Eisenbahn Regiment 2

ow-preussen-l
1

Dear list members,

I hope this list is an appropriate forum to ask this question, if not my apologies. I'm trying to find out what the first world war experiences of my late grandfather (German) might have been. Unfortunately, when he was still alive he never really spoke about it to my father and aunt, and he died when I was 9 years old. The information they have doesn't go much further than that 'he did something with railways', was in the Balkan and spend time as a Russian prisoner of war. I've lately grown an interest in what he might have experienced during that period. Via some pictures I've now found out that in 1916 he was in the Eisenbahn Regiment 2 (Hanau) (would fit with the railways I guess...), with one picture showing something like '3. Koporlsch' which I interpret as Korporalschaft...

Via Google I found a mail from 2003 in the archives of this list in German from Ernst Hoffman in which he explained to someone else quite a lot on the Eisenbahn Regiments (my German is unfortunately not good enough to understand everything, but I'm working on that). Therefor I'm hoping that there might be people (Ernst Hoffman or somebody else) here who could help me further. Questions that come to my mind are

- what exactly is a Korporalschaft
- what exactly did the Eisenbahn Regiments do
- Is there a place to find out what happened to the second Eisenbahn Regiment

Any information (English or German) that could help me further will be greatly appreciated...

Peter Hohenstein

2

Hello Peter,

at the time yo search for the Eisenbahn ( Trains and Loks) go ahead with steam. So I think this men repair the trains and do the Machin under steam. Perhaps they does logistics for transport a lot of troups from A to B and their material.
On www.genealogy.net there is a Militaer Mailinglist. I think yo get there mor information.
Hope this help.

Regards

Petra Burbach

-----Ursprüngliche Mitteilung-----
Verschickt: So., 12.Nov.2006, 14:46
Thema: [OWP] Eisenbahn Regiment 2

Dear list members,

I hope this list is an appropriate forum to ask this question, if not my
apologies. I'm trying to find out what the first world war experiences
of my late grandfather (German) might have been. Unfortunately, when he
was still alive he never really spoke about it to my father and aunt,
and he died when I was 9 years old. The information they have doesn't go
much further than that 'he did something with railways', was in the
Balkan and spend time as a Russian prisoner of war. I've lately grown an
interest in what he might have experienced during that period. Via some
pictures I've now found out that in 1916 he was in the Eisenbahn
Regiment 2 (Hanau) (would fit with the railways I guess...), with one
picture showing something like '3. Koporlsch' which I interpret as
Korporalschaft...

Via Google I found a mail from 2003 in the archives of this list in
German from Ernst Hoffman in which he explained to someone else quite a
lot on the Eisenbahn Regiments (my German is unfortunately not good
enough to understand everything, but I'm working on that). Therefor I'm
hoping that there might be people (Ernst Hoffman or somebody else) here
who could help me further. Questions that come to my mind are

- what exactly is a Korporalschaft
- what exactly did the Eisenbahn Regiments do
- Is there a place to find out what happened to the second Eisenbahn
Regiment

Any information (English or German) that could help me further will be
greatly appreciated...

Peter Hohenstein

3

Dear Peter

Let me try to answer some of your questions regarding the German military in
and before WW I.

Firstly, "Korporalschaft":

A "Korporalschaft" was a small unit consisting of 12 to 40 soldiers (30 on
average), led by an "Unteroffizier" (before 1856 called "Korporal");
"Unteroffizier" was and still is the lowest NCO rank in the German Army. The
"Korporalschaft" used to be a sub-division of the company.

Secondly, "Eisenbahn-Regiment/Eisenbahnregiment":

"Eisenbahn" Regiments 1, 2 and 3 of the Imperial German Army were stationed
in Berlin (later, Regiment 2 also at Hanau); together they formed "Garde
Eisenbahn Brigade" which, in turn, was part of "Garde Korps". Although
"Garde Eisenbahn Brigade" soldiers were in essence sappers, they were also
regarded transport troops. Therefore the Imperial Army Air Arm with its
zeppelins and planes was part of the "Garde Eisenbahn Brigade".

The majority of the "Eisenbahn" soldiers, however, were sappers, as said
above. They built railroads (already in times of peace, e.g. the first
railroad through Lueneburg Heath was built by them) and railroad bridges,
constructed railroad tunnels, maintained telegraph lines and destroyed enemy
railroads, were responsible for the maintenance of steam engines, carriages
and wagons. In 1870/71 the Prussian "Eisenbahn-Regiment" had proven very
successful in the war with France in that they deployed 384,000 troops and
all their equipment westwards in only 12 days.

All transport troops wore a navy-blue uniform with red shoulder straps.

Two famous men who served with the "Eisenbahn-Regiment":

1. Physicist Prof. Heinrich Hertz (after his first semester as a university
student) who originally wanted to become an architect, but changed his mind
because of his experiences as an "Eisenbahn" soldier.

2. German WW I-Fighter Ace Max Immelmann (nicknamed the "Eagle of Lille")
who was the first fighter pilot to receive the "Blue Max" (nicknamed after
him), the order 'Pour le M�rite' (the prime order for bravery in the field,
ranking above the Iron Cross).

Regards

Rolf-Peter

4

To Rolf-Peter -

My g-grandfather was in the Franco-Prussian War. He was wounded in the leg.

I have tried to find records of soldiers in this war, but so far have not
been successful.
Do you know if there are any records in existence?

Muriel

5

Muriel,

You might want to look at "Sachkatalog der Staatsbibliothek Berlin" (turn to
'google' and look for "Krieg 1870-71").

Good luck,

Rolf-Peter