Waffenrock-Cavalry-Holters

[SirHarry1]

Gents,
I just stumbled over this thread and my eyes almost popped out when I saw the name of the former owner! When I was a kid our next door neighbor were Mr. and Mrs. von Kries, a noble family from Eastern Prussia. He was Freiherr von Kries and she was Freifrau von Kries, but her maiden name was also a "von".
They had lost their property when they had to flee from the Russians and lived just as ordinary people in a small townhouse like my family. Likely that this soldier was a relative to these neighbors since the name is not that common.
Harry

[WW2-Collector]

Harry very interesting ! He was born in Frankfurt - I am still looking the file over a large portion is in hand written script so its all most impossible to read so far i can tell he was awarded the EK2 in 1914 and the EK1 in 1917 and the War Merit Cross 2nd class with swords in 1942. Also he was promoted from Major to Oberstleutnant in 1942. He must have worn this waffenrock at least through 1942 based on the war merit ribbon on the uniform and his rank on the boards.

[SirHarry1]

Does it say in which Frankfurt he was born? Main or Oder? My neighbors came from the East, but of course the family could have been spread all over the country. I remember they told us they had a lot of horses on their estate, so I am not surprised this guy was a great horseman.

[Johnny R]

He probably wore it until the end of the War depending on his assignments.

[WW2-Collector]

Harry
Note the arrow on the document this may answer your question.

[Johnny R]

Yes, that is the larger Frankfurt a/M on the Main River most people know of. The other and smaller one (Frankfurt a. d. Oder) is now on the border with Poland.

[Johnny R]

Later they appear to have moved to Hamburg where his mother died in 1926 and his daughter was born in 1922, I can not read all of it but it looks like his wife may have been from Hamburg and they were married there in 1916 also. She was also a "von" Anne-Marie S-- hard to read, it is a hyphenated (royal) family name. His Father died in London in 1893, that is interesting as well.

[naxos]

She was also a "von" Anne-Marie S-- hard to read, it is a hyphenated (royal) family name. .

Anna-Maria von Schmidt-Pauli

[Johnny R]

And here is the mother's immediate family line with the same daughter -

http://geneall.net/en/name/261926/an...schmidt-pauli/

And info on his parents-

http://geneall.net/en/name/261925/curt-von-kries/

[WW2-Collector]

Great stuff guys - I am amazed you can read this old script. One thing I find interesting in the files is some they have his first name as Curt and some as Kurt. No doubt the same guy as the birth date on the docs and other details match perfectly I am just perplexed why the different spellings for the first name. Simply entry error or something else I am not aware of ? I will post some more docs pertaining to his service career in hopes you guys can cipher them.

[NickG]

Gents,
I just stumbled over this thread and my eyes almost popped out when I saw the name of the former owner! When I was a kid our next door neighbor were Mr. and Mrs. von Kries, a noble family from Eastern Prussia. He was Freiherr von Kries and she was Freifrau von Kries, but her maiden name was also a "von".
They had lost their property when they had to flee from the Russians and lived just as ordinary people in a small townhouse like my family. Likely that this soldier was a relative to these neighbors since the name is not that common.
Harry

BINGO I was right!

And an aristocrat would definitely go to Holters! (but the tag lacks a title though...)

Told you so, a nobleman, a Freiherr !

I have been researching this grouping for 6 months and it is fun the see the assumptions roll out from Nick G. lol

Nope ...no assumptions.... an aristrocrat...the title just did not make it on the tailor tag.... The Johanitter Kreuz is THE indicator!
All the land owners/aristocrats lost their family properties when they were forced to flee west....Some taken for use as Russian occupation installations, others confiscated by East German government or becoming Polish territory and lost for ever...
The families forced to start all over again in the West with little possessions....

[Johnny R]

Great stuff guys - I am amazed you can read this old script. One thing I find interesting in the files is some they have his first name as Curt and some as Kurt. No doubt the same guy as the birth date on the docs and other details match perfectly I am just perplexed why the different spellings for the first name. Simply entry error or something else I am not aware of ? I will post some more docs pertaining to his service career in hopes you guys can cipher them.

The names were spelled alternatively but the Kurt spelling is more often seen in German. Glad you appreciate the history of the former owners. His Father died in London which may be a clue as "Curt" would be used more often there and in the US etc. He may have used both.