Identifying the unidentified

G

Glennj

Well-known member
I was just looking through the awfully translated “Militaria” by Kube and came across this unnamed Major of the Königin-Augusta-Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 4 “around 1900.” Having identified him, I thought it might be of some interest to describe an example of how one can go about identifying an unnamed subject from an old photograph. This of course is not infallible and presupposes one has access to the necessary army lists and a decent understanding of the uniforms and decorations in question. Also if the subject has a “bog-standard” set of decorations, then it will only be possible to narrow him down to a list of “suspects.”

Well, the uniform for GGR4 appears to check out, so how about determining time frame? What does his medal bar tell us? Clue number1; he is wearing the centenary medal so the photograph must date after 1897. We know the photograph is pre-war as he is wearing no wartime decorations so that leaves us a preliminary time frame of 1897-1914. “Gut feeling” tells me it was probably early 1900s. Next: his decorations:

Red Eagle 4th Class
Officers’ Long Service Decoration
Kaiser Wilhelm Centenary Medal
Baden Order of the Lion of Zähringen with Oakleaves Knight's Cross
Norwegian Saint Olaf Knight's Cross

and the clincher at his throat:

A Commander's Cross of the Siamese Order of the Crown. This all ties in very nicely with his entry in 1904 Prussian Army List (the Centenary medal was never listed).

Major Nicolaus v. Below, later commander of the Non Commissioned Officers' School at Treptow, Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 95 and finally 5. Garde-Infanterie-Brigade. Generalmajor v. Below died at Frankfurt am Main on 30 July 1915 aged 59.

Below nikolaus.jpg
 
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Joe,

my pleasure. Here is another unidentified officer from the same book. The lesson here; don't necessarily take things at face value. He his captioned as the commander of Eisenbahn-Regiment Nr. 2 in 1900...No. Firstly no Centenary medal so pre 1897. Secondly, check out that rack of bling! Not bad for a full colonel. In fact this gentleman was the commander of the original Eisenbahn-Regiment from 1877 to 1886, the then Oberst Gustav Golz. Although a couple of his neck orders are obscured, four are readily identified: The Crown Order 2nd Class, The Württemberg Friedrich Order, The Austrian Order of the Iron Crown and the Danish Order of Dannebrog. His medal bar shows his listed Iron Cross 2nd Class, Red Eagle 3rd Class with the Bow and the Officers' Long Service Decoration. And finally the breast Star of the Spanish Military Merit Order 2nd Class. This therefore is taken before Oberst Golz's promotion to Generalmajor on 4 November 1886. Born in 1833, Gustav Golz was eventually enobled and rose to the rank of General der Infanterie and Inspector of the Engineer and Pionier Corps of the Prussian Army. He died in 1908. This is the only photograph I have come across of him.

The extract from the 1885 Prussian Army List:

Golz-RL.jpg

Golz von.JPG
 
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Thanks Guys,

A third portrait from the same book; this time clearly a field officer from a Baden Field Artillery Regiment and captioned as a Major in Field Artillery Regiment Nr. 14, Karlsruhe taken in 1912. A check of the Prussian Army Lists of this regiment from 1900-1914 provided no suspect with this collection of decorations. Let me introduce the then newly promoted Major (1.10.12 V6v) Hubert Freiherr Schilling v. Canstatt of Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 50 also based in Karlsruhe. Baron Schilling is still listed as an Hauptmann in FAR 50 in the 1912 edition and as a Major in Bergisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 59 in the 1913 edition. He was promoted to Major on the staff of FAR 50 on 1 October 1912 and transfered as an Abteilung-Kommandeur to FAR 59 on 18 April 1913... Consequently, he is never shown in the Army Lists as a Baden Field Artillery Officer in the rank of Major. For some reason, the Baron retired less than six months later on 10 September 1913. He served during the War as the commander of the Ersatz-Abteilung of FAR 50 and finally retired as a char. Oberst. His decorations: The Johanniter Ehrenritter Order, Red Eagle 4th Class, Officers' Long Service Decoration (obscured by his pouch belt), Knight's Cross of the Baden Order of the Zähringer Lion , Prussian Centenary Medal, Baden Jubilee Medal 1902 and the Swedish Sword Order Knight's Cross. The centenary and jubilee medals were not listed in the Prussian Army Lists.

Regards
Glenn

Schilling von Canstatt, FAR50.JPG
Schilling_RL.jpg
 
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Bravo Glenn, excellent research, what a wonderful dimension this adds to collecting...

Larry
 
Thanks Larry,

here is a frustrating example of when the subject decides not to wear all the decorations he was entitled to! This un-named Major of the Garde-Jäger-Bataillon initially drove me up the wall until I was reminded that sometimes Prussian officers on occasion, only wore Prussian decorations. The Major wears on his left breast the rather rare Kaiser Wilhelm Silver Wedding Anniversary Medal dating the photograph from 1906 onwards (although unhelpfully this particular decoration is not shown in the published lists). Looking through the army lists, none of the Garde-Jäger-Bataillon Field Officers only had that combination but then only Major Konrad Graf Finck v. Finckenstein had that array of PRUSSIAN awards. Count Finck commanded the Garde-Jäger-Bataillon from 4 April 1907 to 16 June 1913 then assuming command of Leib-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 8. He rose to the rank of Generalmajor on 5 October 1916. Decorations on the bar: House Order of Hohenzollern Knight's Cross, Red Eagle 4th Class with Crown, Princely Hohenzollern Honour Cross 3rd Class, Officers' Long Service Decoration and the Centenary Medal.

Regards
Glenn

finck v finckenstein konrad.jpg

Finck.jpg
 
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Next instalment: This Fricke card has been lurking on my hard drive for years. The Fricke cards for the most part portrayed regimental commanders and above and in this case an independent battalion commander. First impression; the commander of either the Garde-Jäger-Bataillon or Garde-Schützen-Bataillon post 1897 (Centenary medal). However, I immediately ran into problems: No full colonel commanding either ot these two battalions between 1897 and 1914 and no one of that rank commanding a brigade with this uniform. Then I noticed that this "Colonel" is not wearing an officers' long service decoration (25 years) - impossible and not a terribly impressive rack of decorations for a Guards Colonel. A little more digging around provides the solution: the future charakterisierter General der Infanterie Henning v. Bonin photographed as a Major in the Garde-Schützen-Bataillon in 1899. The card has been "doctored" (incorrectly as it turns out as Henning v. Bonin was still an Oberstleutnant until assuming command of the Garde-Füsilier-Regiment) to show him as the commander of the Garde-Jäger-Bataillon between 1904 and 1907. At the throat, the Johanniter Ehrenritterkreuz, on the bar: a Red Eagle 4th Class, Centenary Medal, Braunschweig Henry the Lion Knight's Cross and a Saxon Albrechts Order Knight' Cross.

His entry in 1899:

Bonin_RL 99.jpg

His entry as commander of Garde-Jäger-Bataillon in 1905:

Bonin_RL 05.jpg

And the "doctored" photo showing him as an Oberst in the Garde-Jäger-Bataillon:

Bonin.JPG

and finally as commander of the Garde-Füsilier-Regiment:

bonin henning v gl 3 gid lehrir.jpg

Regards
Glenn
 
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Major subterfuge! I am not nearly ready to start solving at that level........ yet...... but give me a decade. I just got a Fricke card with 5 pictures for about 2 bucks. We will put that into dissection when it arrives! :cool:
 
A quiet weekend so another mystery chap :)

This portrait is from the very good Herr and Nguyen "Die Deutsche Infanterie". But even these guys have gone a little astray on this one. Captioned as an "Major of an Infantry Regiment taken after 1897". First impression: He has an awful lot of bling for a Major and a close inspection of the shoulder boards does in fact show the two rank stars of an Oberst either side of the number/cypher. Fortunately he does have quite a unique combination of decorations including a China Commemorative Medal (so, sometime after May 1901) and assuming by the white underlay, he is from I., II., IX. or X. Army Corps, the search was on for a Regimental Commander in one of these Corps. And this is Oberst Paul Albrecht, Commander of Infanterie-Regiment Bremen (1. Hanseatisches) Nr. 75 between 18 April 1903 and 27 January 1908 when he became commander of the 19. Infanterie-Brigade. The photograph must date between 18 January 1907 when he was awarded the Crown Order 2nd Class with Swords on the Ring and his 27 January 1908 promotion to Generalmajor. Beneath the Crown Order at his throat can be seen the Commander's Cross of the Italian Order of the Crown (JK3) and the Russian Stanislaus Order 2nd Class with Swords. (RSt2X). The other decorations of note on his bar include the Crown Order 3rd Class with Swords, Red Eagle 3rd Class with Bow, Bavarian Military Merit Order 3rd Class with Swords (BMV3X) and the Officer's Cross of the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun (JV4). The then Oberstleutnant Albrecht had served as the Adjutant of the Army High Command in East Asia.

Glenn

albrecht paul.jpg

Albrecht_RL07.jpg
 
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Another interesting portrait from the same book. It is captioned as an Oberstleutnant in Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 16 around 1898. He was, however, not to be found on the rolls of Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 16 anytime between 1897 and 1914. So; where to look next: Perhaps a school or maybe lurking on the staff of a corps headquarters or better still a Landwehr Bezirkskommandeur. Inspiration! Who else would wear the number 16 on the epaulettes and shoulder boards of an infantry uniform....The Bezirkskommandeur of a Landwehrbezirk in the 16. Infanterie-Brigade District. And so we find from 18 April 1906 onwards, one Major z.D. (char. Oberstleutnant z.D. of 14.4.07) Hans v. Selchow, Bezirkskommandeur Altenburg. He retired on 18 February 1913 with the uniform of Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 96. Born at Liegnitz on 19 January 1855, he saw further service during WW1 as the Commander of the Bekleidungsamt of XI. Armeekorps and was still alive in 1926. Herr v. Selchow's impressive collection of decorations certainly aid in the identification including the Anhalt Albert the Bear Commander's Cross and Saxon-Ernestine House Order Commander at the throat. Also very distinctive after the "Usual" Red Eagle 4, Crown Order 3, Long Service Decoration and Centenary Medal are the Princely Lippe Honour Cross and Reuss Honour Cross 2nd Class. Taken sometime after his 18 January 1910 award of the Crown Order 3rd Class.

Glenn

Selchow von, Hans 1910.jpg

Selchow.jpg
 
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Okay Glenn so what sources do you find essential/useful. I cannot begin to prompt like this but I have the itch!
 
Hi Joe,

most certainly a comprehensive set of Army Lists and a good reference on both German and European awards although there are many sites on the internet with good photographs of most of them. I think you are already up to speed on the uniform stuff. :) If you can cross reference the decorations entries in the army list with knowing what the decoration looks like you are mostly there (always assuming the date and uniform/unit fits as well). Of course there will always be people who cannot be identified. For instance an Infantry Major whose epaulette cypher/numbers are not discernible and who has say, just a Red Eagle 4, Crown Order 4, Long Service Medal and a Centenary Medal. A signature/place/date on a photo always helps!!!!

Regards
Glenn
 
When is a break, not a break? When Joe posts a portrait of an officer who is already retired and not serving in Breslau at the time of the photo. ](*,) Note the zig-zag pattern of the epaulette bridle holders denoting an officer außer Dienst. Luckily not too many officers with the name Schäffer received an EK2 during the Franco-Prussian War and the facing colour is most likely the blue of a Train-Bataillon...I have a suspect for this Major a.D. Schäffer: formerly a Rittmeister/Hauptmann and 1st Depot Officer of Schlesisches Train-Bataillon Nr. 6 in Breslau who retired in 1882. What I don't have yet is the date of a post retirement promotion to Major a.D. Most likely Eduard Carl Friedrich Schäffer. I will try and confirm that.

Regards
Glenn
 
That did not take long. :D Promoted to char. Major a.D. on 26 August 1884. Major a.D. Eduard Schäffer was still alive and living in Breslau in 1903.

Regards
Glenn

Schäffer.jpg
 
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I now know that Joe likes Fricke cards. :)

Here is a card from around 1905/1906 of a Baden Regimental Commander with a humongous stack of bling. Anyone like to take a stab at this before all is revealed? :D

Regards
Glenn

Beck Richard.jpg
 
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