As explained in previous articles, it was a tradition for the recruits, to buy a souvenir (Erinnnerung) to remember the 2/3 years mandatory military service right before leaving it. There was a whole range of items to be purchased: from smoking pipes with the regiment insignia, to canteens (for alcoholic use, of course) with the same Regiment ornaments as the pipes or beautiful drawings with the picture of the soldier in it. But, in my opinion, the most beautiful and (possible) popular one was the Beer Stein. The shops had different models and quality, depending on the money the group of “veterans” wanted to spend on it. For the one below, the soldier may have spent a considerable amount of money on it, because its quality, its fine details and colours.
This is a quite good and elaborated Reservistenkrug from a recruit called Faulhaber, who served in the Royal Bavarian 8th Infantry Regiment “Großherzog Friedrich II. von Baden”, in the French city of Metz (Lorraine) between 1911 and 1913. In 1871, and after the defeat of France against the Prussian (and rest of the States) Army, Alsace and Lorraine passed from French to German hands. After checking the Hauptarchiv-München, I believe the soldier was Josef Faulhaber, born in 1892.
It is also quite common in this type of Krug, to show part or parts of the City, where the Regiment was based. Also showing the image of the Kaiser or, like in this case, the Bavarian Prinzregent Luitpold von Bayern and the also the one of Großherzog Friedrich II. von Baden, just because the regiment was named after him.
Apart from that, it is a very patriotic Reservistenkrug, showing very important military monuments around Metz, specially the one dedicated to one the Guards Regiment, who fought in the encirclement of Metz in August 1870. This Krug ist mainly focussed in one important and costly battle: the Victory at Gravelotte, where the Prussian Guards suffered appalling loses. In fact, all of the Prussian troops had terrible ones. During the battles, some of the Tactics and decisions made by von Steinmetz were polemical, costing him to be sent back to Germany and losing control of his army. But let’s go back to the Stein, we see twice the monument to the 3rd Guard Regiment, once in the side and in the lid itself. In the other side, we see in the background the monument to the Rheinisches Jaeger Bataillon Nr. 8 during manoeuvres.
Of course, a woman should be in the Beer Jar too, sometimes in the form of a lover or girlfriend, and, sometimes we may see the mother of the soldier welcome him back at home after his service.
But coming back to “our soldier”, with the start of the war, Josef, already in the Reserve, was called again to serve in the same Regiment, but in the Reserve Regiment, as part of the Royal Bavarian 4thDivision (Royal Bavarian 2nd Army Corps). This division started the war in Lorraine, taking the Fort of Manonviller. He was transferred later to the Somme area and finally to the south of Ypres. Having a look to the book “Histories of the 251 Divisions of the German Army, which participated in the War 1914-1918”, this division was considered to be one of the first class divisions.
In December 1914 Josef would be sent back to his old Regiment, the Royal Bavarian 8th Regiment, which in this moment was part of the 33rd Reserve Division, which in this moment was placed in Lorraine.
Already in 1915, This division fought from February 1915 on, in the area of Les Éparges, which is located in the south east of Verdun. During these spring fights in this sector, the division took heavy casualties and it was hardly reinforced.
During those fights, on the 9th of April 1915, Josef Faulhaber was killed in action in Lamorville. His resting place is not far away from there, a Kameradengrab in the cemetery of Troyon.
Unfortunately, this story doesn’t have a happy ending… but over 105 years later, for a short while, his name came back to life.