M1907 Feldmütze RIR 86*, latest find!

M

Melf

New member
Hello everyone, this is my first feldgrau Feldmütze, which I bought two days ago for 180 USD and I'm really happy with my purchase.

This is a classic imperial german infanterie M1907 Feldmütze/Krätzchen garrison cap, which was later used by the Landsturm reserve units for the 1914 mobilization.
capc.jpgcapb.jpgcap back.jpgcapside2.jpgcapside1.jpg
It's a well worn cap and has a lot character, maybe some holes (the biggest of them seems to have period stitching) but it has been there and is 110 years old.
 
The national kokarde has the correct vertical stitching and the prussian Landsturm kokarde is missing the small iron cross.
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It has four stamps on the inside. First one is marked "BA IX" which stands for Bekliedungsamt (clothing depot) of the IX Armee-Korps, and is dated 1909.

Next stamp is "FR 86" which is the first unit marking, from the Füsilier-Regiment "Königin“ (Schleswig-Holsteinisches) Nr. 86. It's interesting that this was used by a Schleswig-Holstein unit, since when the IX Armee-Korps was created in 1866, that province had been recently annexed and most of it's members were danish or danish speaking.

(EDIT: It's 86, not 88) The third stamp and second unit marking reads "Res. JR 88", which stands for Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 88, and below it there's another stamp which says "R1" (the "R" stays for the reserve, I don't know about the "1")

Fourth and last stamp is simply the "58" size marking. There's also some unreadable writings by the soldier on the inside, which are very interesting and also sweat/dirt stains.
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The cap probably saw service in the F.R.86 until arround 1914, when the Landwehr started wearing feldmutzen (considering this is a 1909 made cap, they probably were given the old and worn caps) and was issued to the R.I.R.86
 
During 1914, that regiment, which was part of the 21. Reserve-Division, saw combat in the Battle of Neufchàteau, the Mosa, the Ardennes, the Marne, Champagne and Argonne.
Here you can read an account written by Hugo Birkner, a member of the unit, about the regiment's mobilization from Hanau until the First Battle of the Marne in 1914 (written in german): https://www.lagis-hessen.de/de/subjects/browse/sourceId/12/sn/qhg
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I hope you liked it!
 
As far as i can tell in the marking from the Res.J.R 88 i think below it states 1B guessing its 1st Battalion

Great cap and a great explenation on its field history

Jonas
 
Thank you very much, I really liked researching it and you are right, it's a "B" not an "R".
 
I am pretty sure that this is not RJR88 but RJR86.

FR86 was garrisoned in Flensburg and I/RJR86 was formed in Flensburg on the 2.8.14. Same AK too (IX AK).
Very local for me, I am living at about 15 miles from Flensburg :wink:

It seems that the wearer has wroten his name and company too ( ?/86). Can you make a better / bigger pict of this area. Maybe we can track him!

Philippe
:wink:
 
Thanks for your words!

It could be an 88 or an 86 as it's faded, but the 86 fits too, interesting info.

I'd love to track the owner but I cannot read it in person either. If you want I can make another pic of it but I doubt we will be able to read it.
There's what looks to be the name and surname (the name starts with L and the surname with K, both are very short so maybe they are something else) and below it a "476" or "496". Above the "name" there are other numbers, but they are even more faded.

EDIT: I looked up more information about RIR 86, it's third batallion was organized in Schleswig and the 1st and 2nd in Flensburg (mine is from the first batallion apparently).

The regiment's organization was completed on August 9, 1914 and was deployed to the south of Flensburg to serve as a border guard against the danes until August 22-24 of the same year, when it was mobilized for the invasion of Belgium and detrained in Esemael. It also fought in the early battles of 1914, like RIR 88.
The regiment was part of the 35. Infanterie-Brigade, 18. Reserve-Division, IX. Reserve-Armee-Korps. It's strength upon departure was: 83 officers, 3190 other ranks, and 240 horses (source: Wikipedia).

Here I found a list of RIR 86 officer's, sadly no ORs: http://www.denkmalprojekt.org/2018/vl_reserve-infanterie-regiment_86_offiziere.html
And also this, which has a lot of info on the regiment but it's in danish (it's a translation of the book "Geschichte des Reserve-Infanterie-Regiments Nr. 86 im Weltkriege ", written by Leutnant d. Res. Friedrich Khlahn in 1925): https://denstorekrig1914-1918.dk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/RIR86_dansk.pdf
And a picture of members from that regiment wearing mützen (c.1917 because of the officer's cap and M15 jackets, but atleast one of the ORs still wears the older cap I have), for sale: https://picclick.fr/CPA-PHOTO-Soldats-allemands-du-Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment-123118502589.html
Another pic: https://picclick.fr/WW1-German-Army-Schleswigsches-Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment-Nr-86-Used-401689531053.html#&gid=1&pid=1

EDIT 2: Looked at it with a magnifying glass and natural light and it's an 86 indeed. Still can't read the writings. Thanks for your help!
 
I agree with Argonne, that is definitely an 86 that would fit better from a Mutze that was also marked the the Fusilier Regiment 86.
 
Yes, on edit 2 I said I looked at it with a magnifying glass and natural lighting and it was an 86, so it's indeed from that regiment.
 
Would be nice if it was that, I don't see anything separating the numbers but could be nice. Thanks for your help
 
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