I have always had an interest in Imperial documents. I find them so fascinating in that they tell the story of a persons career. Last spring I fortunate enough to pick up the documents of Erick Louis Gustav Heinrick Wilhelm. He became an officer on 30 Sept. 1892, promoted to Leutnant 18 Oct. 1894, Oberleutnant 16 Marc 1905 and finally Hauptmann 18 Nov 1911. As far a I can determine since he was a reserve officer he did not receive any other promotions. He did receive the standard service awards LDO2 1 Marc 1904 and LDO1 22 Marc 1912. His war service as part of FeldArtillier Rtg 87 must have been distinguished since he received the EK2 on 22 Oct 1917 and EK1 on 4 Dec 1917. I have all of his Patents, award docments and service record. I also have a picture of him in full parade dress. The pictures below are his Hauptmann promotion document and EK1/2 documents. Also I have attached the picture of Hauptmann Wilhelm.
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Imperial German Medalbars and Ribbonbars -
Hauptmann Promotion Doc
This is the front of the docImperial German Medalbars and Ribbonbars -
Promotion doc back
The back features the seal and signiture of the Kaiser as well as where the doc was signed. If you look above and to the right of the 18. November 1911 date you will see Neues Palais written.Imperial German Medalbars and RibbonbarsComment
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EK2 and 1 documents
Nothing special about these docs but they do spell you his unit.Imperial German Medalbars and RibbonbarsComment
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As requested:
Hans Karl Gustav Berthold von Kessel, 1867-1945, in 1914 Oberstleutnant in IR 171, ended up as Cdr. 61 InfBrig, promoted MajGen 20.09.1918 (E), had additional RAO4Kr, DA, BZ3a, BMV4Kr, HP3a, MG2c, GSF3a, EH2b, WVK3, WK3L, ÖFJ2.
Best regards
DanielComment
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Documents
Paul;
A great set of documents!
Guys; I collect Militaer=Passe and also translate them for dealers (not actively now); but I have a question for the wise heads; were M=P also kept for officers? I have about 35 M=P, have seen others, I think I once or twice saw something about a Leutnant's M=P, but never have seen one.
So I assume that such a document was not created, or, that officers' families were more likely to hang onto them, so they are rare on the market. Any info?
Also, where were the M=Ps kept during the war? The Landser had his Soldbuch, which did not have much valuable military info, the M=P, which did have info that the enemy's military intelligence would like to see, in my opinion, were filled out at the company level. But, I think, being kept at the company level would make them liable to loss in an attack, etc.
Or were they kept at the regimental, etc. level, and periodically sent to the company HQ for updating? That might explain the often long lags in the entry of notations, say, half a year later.
I do know that after the war the Socialist government made it an important priority, among all of their other problems, to get the M=Ps completed and out to the men; you see many finally filled out in mid-1919. All the more amazing since the bulk of the units did not exist any more. They must have kept all the Feldwebeln in a box somewhere to complete them. The M=P, properly completed, was inportant to the veteran in many ways, practical and morale-wise.
I got into this as I am fortunate to have my father's Militaer=Pass, and in fact learned to read German (sort of) and Suetterlin in order to read it and his Feldpost.
Bob LembkeComment
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Officer M=P and Soldbuch
Yes, I can say the M=P and Soldbuchs were kept for officers. Below are both docs for Wilhelm.Imperial German Medalbars and RibbonbarsComment
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M=P inside
insideImperial German Medalbars and RibbonbarsComment
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Soldbuch
SoldbuchImperial German Medalbars and RibbonbarsComment
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Officer's Militaer=Pass
Paul;
It's great that you have these documents. I thought I had seen mention of an officer's M=P, but never actually seen one. And I have owned or handled or studied on e-Bay say 2-300 M=Ps. So my theory that the families of officers tend to hang on to them. I recently have bought two M=P of grand-fathers from grand-children for $8 each! One even sent some photos also, for free. Why don't people keep these small and wonderful documents? Probably the inability to read Suetterlin or Kurrent is part of it. Not giving a p--p for their history must be another part.
Paul, I can't do it now, due to my tight dead-line for my book on Flammenwerfer, but I would be happy to do what I have done with other people, in exchange for a nice copy of the Pass that I can work from, I would read it and write a summary, about 6 hours work. Usually about 800 words / 2 pages, but for an officer, etc. probably I could grind out a longer summary. (A literal word-for-word translation is both more difficult and less informative; I haven't even succeeded with my father's Pass.) I would keep the copy, but only for research, etc., would not sell it or anything like that. Incidentally, a copy at about 140% enlargement puts a two-page spread nicely on a 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet; careful control of contrast results on a copy that is better than the original for study, translation.
There were a lot of conventions, short-hands, etc. used in writing these, so even a good literal literary translation misses a lot and also creates false impressions. After studying twenty or thirty of these one learns a lot of these and one gets a much better idea of what the reality actually was. My first attempts with my father's led to comical results. My first interpretation of a notation was that my father was being court-martialled for shouting rude things at the sergeants during formation (I knew he did not like them), now I realize it is a notation that he was wounded during a flame attack on the south (French) slope of Dead Man's Hill at Verdun. One basic thing: Many notations were written in a form, with entries for "Conduct" and "Punishment", that looks like the recording of company punishment or a courts-martial; when it is actually a notation of a wounding, like above, or a old wound getting re-infected, or a transfer to a different hospital.
Many entries are cryptic; if you don't know the meaning of where the entry was put in the Pass, and unstated things like that, the entries often make no sense.
These documents are wonderful sources of information; unfortunately hard to pull out. I have, or have copies, of two Passe from Garde=Reserve=Pionier=Regiment (Flammenwerfer), and one from the Sturm=Bataillon Nr. 5 (Rohr), and from each one of these I have figured out important findings on the organization and structure of these important units, which will appear in print sooner or later.
Bob LembkeComment
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Hello,
Militärpässe were indeed kept at some kind of higher level (I believe company) and were completed and given to the soldiers (or NOK) when they changed unit or were discharged or killed.
The soldiers always kept with them their Soldbücher (pay books). These were needed to get paid etc.
I've got several Militärpässe and Soldbücher here and don't believe there is one from an officers amongs them IIRC.
Regards,
JanComment
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Militaer=Pass
Hi Jan!
Militärpässe are really a great resource for historical, etc. data, but the problem is getting one or more that matches your topic of interest. David "Frosch" is the only one I know of who has taken a shot at this problem with his posting of an index of some of his M=Ps. Possibly some saintly individual would have time to address this question at greater length; it would be great to have collectors that might be interested contribute descriptions of their Paesse that they could comfortably share to a central on-line index; there could be some agreed-to rules for getting and using a copy; possibly a fee to cover the expenses of the system, etc. (Of course many collectors will go to their grave clutching their Paesse in their cold dead hands, but "different strokes for different folks". Some collectors have been very sharing and generous with me advancing my study; thank you guys.) If you were writing about or studying a certain regiment, for example, having 8-10 Paesse of soldiers from it would be a powerful resource.
In a similar vein, I have a friend, a major collector of historical resources on WK I, who is seriously interested in creating a roster of the 1914-1918 Imperial Army, and has started it, just a bit. (I haven't asked him if he wants his name out there, so I am not mentioning it, but some of you guys know him.) That, I am sure, sounds crazy, but I used to build and work with multi-million record data-bases, and I have an idea how something like that could be done. Remember that the Volksbundes Deutsche Kriegsgraeberfuersorge e. V. must have 1 1/2 million dead Landsern in their on-line data-base.
On the Garde=Reserve=Pionier=Regiment (Flammenwerfer), two years ago I had the names of two members (my father and the CO) and I, like US military intelligence, had the latter wrong; today I have a data-base of about 1200 men of the unit, the great majority with first names. I plan to start one for the Sturm=Bataillon Nr. 5 (Rohr) next year; I have several hundred names already at hand for that one.
Thanks for your insight, Jan. I had heard rumors of officers' Paesse, but never even saw a scan of one, so I was not sure.
Bob Lembke
The soldiers always kept with them their Soldbücher (pay books). These were needed to get paid etc.
I've got several Militärpässe and Soldbücher here and don't believe there is one from an officers amongs them IIRC.
Regards,
Jan[/QUOTE]Comment
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