LEIB-KÜRASSIER-REGIMENT OFFICER CAP WITH NAME TAG

argonne

argonne

Well-known member
Hi Gents,

Here are some picts of something pretty cool that I purchased three weeks ago from a US antique house. I normally hunt some "pointy stuff", but I could not resist this time, because of one of the most elitist and famous unit in which tis cap has been worn (the oldest prussian cavalry regiment too) and because of the officer name tag still present behind the liner (Great "small thing" that allowed me to track this specific officer in the Ehrenranglisten). I will post some more picts in a following post, because there are some troubles at the moment while uploading pictures on our forum...(only thre picts in each post... :x )
Philippe :salute:





 
Here are some more picts!
Don´t be afraid, the liner has not been teared only to show the name tag!! It´s just the way it has been sewn in the cap for almost 100 years and both ends of liner are normally ending in this area as they always did! The cap is still in very good shape, has a little bit soiling on the top, some wearing at the inside, but there is absolutely no "moth-work" at all on this cap! :wink:
The wearer, a member of the old and famous pomeranian Junker family, was Leutnant von Kleist. He got his officer patent on the 18th of August 1905 and always did his duty in this unit. At the end of the war he had the rank of a Major a.D.
He also was the telegraph officer of the Leib-Kürassier-Regiment "Großer Kurfürst" (Schlesisches Nr.1) in Breslau. He went 1911-13 to the Kavallerie-Telegraph-Schule in Berlin. From 1916 onwards, such cavalry units only still had some transmission and communication aims, because of lack of horses and obsolete pre war cavalry tactics.
Other members of this old pomeranian family are stil renowned in Germany:
- Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1821), dramatic and lyric poet
- Ewald von Kleist (1881-1954). 1940: Befehlshaber of 5 Panzerdivisionen. 1942: Oberbefehlshaber of the Heeresgruppe A. 1943: Generalfeldmarschall der Wehrmacht.

Just take time to have a look at the officers names of the LKR 1 in the Ehrenrangliste. You won´t find a sole "common" german name...Only "von", "Graf", "Freiherr" and "Prinz"...
What an elistic and full traditional unit!!!
Enjoy!
Philippe :salute:





 
Salut Philippe!
I can imagine how exciting it must be to be able to 'personify' such an item by being able to identify its owner and tracking their military history! . =D>
What model is that Schirmmütze? M1910 or earlier?

I'm trying to decipher the owner's name & info. on my Pr. Art. Schirm. but the label is quite faded: http://www.pickelhaubes.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5958" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Philippe,

Sigurd v. Kleist, born 15 January 1885. At mobilisation Leader of the Kavallerie-Nachrichtenabteilung (Signals Detachment) of the 8. Kavallerie-Division. At the end of 1917 Divisions-Nachrichtenkommandeur of the 8. Kavallerie-Division and in early 1918 Divisions-Nachrichtenkommandeur of the 241. Infanterie-Division. Holder of both grades of the Iron Cross and the Knight's Cross of the Hohenzollern House Order. Returned to active duty in 1935 as the Pferdevormusterungskommisar (remount commissioner) with the recruiting district headquarters in Stolp. He was employed in the function during the war initially in Köslin and rose to the rank of Oberst (1.4.42 (157)) finally with the recruiting district headquarters in Stettin. Died as a Russian POW at Bobruisk on 6 May 1948.

Regards
Glenn
 
Real nice, thanks for showing.

I love these small details like nametags that really makes the items we collect speak to us. I once found an old Strassenwagen ticket from Frankfurt in a small pocket in a Feldgrau officer Atilla from 13. Husaren regiment.
 
Arran, band and piping are both made of very soft and high quality velvet.
Ron, this is a pre 1910 "dunkelblau" Schirmmütze, worn till about 1912.

Glenn, fantastic informations that you found about the wearer! Thank you very much for sharing them! Do you allow me to ask you what are your precious sources? Do your sources also have pictures?
Are you also able to get such informations about the career of "normal" officers without any aristocratic provenance? (I would have a second case... Oberleutnant Franz Krüger, Eisenbahn-Regiment 2, first Berlin, then Hanau...Look at this link: http://www.pickelhaubes.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6702" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However, Glenn, the fact that you could find out the first name of this officer makes the search much easier on the internet. I found a few more informations about the guy and also a great grandson with absolutely the same name (Sigurd) which is still living in North Germany, near the city of Hildesheim. This guy works at the tax office and he wrote 2007-2011 a big chronic about the family von Kleist. I already found out his adress and I will soon take contact with him for much informations or maybe pictures.
I will post in a few minutes more informations about Sigurd von Kleist.
Philippe :salute:
 
Some more informations....Third pict is showing the von Kleist family estate at Wendisch Tychow , Pomerania, now Poland... You will find a small resumé translation of the german text at the bottom of this post, only about facts that have not been already mentioned by Glenn. :wink:







Sigurd, second son of Friedrich Wilhelm von Kleist.
As a child, he had first some private school lessons at the family estate, then went at the highschool in Kolberg.
1899: entry at the Kadetten-Korps in Dresden.
1904: Fähnrich, then entry in LKR1, Breslau
1905-06: war school (Kriegsschule) Glogau, then rank of Leutnant
winter 1909-10: cavalry-telegraph-school in Treptau
1911-13: teacher at the same school, which moved from Treptau to Ruhleben
1914: rank of Oberleutnant
1915: rank of Rittmeister (Hauptmann)
Commands during WWI: exactly as Glenn already mentioned in his post
Sigurd fought on both eastern and western fronts.
1920-1935: farmer at the family estate
Commands during WWII: exactly as Glenn wrote
Has been taken prisoner as following: as the sowjet army conquered Pomerania, February 1945, the
recruting district headquarters made way fron Stettin to Neu-Strelitz, where it stood till April 1945.
The commander of this headquarter, an admiral, missed the right time to evacuate and ran away alone. Sigurd von Kleist was the next high ranking officer and he tried to evacuate his unit, but there were only horses and carts, no trucks anymore...They got captured by Sowjets in Mecklenburg, near the city of Parchim and were then deported to a prisoner camp near Smolensk (Bielorussia). Sigurd was there the commander of a Mannschafts camp.
1948 , just before going back home to Germany, he got some serious stomach ulcers and must be operated in the camp of Bobruisk. He died on the sixth of May 1945 during the operation.

Philippe :salute:
 
Have found a von Kleist family pict, taken at about 1936 at the family estate Wendisch Tychow, Pommern.
Sigurd von Kleist is the tallest man on this pict, right side behind.
Philippe :salute:

 
Hi Philippe,

Do you allow me to ask you what are your precious sources? Do your sources also have pictures?
Are you also able to get such informations about the career of "normal" officers without any aristocratic provenance? (I would have a second case... Oberleutnant Franz Krüger, Eisenbahn-Regiment 2, first Berlin, then Hanau
Click to expand...

I have a copy of a Stammliste from the Leib-Kürassier-Regiment from 1906 which listed Sigurd v. Kleist. I then consulted a book titled Uebersicht über die Teilnahme der Familie von Kleist im Weltkriege. His promotion to Oberst was listed in the Rangliste des Deutschen Heeres 1944/45. There is a photograph of him in 1906 regimental history but I do not have it. :( He had seniority as a Major (E) of 1.8.34 (22) and as an Oberstleutnant of 1.4.40 (43).

Non aristocratic officers are really no more difficult than any others. Even an aristocratic officer can be sometimes difficult to pin down. The prewar careers of both the brothers Krüger are simple but Franz Krüger's wartime career will be more problematic. Franz Krüger was awarded the RAO4 on 8 August 1907.

Regards
Glenn
 
Glenn,
thank you for those precisions about both cases, von Kleist and Krüger.
I even had the luck to get an email answer from the descendant of Sigurd von Kleist that I could contact today (he has exactly the same name). He is not the grand son, but the nephew of the LKR officer. This guy is managing the chronicle and the website of the von Kleist family. He told me all the medals awarded to Sigurd during WWI still are in family archives.
But, Gentlemen, the best is coming now! He could find a pict of his uncle at his duty time in the LKR, wearing exactly this Mütze! This pict will have an honorific place just near the Mütze in my glass display case! \:D/
Enjoy!
Philippe :salute:

 
Philippe,

congratulations on getting a photograph of Herr v. Kleist. In your photograph he is wearing the peacetime Mütze with what appears to be the M1910 Feldgrau Waffenrock.

Regards
Glenn
 
Considering the fact, this last picture could only have been taken 1910-1914 (because of the M1910 Feldgrau Waffenrock), I am now really thinking Sigurd is also wearing another Mütze in this pict, that appears to be with a wire stiffened in the top, a larger visor and a taller top as on my exemple. Such caps were very fashionable and particularly worn at this time, just before the war.
The Mütze I am owning is obviously from an earlier pattern (smaller visor and flater top), probably worn by Sigurd von Kleist as he made his entry 1904 in the LKR as a Fähnrich, or maybe till 1909-1910, before the taller caps got more fashionable.
I must now try to find the 1906 regimental history book of the LKR to find the other pict of this officer! :wink:

Philippe :salute:
 
Philippe,

you are looking for Geschichte des Königl. Preußischen Leib-Kürassier-Regiments "Großer Kurfürst" Nr. 1 by Rittmeister Hans Robert Freiherr von Zedlitz und Neukirch, Verlag Eisenschmidt, Berlin 1906. His portrait is on page 515.

Regards
Glenn
 
Glenn, thank you!
The searching has started at two different adresses! (a very good public library with "Fernleihe" possibilities and a Kürassier-Regimenter specialist on the german internet).
Will let you know!
By the way, maybe a fellow collector out there on this forum is owning this book too???
Please let me know if you do!!! Would be really cool!!!
Philippe :salute:
 
I found the book and ordered it. :D :book: Will take a few weeks till I get it with the mail...Patience... :clock:

Philippe :salute:
 
Yesterday, the book finally arrived at the public library, but I was not allowed to take it home...because of its rareness... However, I could take a big look at it and take some picts too.
Yes Glenn, there is a pict of Sigurd von Kleist on page 515. Unfortunately he is not wearing "my" Mütze..This pict was taken 1905. Sigurd was then a young Leutnant (20).
At the page 674, there are some informations about his (still) short military career. (Book was published 1906). The Kronen Orden 4. Klasse (Crown order) was awarded to him on the 4.th of December 1905. This was the day of his "Ritterschlag" (knightly accolade) together with two of his youngest Leutnant-comrades, von Schaumburg-Lippe and von Wallenberg. It is also mentioned, that Kaiser Wilhelm II himself was there during this ceremony. This day was also the day of the ceremonial opening of the new Unteroffizier and Mannschaft barracks of the LKR 1 in Breslau-Kleinburg.
Philippe :salute:





 
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