Please help ID epaulettes and belts

[DKNYC71]

Dear Forum Members,

I just picked up this set of epaulettes and 2 belts. I only know they are Imperial German, can someone please identify the rank and branch of the epaulettes, and the two belts. Both belts have 2 piece construction buckles, the crown on each is a seperatly applied piece. One buckle is gold crown on gold field, the other is gold crown on silver field. Many thanks in advance!

Dave.

[DKNYC71]

Thanks Again in advance!

[DKNYC71]

Anyone?

[harrah_de]

Belt Gold: Bavarien Infanterieoffzier
Belt silver: only für Offziers of "Leibregiment München.
Epauletts: Train Oberst zur Disposition, Prussian. (very rare)
All Items 1900-1910

[DKNYC71]

thanks, someone just told me that the epaulletes were for a general based on the fringe
and the 3 pips???

[DKNYC71]

Folks, is there anyone here that has a positive acurate ID on these epaulettes. I have been told for sure that these are not colonel (oberst) eapualettes as suggested by the kind gentelman who thought these were oberst epaulettes. An oberst has long thin fringe which is not supported on the underside and has 2 pips. All generals had short thick fringe with rings at the ends, as well as a support structure underneath the short fringe to give it height and shape. Furthermore, only a full General had 3 pips, no other officer rank in the German imperial army sported 3 pips on the eapualettes. I would be greatful for any further input, especialy as it pertains to the specific branch of service.

Regards,
Dave.

[Hoss]

Belt Gold: Bavarien Infanterieoffzier
Belt silver: only für Offziers of "Leibregiment München.
Epauletts: Train Oberst zur Disposition, Prussian. (very rare)
All Items 1900-1910

Dave
Harrah knows his stuff. All I find in my ref: is General-Oberst. explaining the
three pips.
Maybe after the holiday more Gents will reply to your thread.
Iam not a Board collector but I really like those belts. They are getting really hard to find in this nice condition. Congrats.

Eric

[Mike Dwyer]

I agree that's general officer fringe on the epaulettes. The color, at least to me, suggests only Train.

[harrah_de]

You must reed: Oberer ZUR DISPOSITION, there is no translation in englisch for this.
But it means: he is no general , but he has the work to do as a general.
It is a "Dienststellung " (the work that is to do as general) and no Grade.
very special - and the reason why it is rare.
Nearby, he wears the helmet as a general, but no featherbusch (he wears white Büffelbusch)

[DKNYC71]

You must reed: Oberer ZUR DISPOSITION, there is no translation in englisch for this.
But it means: he is no general , but he has the work to do as a general.
It is a "Dienststellung " (the work that is to do as general) and no Grade.
very special - and the reason why it is rare.
Nearby, he wears the helmet as a general, but no featherbusch (he wears white Büffelbusch)

Hi Harrah,

Thanks for your input and participation in this thread, it is very much appreaciated, you are obviously a subject matter expert!

I am still confused, how can this be an oberst(colonel) doing work as a general, but wearing clearly General's epaulettes, only Generals had the fringe and the full generals three pips. At this point who can say if an individual is doing the job of a general as an "acting" or a regular general. Here in the US, during WWI and the Civil War we had brevett generals in the US Army, these were not regular generals, but usualy Colonels or Lt.Colonels who were given the rank for the duration of the war, after the war they reverted to their original ranks, (case and point: General George Armstrong Custer). But while they had the brevett rank, they wore regular Generals uniforms, and judging by the uniform there was no way to destinguish brevett from regular. So, back to our epaulettes, these are Generals epaulettes, no? If these were to an oberst, would they not have the long thin fringe and 2 pips? One book which was published many years ago, which a friend showed me today shows a similar "Generals board" with the thick supported fringe on red field and not blue like mine, along with the three pips are also situated on the epaulette is the marshalls batons, the description read something like "temporary, acting, or honorary marshall", I do not remember for sure but will post the image when my friend sends me a scan of the page.

It is great that we can have this study for the benefit of all those interested in WWI Imperial Army and its insignia.

Cheers,
David.

[DKNYC71]

As mentioned in the previous post, here is a poor quality image of the page from an 1983 militaria book. Notice what an Oberst epaulette looks like in figure 4 as opposed to the General's in figure 7.

[DKNYC71]

Does anyone have any additional information that can shed light on the General's appaulettes, especialy as it relates to the branch/regiment of service? Many Thanks - Dave.