Prince Adolf's hussar attila?

[dosty]

Not long ago, I acquired a handsome pre-war Hussar dress attila for a Leutnant in Hussar Regiment Nr. 7. Unfortunately, it had no name. It had 6 loops for 5-6 medals, and a loop for a badge on the lower left. The owner was tall. What leutnant would have 5-6 medals in peacetime?

An old post I found by Sandman led me to the Ranglists on the Haithi Trust site. I went through the HR 7 lists for the period 1899-1911. At 1908 I found a Leutnant who had five breast medals, and badge (Order of Red Eagle?). He also had a House Order for Schaumburg-Lippe that would have been worn at the throat. In 1908, he was the only Leutnant who had more than 3 medals.

The officer was Adolf Bernhard Moritz Ernst Voldemar, Prince-Heir of Schaumburg-Lippe. Further research turned up a number of photos of him in various HR 7 uniforms. In 1909 he became an Oberleutnant. In 1911, he assumed the throne as Regent. The busby you see was not worn by Adolf, being a 1912 model. The strap is a "placeholder" until I find a correct one.

Although I have no definitive proof, based on my research, which was fun, I believe the tunic was most likely Prince Adolf’s. I welcome with open arms your opinions, comments and other research.

Dosty

 

[Tony without Kaiser]

Fantastic! What a beautiful researched Attila. The Pelzmütze is a Traumstück piece. Thank you for showing this.

 

[dosty]

Fantastic! What a beautiful researched Attila. The Pelzmütze is a Traumstück piece. Thank you for showing this.

Thank, Tony

 

[Sandmann]

Congratulations Dosty, to this wonderful find and successful reasearch. I love Hussar uniforms

 

[Glennj]

I think there is a decent chance you are correct. However, with regards to his awards in the 1908 Prussian Rangliste, 5 of the awards listed are of the first or Grand class which makes them breast and/or throat decorations. Just two are worn on the medal bar. The good news is that of the pre-war photographs I have seen of him - they show a five award medal bar (most medals were not listed in the Rangliste). Below in the uniform of JB 7.

Regards
Glenn

 

[Jvpi]

Glenn,

Here's a photo of him in hussar's uniform from the prewar period.

https://flic.kr/p/2oa1SsD

 

[Jvpi]

I think the collar on the Attila shown here is too short for Fürst Adolf II of Schaumburg-Lippe. Based on all the photos we see of him in Attila, it's not hard to discover his preference for uniforms: very tight waist and high collar, also tight closure of the collar leaving no space.
But it could just be the problems with pictures, if you could provide more measurements it might be helpful. These are just my opinions.

Kind regards,
Jvpi

 

[Glennj]

Further to Jvpi‘s comments, I would wonder why the Attila had not been upgraded to a field officers‘ pattern if it was indeed the property of Fürst Adolf. Dosty is correct in his assertion that there were no officers of the rank of Leutnant serving in the period immediately prior to the war with five medal bar class awards listed in the Ranglisten. It could however have been the property of an officer who was still a Leutnant in the early part of the war and who had received wartime awards including one worn on the breast (for example an Iron Cross 1st class) and had his Attila tailored accordingly.

Regards
Glenn

 

[Jvpi]

It could however have been the property of an officer who was still a Leutnant in the early part of the war and who had received wartime awards including one worn on the breast (for example an Iron Cross 1st class) and had his Attila tailored accordingly.

I would agree with Glenn. It’s not uncommon for officers to wear old coloured uniforms during the early years of the war, and also in postwar period. We see a lot of evidence photos. Wedding photos etc.

 

[dosty]

I think there is a decent chance you are correct. However, with regards to his awards in the 1908 Prussian Rangliste, 5 of the awards listed are of the first or Grand class which makes them breast and/or throat decorations. Just two are worn on the medal bar. The good news is that of the pre-war photographs I have seen of him - they show a five award medal bar (most medals were not listed in the Rangliste). Below in the uniform of JB 7.

Regards
Glenn

View attachment 37239

I would agree with Glenn. It’s not uncommon for officers to wear old coloured uniforms during the early years of the war, and also in postwar period. We see a lot of evidence photos. Wedding photos etc.

A good alternative theory. If they did wear colored tunics in the early war period, it would reconcile the early uniform with the last style of pelzmutze as on my display.

 

[dosty]

I think the collar on the Attila shown here is too short for Fürst Adolf II of Schaumburg-Lippe. Based on all the photos we see of him in Attila, it's not hard to discover his preference for uniforms: very tight waist and high collar, also tight closure of the collar leaving no space.
But it could just be the problems with pictures, if you could provide more measurements it might be helpful. These are just my opinions.

Kind regards,
Jvpi

The collar does look large. However, the mannequin neck is quite scrawny too. A rough measurement is 20 inches around the uniform collar.