The Military Retinue of the German Princes and the Household Troops
from 1871 to 1914

Available 26 June 2025

About the book

Illustrated in colour, 480 pages, over 1,200 colour photographs, contemporary B&W photographs, tables and illustrations, hard cover, large format: 29.5 x 26 cm

The authors

Ulrich Herr, Jens Nguyen

Price

€ 99.00

ISBN

978-3-903341-44-9 (English)
978-3-903341-43-2 (German)

Weight

3.00 kg

Content

The clothing and equipment of the German Imperial Army was proverbially colourful. It reflected not only the federal statehood of the empire founded in 1871, but also the traditionally differently uniformed and equipped branches of the army. This becomes particularly clear in this volume, which for the first time describes the clothing and equipment of the military retinues of all the federal princes and the household troops between 1871 and 1914.

The first part of the book deals with the military retinue of the German princes. These are officers who were assigned to the kings, grand dukes, dukes, princes and regents (e.g. in Bavaria between 1886 and 1913). These general and wing adjutants and generals à la suite were distinguished from the troop officers by their special uniform insignia.

The household troops presented in the second part, such as the Prussian Castle Guard Company and Life Guards, the Hessian Guards NCO Company, the Wurttemberg Castle Guard Company and the Bavarian Life Guards of the Hartschiere, were characterised by particularly splendid uniforms. The Prussian mounted Feldjägerkorps, the Ordonnanzgendarmen of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and the Gothaer Schlossgardistenkorps are also covered - although they are not domestic troops in the narrower sense. In addition, the gala dress of the Prussian regiment of the Gardes du Corps and the 1st company of the Mecklenburg Grenadier Regiment No. 89 is also covered.

This volume follows on from the volumes already published on the German cavalry, infantry, generals, artillery, pioneers, transport troops and train from 1871 to 1914. As in the previously published volumes, important public and private collections made it possible to provide a rich selection of illustrations of original items of clothing and equipment. Many of these are being published for the first time. Contemporary, mostly previously unpublished photos complement the colour photographs.