Rui’s Renditions
Studio portrait of a young German couple on the occasion of their marriage. This photo was taken in Metz by Photographie Centrale F. Louis Bonn, dated 1908.
I did this one 8 years ago and it is one of my first collaborations with the owner of this CDV, Sam Wouters. It is somewhat outdated in terms of colorizing techniques and a bit out of the Great War time frame, but worth posting given some of the details on the groom’s magnificent dunkelblau tunic.
The soldier seems to be a feldwebel, a rank that allowed one to carry a sword and portepee. In this case a Infanterie-Offizier-Degen 1898 with folding guard and a Prussian officers portepee. The shoulder straps identify his regiment as the Metzer Infanterie-Regt. Nr.98. The ribbon bar is that of the Militär-Dienstauszeichnung 3rd Class for 9 years of service. This award is the 1825 model with a clasp bearing the cipher of Friedrich Wilhelm III (FW III). This model was soon to be replaced by the 1913 model.
The first point of special interest is the clear view of a 5th-grade marksman’s lanyard with a metal shied displaying the Wilhelm II cipher (see 1). This soldier was, no doubt, an excellent marksman.
The second point of interest is his cuff buttons (see 2). And I quote Sam:
“ …and this is very rarely seen, the buttons of his Brandenburg cuffs feature small eagles. Marshall has shared with me that this was only awarded to some after attending a special Gewehr-Pruefungs-Kommission course. Furthermore, Paul Pietsch’s book mentions that it was only awarded to those who attended this special Schiessschule Kommando course and who had distinguished themselves. (…) On later uniforms, this did not exist anymore, as all had the Prussian crown (or the Bavarian lion).”
Original property of Sam Wouters