HIRIART Imperial German Infantry (1 Viewer)

[Wolfgang_UK]

Also in the same vein as the last post, here is Hiriart set 1336 WORLD WAR I WESTFALISHE JAEGER BATTALION, 1914. It is unusual in that very few Hiriart sets are made with the figures running. I wonder where Westfalishe is located in Germany?

Once again beautifull figures you are shareing with us - Thank you very much indeed!!!
The former capital of the prussian province of "Westfalen" was the city of Münster. It served as a garrison for many decades. As Brad rightly wrote after world war two Westfalen and parts of the prussian province of the Rhineland where united to form the new Bundesland (Federal County) of Nordrhein-Westfalen in post war Germany.
Düsseldorf became the post war capital of the county - much to the regret of the people of Cologne who are maintaining a centuries- long dispute with the city of Düsseldorf. The entire Ruhrgebiet- the industrial heart of Germany- with cities such as Dortmund, Essen, Hamm, Bochum, Oberhausen, ok Gelsenkirchen= (Schalke04) and my hometown Duisburg (some of the names might sound familar to football fans) where also part of that province.

Most interesting sidenote - the Kaiser ( Wilhelm II not Beckenbauer) did not trust those well organized factory-workers of the Ruhrgebiet (Ruhr-region) enjoying those new revolutionary ideas of social democracy and socialism (Karl Marx studied at Bonn University) so he kept the military out of that region. He was paranoid about workers joining forces with some close by military.
Without looking it up I know that Husar-Regiments where garrisoned at Krefeld and Bonn - safe distance to the Ruhr-Region but close enough to be called in if needed. The Kaisers nightmare became truth in 1918 when sailors at Kiel harbour joined forces with local factory workers to end Germanys -by now- senseless war efforts by refuseing to set sail for one final seabattle. (K&C do you copy?)

These constant fears had it's deeper sense in the lessons learned during the 1850ies uprisings inside the German States as well as Austria. The existance of the Vienna Underground was owed to the fact that there was little to no room to have a safeguarding garrison inside the old city walls to encounter civil unrest in due time. So a Railway-System had to be constructed "Underground" that was capable to quickly transport troops into the city if needed.

After another Austrian came to power in Germany that all changed and the industrial heartland received numerous air defence barracks "Flak-Kasernen" throughout. As I grew up in my hometown in the sixties in the city of Duisburg we spent hours (much to the horror of our parents) playing inside old amunition bunkers and former Flak-Strongpoints. Playing there on one occasion we found the headpiece of an military Standard completly intact under some loose debry next to an old garage building that was once houseing a transport-squad catering for the closeby Flak-Kaserne which was now being used by British Troops and called the Glamorgan Barracks . Traded it in for 3 (aaarrrghhhh three!!!!) comic books to an ruthless adult. After Germany' s Reunification the british forces left my hometown - pitty since a lot of Duisburgers have good memories concerning our "British-Years" - ok "Englische Jahre" is the phrase used back home- I admitt we are unable to distiguish....

Anyway a lot of british names can be found printed in our local phone directory and myself living in London right now I have so far met more than one girl from my hometown bearing a british surname and living here in the UK.

Last thing I heard about the barracks was that they are now being used as temporary houseings for asylum-seekers.

Sorry about being totally carried away- but this is why I love my hobby and this Forum it's allways the story behind the story that makes history and our chosen hobby so interesting - isn' t it?

Please keep us updated with those nice figures and yes please keep on asking it is an international forum -- thanks god!

Best regards
Wolfgang

 

[ucla1967]

Hi, Mike, Westfalen is a region in west-central Germany, "Westphalia" in English. It covers the area between the Rhein and the Weser, to the north and south of the Ruhr. It was a province of Prussia, and today it makes up part of the federal state of North-Rhein-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen).

Prost!
Brad

Danke shoen, Brad. Boy, I am embarrassed to admit that I took two semesters of German in college 47 years ago and, basically, I can't speak a word. And, I got a "A" one semester and a "B" the other; I think my professor Frau Blusk, liked me (like a son). I am probably one of the worst foreign language students one can find any where. Oh well, at least I met my wife in French I class.

 

[ucla1967]

Once again beautifull figures you are shareing with us - Thank you very much indeed!!!
The former capital of the prussian province of "Westfalen" was the city of Münster. It served as a garrison for many decades. As Brad rightly wrote after world war two Westfalen and parts of the prussian province of the Rhineland where united to form the new Bundesland (Federal County) of Nordrhein-Westfalen in post war Germany.
Düsseldorf became the post war capital of the county - much to the regret of the people of Cologne who are maintaining a centuries- long dispute with the city of Düsseldorf. The entire Ruhrgebiet- the industrial heart of Germany- with cities such as Dortmund, Essen, Hamm, Bochum, Oberhausen, ok Gelsenkirchen= (Schalke04) and my hometown Duisburg (some of the names might sound familar to football fans) where also part of that province.

Most interesting sidenote - the Kaiser ( Wilhelm II not Beckenbauer) did not trust those well organized factory-workers of the Ruhrgebiet (Ruhr-region) enjoying those new revolutionary ideas of social democracy and socialism (Karl Marx studied at Bonn University) so he kept the military out of that region. He was paranoid about workers joining forces with some close by military.
Without looking it up I know that Husar-Regiments where garrisoned at Krefeld and Bonn - safe distance to the Ruhr-Region but close enough to be called in if needed. The Kaisers nightmare became truth in 1918 when sailors at Kiel harbour joined forces with local factory workers to end Germanys -by now- senseless war efforts by refuseing to set sail for one final seabattle. (K&C do you copy?)

These constant fears had it's deeper sense in the lessons learned during the 1850ies uprisings inside the German States as well as Austria. The existance of the Vienna Underground was owed to the fact that there was little to no room to have a safeguarding garrison inside the old city walls to encounter civil unrest in due time. So a Railway-System had to be constructed "Underground" that was capable to quickly transport troops into the city if needed.

After another Austrian came to power in Germany that all changed and the industrial heartland received numerous air defence barracks "Flak-Kasernen" throughout. As I grew up in my hometown in the sixties in the city of Duisburg we spent hours (much to the horror of our parents) playing inside old amunition bunkers and former Flak-Strongpoints. Playing there on one occasion we found the headpiece of an military Standard completly intact under some loose debry next to an old garage building that was once houseing a transport-squad catering for the closeby Flak-Kaserne which was now being used by British Troops and called the Glamorgan Barracks . Traded it in for 3 (aaarrrghhhh three!!!!) comic books to an ruthless adult. After Germany' s Reunification the british forces left my hometown - pitty since a lot of Duisburgers have good memories concerning our "British-Years" - ok "Englische Jahre" is the phrase used back home- I admitt we are unable to distiguish....

Anyway a lot of british names can be found printed in our local phone directory and myself living in London right now I have so far met more than one girl from my hometown bearing a british surname and living here in the UK.

Last thing I heard about the barracks was that they are now being used as temporary houseings for asylum-seekers.

Sorry about being totally carried away- but this is why I love my hobby and this Forum it's allways the story behind the story that makes history and our chosen hobby so interesting - isn' t it?

Please keep us updated with those nice figures and yes please keep on asking it is an international forum -- thanks god!

Best regards
Wolfgang

Hi Wolfgang,

Thank you so ever much for the history lesson and the story about your youth--you didn't get carried away. I loved it. Believe it or not, I am half German; my grandfather, Karl Charles Martin, immigrated to Oregon (he wanted to be a cowboy) in 1894. He was a cowboy for a period of time and then farmed on a homestead until a plague of rabbits wiped him out. He then moved into town and travelled by wagon from wheat ranch to ranch repairing leather harnesses for horse teams used in the harvests. My German grandmother, who died before I was born, was a Volga River German colonist. I was stationed in Bad Aibling, Germany (about half way between Munich and Salzburg, Austria) with the 320th USASA Battalion in 1963-64. What a beautiful place! We were stationed at a World War II Luftwaffe base. We lived in their old barracks and used the main hanger as our operations building. Our antenna field covered the former runways.

Best regards,

 

[ucla1967]

Several Latin American nations, adopted Imperial German-like uniforms for their military academies and schools. I was looking at Hiriart set 1251 BANDA DE GUERRA, ESCUELA MILITAR, CHILE and wondering if it could, with minor paint changes, be made as an Imperial German band. I am not sure if the banners on the trumpets, for example, would be correct.

 

[ucla1967]

This is a photo I took of Bob Walker's Imperial German collection. I believe that he cast and painted many of the figures on display, himself. There are more than 100 figures in the scene including one Hiriart set in the background at the base of the fort's building---set 1091 PRUSSIAN INFANTRY at present arms.