Imperial German
Pre-war Uhlan
collection project

"The photograph shows a pre-war blue colored tunic of the 3rd Guard Uhlan Regiment. This regiment was raised on May 7th 1860 with home base or garrison in Postdam. Until 1908, this cavalry regiment wore a dark blue tunic with Polish cuffs, citron-yellow collar, cuffs and piping. Collar and cuffs feature the so-called Guard Litzen. These Litzen were silver for officers and white for NCOs and enlisted men. As from 1908, a field-grey version of the Uhlanka was introduced. In August 1914, the 3rd Guard Uhlan Regiment and 1st Guard Uhlan Regiment were grouped into the 2nd Guard Cavalry Brigade, and stayed together until the end of the war. The regiment went through the Belgian Ardennes, over St. Quentin to the Marne33. Courtesy of BT."

Extract out of the books:

"Uhlans or "horsemen in Tartar dress"25 appeared in Prussia as of 1741. They were armed with lances and wore a helmet with a mortarboard on top. Uhlan regiments were mounted with larger horses and were used as heavy cavalry, similar to the Cuirassiers.

The following Uhlan Regiments existed in 1914:

  • Garde-Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 1 (Army Corps Guard)
  • Garde-Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 2 (Army Corps Guard)
  • Garde-Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 3 (Army Corps Guard)
  • Ulanen-Regiment Kaiser Alexander III von Russland (Westpreußisches) Nr. 1 (Army Corps V)
  • Ulanen-Regiment von Katzler (Schlesisches) Nr. 2 (Army Corps VI)
  • Ulanen-Regiment Kaiser Alexander II von Russland (1. Brandenburgisches) Nr. 3 (Army Corps III)
  • Ulanen-Regiment von Schmidt (1. Pommersches) Nr. 4 (Army Corps XX)
  • Westfälisches Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 5 (Army Corps VII)
  • Thüringisches Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 6 (Army Corps XVIII)
  • Ulanen-Regiment Großherzog Friedrich von Baden (Rheinisches) Nr. 7 (Army Corps XXI)
  • Ulanen-Regiment Graf zu Dohna (Ostpreußisches) Nr. 8 (Army Corps I)
  • 2. Pommersches Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 9 (Army Corps II)
  • Ulanen-Regiment Prinz August von Württemberg (Posenasches) Nr. 10 (Army Corps V)
  • Ulanen-Regiment Graf Häseler (2. Brandenburgisches) Nr. 11 (Army Corps XXI)
  • Litauisches Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 12 (Army Corps I)
  • Königs-Ulanen-Regiment (1. Hannoversches) Nr. 13 (Army Corps X)
  • 2. Hannoversches Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 14 (Army Corps XVI)
  • Schleswig-Holsteinisches Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 15 (Army Corps XXI)
  • Ulanen-Regiment Hennigs von Treffenfeld (Altmärkisches) Nr. 16 (Army Corps XXI)
  • Kgl. Sächsisches 1. Ulanen-Regiment, Kaiser Franz Josef von Österreich, König von Ungarn Nr. 17 (AC XII)
  • Kgl. Sächsisches 2. Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 18 (Army Corps XIX)
  • Ulanen-Regiment König Karl (1. Württembergisches) Nr. 19 (Army Corps XIII)
  • Ulanen-Regiment König Wilhelm I (2. Württembergisches) Nr. 20 (Army Corps XIII)
  • Kgl. Sächs.3. Ulanen-Regiment Kaiser Wilhelm II, König von Preußen Nr. 21 (Army Corps XIX)
  • 1. Ulanen-Regiment Kaiser Wilhelm II, König von Preußen (Bavarian Army Corps I)
  • 2. Ulanen-Regiment König (Bavarian Army Corps II)"

    "The Uhlan tschapka or "lace cap" was used by many armies at the beginning of the century. It was introduced by the Polish contingents during the Napoleonic wars. Polish Lancers became famous at the battle of Waterloo and many European cavalry formations, such as Belgian Lancers or Austrian and German mounted troops started copying this particular headdress. German Uhlan regiments wore a black 5.9" (15cm) leather cap with a front visor and a large 5.5" (14cm) by 5.5" (14cm) rectangular mortarboard on top of their helmets. There was no rear visor. The cap had a distinctive helmet plate and a on the right side a national cockade in red, white and black. Most regiments had a simple white or yellow metal Line Eagle helmet plate. The three Guard regiments had a Guard Eagle with a star (the 1st and the 3rd in German silver and a yellow plate for the 2nd), the 1st, 2nd and 3rd regiment an eagle with the FWR monogram, the 7th a Guard Eagle without star and the Saxon regiments a star with the Saxon Arms. Two regiments had an honor bandeau. The 13th had a Guard Eagle with motto "Peninsula Waterloo Garzia-Hernandez", the 14th a Line Eagle with the same motto and the two Bavarian regiments had a Bavarian and the two Württemberg regiments (19th and 20th) a Württemberg helmet plate."

    Inventory:

  • Uhlan Waffenrock. See page xxx (ref. 361)
  • Bavarian tschapka. See page (ref. 711)
  • Prussian tschapka. See page (ref. 218)
  • Tschapka carying box. See page xxx (ref. 254)