Ulanen-Regiment Kaiser Alexander III. von Russland (Westpreußisches) Nr. 1

[Fritz]

Just acquired today, an other ranks' shoulder strap for the greatcoat in superior quality, hand-embroidered, privat purchase, possibly for a Fähnrich, from

   Ulanen-Regiment Kaiser Alexander III. von Russland (Westpreussisches) No. 1
   - V. Armee-Korps, 10. Division, 10. Kavallerie-Brigade, together with Königs-Jäger zu Pferde Regt.Nr.1 -

Ulans normally wore epaulettes, except for on the greatcoat and Litewka. Officers wore with everyday dress the normal shoulder pieces, and epaulettes for parade or formal dress. Any items from this regiment are extremely rare, and only very few items have turned up in the past 50 years of my collecting. One pair of epaulettes turned up at a Berlin auction about 20 years, ago, 2 officers Tschapkas several years ago, and two single epaulettes, officer and other ranks' at a recent auction in S.Germany.

As comparison, a pair of 1914 shoulder pieces for a Leutnant of the regiment, they are fieldgrey, but with gilt crowned mongrams, these are heavy cast gilded bronze.This matching pair of shoulder pieces shown were acquired at an auction in Northern Germany about 20 years ago.

A signicant member of the regiment was Manfred von Richthofen, who was commissioned as a Leutnant in Autumn 1912 and finally reached the rank of Rittmeister during the second half of the war. He was with the 3. Eskadron in Ostrowo. A cousin of his, Leutnant Gotthard Frhr. v. Richthofen, was an adjutant with the regiment.

In the photo, he can be seen wearing the pre-war peacetime uniform with epaulettes. This photo was taken in 1917 after receiving the oval Carl-Eduard-Medal with bar 1914/17 and crossed swords (Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha).

A further photo shows a patrol of the Alexander Ulanen during the Kaisermanoeuvre in Posen, 1902. Photo by Oskar Tellgmann, Eschwege.

3. Eskadron was based in Ostrowo, the remaining squadrons in Militsch in Silesia (since 1945 Poland), near to the border with Russia.

Tsar Alexander III. was made honorary colonel-in-chief of the regiment on 26th September 1884, which then bore this title and the monogram on the epaulettes.

Regimental Chiefs:
1745-1788 die des damaligen Hus.-Rgts. Nr.5
1788-1803 v. Günther
1803-1815 v. L'Estocq
1824-1832 v. Röder
1859-1865 Cäsarewitsch Nikolaus Alexandrowitsch von Russland
1865-1894 Cäsarewitsch, später Kaiser Alexander III. von Russland
1901 Großfürst Michael Alexandrowitsch von Russland Kaiserliche Hoheit.

After WW1 the tradition of the regiment was carried on by 3. Eskadron, Reiter-Regiment No. 8 in Brieg.

 

 

 

[Fritz]

New addition, just ordered and still waiting for the order to be processed (item no. 1051) -

A pair of matching epaulettes for other ranks of Ulanen-Regiment Kaiser Alexander III. von Russland (Westpreußisches) Nr. 1
Garrison: Ostrowo and Militsch. The buttons, not quite clear in the photo, bear the number 4 for the 4th squadron. These are the official issue, with a rather thin monogram, notable is the brass hook for the bandelier which was worn on the left shoulder, this has some slight wear and denting to the half moon, otherwise in very presentable condition.
Extremely rare, as this garrison was in Schlesien, which was annexed and resettled by Poland after 1945, apart from the enormous
destruction all round.

---

A collector colleague managed to pick up these two Tschapkas recently. These are as worn by Ulanen-Regiments 1-3,
to the left is a 1915 version with grey metal fittings, the other is the peacetime 1895 version, also worn till around 1916.
Note the FWR medallion on the eagle, the eagle is also smaller than on a standard Pickelhaube. The collector stated, the Tschapka on the left,
the 1915 model, is the only known existing example of it's kind, this came straight from a household in USA, never in a collection.

[Fritz]

The epaulettes, as arrived. The auction house did not mention the fact that the white facing cloth has been replaced at some stage, the whole set has been taken apart by someone the white cloth renewed, and the brass scale bearing the bandelier hook is not properly attached, these have been soldered at some stage and the soldering has broken in places. The red cloth undersides are original. However, due to the rarity, have decided to keep them for the moment. Apart from that, the crowns and mongrams have been slightly misplaced and should be further down, as the crown would otherwise be partly covered by the cloth passanten on the shoulders.

[Gildwiller1918]

They still look very nice Fritz, I am sorry they had been messed with. If the auction had suspected this, they should have said something. 

[Fritz]

A lot of auction houses do not reveal flaws, or the fact that something is not what it should be, this is becoming a common practise.

[Gildwiller1918]

Seems a little shady, kind of like a used car salesman

[Fritz]

A silver plate with the Regimental monogram and officer's signatures engraved,
at top right hand corner is the name Frhr. v. Richthofen, so dating between
1912-1914. Further names: v. Frankenberg, Roether, v. Eichstedt, v. Rothkirch

https://silbersuite.de/mit-rang-und-namen.html

 

[Fritz]

Losses of Ulanen-Regiment Kaiser Alexander III. von Russland (Westpr.) Nr. 1 in the war of 1866

http://www.denkmalprojekt.org/verlustlisten/verlustlisten_1870-71.htm

 

Dienstgrad	Name	Vorname	Geburtsdatum & Ort	Todesdatum & Ort	Einheit	Bemerkungen
Ulan	DEMUTH	Ernst August	Parchau, Lüben	27.06.1866 Nachod	1. Esc.	vermißt
Sec.-Ltnt.	HEINRICH	von	-	30.06.1866	Stab	29.06.1866 verw. b. Schweinschädel (Kopf und Hals)
Trompeter	JENKE	Adolph	Breslau	27.06.1866 Nachod	1. Esc.	T
Ulan	ROTHKEHL	Johann Louis	Alt-Driebitz, Fraustadt	27.06.1866 Nachod	3. Esc.	T
Ulan	SACHS	-	Kotzemeuschel, Glogau	27.06.1866 Nachod	3. Esc.	vermißt
Ulan	SCHRÖTER	Traugott	Bobersdorf, Hirschberg	27.06.1866	3. Esc.	T
Ulan	SCHWALM	Louis	Ogas, Liegnitz	27.06.1866 Nachod	3. Esc.	T