Comments on: Service in the Bavarian Army

By: Bavarian army | Yumbath

Bavarian army | Yumbath — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:16:34 +0000

[...] Service in the Bavarian Army « What’s Past is PrologueBecause the other German armies had comparable policies, armies and experiences, the Bavarian example has broader relevance for the history of Germany. [...]

By: Donna Pointkouski

Donna Pointkouski — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:33:12 +0000

Hi, Tom, It would be great if there were some photographer’s archives, but I don’t know of any. I’ve tried to find some in the U.S., too. There may be some luck with Ostermayr since his son gained some fame in the film industry. I’ll have to ask some German researchers if there is such a thing.

By: Tom Wucherer

Tom Wucherer — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 07:01:49 +0000

My grandmother’s family was from Munich and I too have a photograph from F.X. Ostermayr; however, the subject of my photo appears to be a First Holy Communion portrait. I have other photos from other studios in Munich including Oscar Pöckl, F. Grieshaber, B. Urban and H. Dreykorn. Has anyone researched whether archives of the photographers exist?

By: John Harrell

John Harrell — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:02:21 +0000

The Infanterie Leib (Life) Regiment was raised on 16 July 1814 from the best looking and largest Grenadiers from the existing fourteen Bavarian Infantry Regiments. The Regiment was always garrisoned in Munich. The original name of the regiment was Grenadier-Garde-Regiment. In 1825 it was redesignated Linien-Infanterie-Leib-Regiment and received its final designation as Infanterie-Leib-Regiment in 1835. This was the premier infantry regiment in the Bavarian Army and its soldiers were “recruited” from throughout Bavaria. Selection was based on appearance and intelligence. Various members of the Bavarian royal family served in the regiment and one, Prince Arnulf. commanded the regiment 1881-84. The regimental Kaserne was named for Prince Arnulf following his early death in 1907. Among the soldiers and locals the Kaserne was known as “Turken Kaserne” due to a street of that name which was adjacent to the Kaserne. During the 1980-90s the Kaserne was demolished. With one exception the regiment was commanded by a member of the Bavarian nobility and many of the commanders were Barons (Freiheer) or Counts (Graf). While the regiment did perform ceremonial duties in Munich, as did the other two Munich infantry regiments, it was trained, equipped and deployed the same as any other infantry regiment. The red regimental epaulet had a gold colored royal crown on it authorized in 1873. The two white strips of cloth (Litzen) on the collar were a distinction worn only by this regiment in the Bavarian Army. The uniform color was a lighter blue traditionally worn by the foot units of Bavarian Army. Joseph Bergmeister`s name was not found in any of the infantry regiments of the standing army or Reserve infantry regiments that served in the World War. He probably served in the war, possibly in a non-combat capacity.

By: Bob Kramp

Bob Kramp — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:13:21 +0000

According to the NY Times article, I guess romantic love won out over traditional marriage arrangements. It is so hard for us Americans to keep up with the history of Royal families of Europe. The news article was a wondeful way for you to demonstrate your great grandfather’s military duties under the Royal Family of Bavaria. Nice story. Bob

By: Francis X. Bergmeister

Francis X. Bergmeister — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:40:36 +0000

Hello,

My grandfather was Francis Paul Bergmeister. He had one son, Francis X. Bergmeister and Francis X. Bergmeister had two sons, Kurt Bergmeister and myself. My father passed away last year. Kurt resides in Destin, Florida and I live in Stafford, VA. I also retired in 2004 from the Marine Corps as a colonel.

My grandfather served in the Coast Guard and retired as a commander. My father served in the Army Air Corps in WWII, was a Phildelphia policeman, detective, ATF agent, and IRS Special Agent. My brother briefly served in the Marine Corps and is a real estate agent. We are also both Certified Financial Planners. I am a defense consultant at this time.

My son Nicholas F.X. , a high school junior, found your website and was very excited. His sister is a junior at VA TECH.

I had an uncle Bill but I can’t recall too many details about him other than he was a salesman and retired in Florida.
My grandfather also had a sister, Rose.

Cheers,
FX

By: Jewelgirl

Jewelgirl — Thu, 08 May 2008 02:32:12 +0000

The photograph is a small size cabinet card.
Maybe aprox 4 X 3 on hard cardboard.
It has a number on back No. (written in
pencil – 89764). It could be of a simular
time period as your photo, I have no clue
as to who it is but definitely was in my
family if it was in my grandmothers attic.

By: Jewelgirl

Jewelgirl — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:03:06 +0000

I also have a photo of 2 men in uniform photographed
by F.H. Ostermayr – Munchen. One has the golden band
on his collar the other looks like he has a tassel or
sheath on his left side. I don’t know who they are but
are some one on either side of my Bavarian grandparents.
I will post it so you can see the photo. Jewelgirl

By: djpoint

djpoint — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:07:32 +0000

Thanks!

fM, I did try to do a little research on the photographer – trying to learn by your fine example. Much of it is in German, however. I did learn today that his son became a rather famous film director! I think the photo was taken as he went in…if I can get it off of my cousin, there is a wonderful group photo with all of their individual portraits. It is quite large, and very nice. I hope to post more on that one day.

I also have another photo by the same photographer of a man I believe to be Joseph’s first cousin…still doing a little more research on that. The uniform looks similar, except the other guy has a sword!

By: Lidian

Lidian — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:34:52 +0000

I really enjoyed this post – a terrific photo and loads of interesting information, thank you so much!