The Kaiser's protection in the Middle East

This photo illustrates the uniforms worn by the Leibgendarmerie that accompanied Kaiser Wilhelm II to the Middle East. Both squadrons provided troops, distinguished by different facing colours on the uniforms.
Lovely, isn't it.

www.germancolonialuniforms.co.uk has a page about this. It's well worth a look, it's listed under "The Kaiser and his Staff in Palestine 1898".

Overall it's an excellent website.

When the Kaiser and his escort visited Jerusalem in 1898 part of the city wall next to the Jaffa gate apparently had to be breached so that he could enter riding a white charger. The photograph showing the high spiked helmets worn indicate why this may have been necessary. There was much mockery in the French and British press concerning his reluctance to dismount or at least bow his head "when following in the footsteps of our Lord". In 1918 General Allenby showed more sensitivity by entering the newly occupied city on foot.

As another bit of trivia, the Leibgendarmerie were the last Imperial Prussian military unit to retain colorful dress uniforms. Photographs show them wearing the green and white peacetime dress when in attendance on the Kaiser as late as 1917-18, though with a cover over the picklehaube. Field grey parade and off duty uniforms were officially ordered for the rest of the army in 1915, though under wartime conditions rarely worn.

buistR wrote:When the Kaiser and his escort visited Jerusalem in 1898 part of the city wall next to the Jaffa gate apparently had to be breached so that he could enter riding a white charger. The photograph showing the high spiked helmets worn indicate why this may have been necessary. There was much mockery in the French and British press concerning his reluctance to dismount or at least bow his head "when following in the footsteps of our Lord". In 1918 General Allenby showed more sensitivity by entering the newly occupied city on foot.

As another bit of trivia, the Leibgendarmerie were the last Imperial Prussian military unit to retain colorful dress uniforms. Photographs show them wearing the green and white peacetime dress when in attendance on the Kaiser as late as 1917-18, though with a cover over the picklehaube. Field grey parade and off duty uniforms were officially ordered for the rest of the army in 1915, though under wartime conditions rarely worn.

I thought the German changed to field grey in 1910.

Martin

He means that in 1915 the peacetime color uniforms were abolished and henceforth even parade uniforms would be field gray.

Apart from the excellent variety in the photograph, the thing that grabs my attention is the extreme 'hoody', the short cloak with hood that fits over the spike of the helmet.

Re the Imperial German Army's 1915 grey parade uniforms: this was a special order of dress intended for "peacetime" issue (when peace came). Essentially it comprised the pre-August 1914 dress uniform for each regiment or corps but with the traditional rainbow effect (Prussian blue, Bavarian light blue, Jager green, cuirassier white, dragoon light blue, hussar red, blue, black, green etc etc) replaced by a universal sober grey. Coloured facings and parade headdresses were retained. Of course the midst of war was hardly the time to waste resources on peacock indulgence and the only appearance of the new uniforms was when some officers on leave from the front had them made up at their own expense. There are a number of colour plates showing the intended issue but the only actual photographs that I have seen are of those found in the Kaiser's personal wardrobe after the end of the war.

Would that be the uniforms in the Ruhl plates?

Martin

Hi Martin - no the Ruhl plates Die graue Felduniform der deutschen Armee published in 1914 portray the M1910 grey field uniforms (although individual cavalry and bugler/trumpeter uniforms are almost as conspicuous as the earlier coloured uniforms they were intended to replace). After a few months of war the shortcomings of the M1910 field dress were apparent and in September 1915 two new orders of uniform were authorized: a simple field blouse with most of the coloured trimmings removed and a grey dress/walking out uniform as mentioned above. The latter was described as peacetime wear and would presumably have become general issue if the Imperial Army had survived the war. In practice both the M1910 and M1915 field uniforms continued to be worn until 1918, although the former was often modified to suit trench conditions. Even the coloured peacetime uniforms (mostly of Prussian blue) continued to be issued to recruits undergoing basic training, as long as stocks lasted. In short, stringent blockades and domestic cloth shortages made even the smart and efficient Prussian Army of 1914 into a fairly mixed and even rag-bag collection by November 1918. One definite change though was the disappearance of the picklehaube even before the introduction of the steel Stahlhelme helmet in 1916. A headdress made of leather with a high spike was just too unsuitable for 20th century warfare. Unless of course you belonged to the Kaiser's Leibgendarmerie.

Yes I realised that there were were great changes to the German uniforms, (ersazt pickel hauben etc.) I just hadn't realised that they had even attempted to issue a parade uniform during the war. I find it interesting to see the amount of WW1 dress uniforms worn by senior ranks during the thirties and fourties though.

Martin

I wonder if the Guard followed the Kaiser to Morocco in 1905?