arms of Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen (c1871-1918):

 

[joerookery]

Welcome back Ron! You must have been on a long trip. \/

 

[RON]

Long time indeed Colonel!
I moved to the desert of Kuwait about a year ago and have been frying my brains since...

 

[edwin]

Welcome back! Are haubes available over there?

Regards,

Edwin

 

[RON]

Hey Edwin, how's that little girl of yours?

I actually managed to find a couple of local antique "dealers" here... One had lots of German WW2 fake junk: Afrika Korps sleeve badge on a thick grey tunic with Polizei and Wehrmacht mixed fake insignia, etc. No WW1 toys to be found anywhere...

Oh and by the way, in addition to a couple of feathers having been snatched off the Reichsadler in my helmet above, it turns out the right chinscale "connector" (?) is thicker than the left one and barely fits the M91 post... What do you guys make of that?

 

[joerookery]

Does this help?
http://www.pickelhauben.net/articles/chinstraps.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[RON]

It helps in highlighting the fact that there were 2 thicknesses but then how come my helmet has both?
I bought this from AOK/Remy and Randy... how come they didn't highlight this anomaly which could've well been the result of the swapping of chinscale halves by some previous owner or some filed repair? :-k

 

[edwin]

Hey Edwin, how's that little girl of yours?

I actually managed to find a couple of local antique "dealers" here... One had lots of German WW2 fake junk: Afrika Korps sleeve badge on a thick grey tunic with Polizei and Wehrmacht mixed fake insignia, etc. No WW1 toys to be found anywhere...

My kids are fine and we expect #3 in February. It's always difficult to find good quality miltaria even in the Netherlands.

Regards,

Edwin

 

[poniatowski]

Joe, that's a nice article and nice helmets.

Ron