Researching a German Soldier

[Malcolm]

Can anyone advise how to do this as I don't spreak or read German?

Aye

Malcolm

[Chris_Baker]

by Ralph Whitehead

Researching the German Army of the First World War can be a bit challenging to the average individual. Unlike the British, American, Canadian and Australian armies the vast majority of the records relating to the German Army were destroyed in Allied air raids during World War II. While this makes the task difficult it is not impossible. If you know where to look there are still numerous sources of information available today.

Some of the best places to obtain information are the various German historical archives. These archives still hold a great deal of information and are to be considered among the most desirable locations to obtain primary source materials relating to the German Army. Since the German Army of 1914-1918 was not made up of men from one particular area of Germany, the different archives reflect this individual identity. The following is a listing of the various archives:

Bundesarchiv Militärarchiv

Wiesentalstraße 10,

D-79115 Freiburg

Bundesarchiv Koblenz

Potsdamer Straße 1,

D-56075 Koblenz.

Hauptstaatsarchiv München (Bavarian troops only)

Abt. IV, Kriegsarchiv

Leonrodstraße 57,

D-80636 München.

Or

Royal Bavarian Army until 1920:

Bayerischen Hauptstaatsarchiv

Postfach 22 11 52

D-80501 Muenchen

Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart (Würrtemberg troops only)

Konrad-Adenauer-Straße 4,

D-70173 Stuttgart.

Royal Saxon Army until 1920 (Saxon troops only)

Hauptstaatsarchiv Dresden

Archivstrasse 14

D-01097 Dresden

XIV Army Corps in Baden, and other Baden formations until 1920

Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe

Noerdliche Hildapromenade 2

D-76133 Karlsruhe

All personnel rosters and card indices (Stammrollen und Karteimittel) of the Prussian Army, the transition army (Uebergangsheeres), and the Army (Reichswehr) were burned in an air raid on Berlin in February 1945. The records of the Imperial Navy (Kaiserlichen Marine) were also lost. Preserved are medical records of those soldiers who were being treated in military hospitals (Lazarett). The records, most with personnel roster extracts (Stammrollenauszuegen), are for those born from 1870 on, and are stored at:

Krankenbuchlager Berlin

Wattstrasse 11-13

D-13355 Berlin

German military personnel who were reported to be Prisoners of War (POW) or Missing in Action (MIA) may have records at:

Deutsche Dienststelle

Wehrmachtsauskunftstelle (WASt)

Eichborndamm 167

D-13403 Berlin

Another source of information is from the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgraberfursorge - The German War Graves Department. While the vast majority of German war dead are in unmarked graves there is a large number that have been identified. If you have a specific soldier you are researching who was killed in the war you should write to them at:

Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgraberfursorge

Bundesgeschäftsstelle

Werner-Hilpert-Strasse 2

D 34112 Kassel

Web Site at Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgraberfursorge

There are a number of other methods you can use to trace information concerning individual German soldiers or larger units such as regiments. Many German regiments produced regimental histories in the post-war years, some starting as early as 1919. These regimental histories vary in their attention to detail; some provide extremely detailed accounts of individual soldiers while others give a general history of particular actions or events.

Many of the regimental histories also have complete lists of every fatality in the regiment during the war. These include the company number, name, rank, date of death, location of death and in some cases their hometown and birth date:

An example of this was taken from the 6th Company, 79th Infantry Regiment von Voigts-Rhets (3rd Hannoverian):

Musketier Johannes Beeke, geboren 21 8 92 in Hameln, † 21 3 18 Pronville.

Musketier Gustav Steffens, geboren 12 1 80 in Eggersmühlen/Soltau, † 21 3 18 Morchies.

Or

8th Company, Reserve Infantry Regiment Nr. 15

July 9 (Ovillers)

Ersatz Reservist Barlmeyer, Gustav, 25 12 94, Ostbarthausen b. Minden, verwundet. † 16 7 16, Reserve Lazarett III, Aachen.

Wehrmann Stödefalke, Friedrich, 5 9 82 Ubbedissen, Bielefeld

The preceding sources are designed for the serious researcher of the German Army. There are also numerous sources of information available in English for the casual researcher. During the war the various Intelligence services of the Allied armies compiled detailed information on enemy units. The American Army compiled these records into a single volume that provided a brief background of the German divisions and their individual regiments, it was called 'Histories of the Two hundred and fifty one Divisions of the German Army which participated in the war (1914-1918)'. The information also gave details of the movements of the various divisions, when formed, casualties, etc. Other intelligence documents were also published during the war including "Historical Notes on German Divisions engaged on the British Front in France up to January, 1918, Part 1, Active Divisions' published by the British General Staff.

Several other volumes published during the war give additional details of German units as well as the makeup of the different branches of the German Army, 'Handbook of the German Army in War. January, 1917' and a later version, 'Handbook of the German Army in War. April, 1918'. Another excellent source of the makeup of German units can be found in 'The German Forces in the Field, November 1918'. All of the above mentioned books have been reprinted in the last few years which makes research even easier.

Basic details on German units and brief translations can also be found in the footnotes in the British Official History of the War. These details should be used to give direction to further research of a particular regiment or action. More detailed accounts of the German actions can be found in the German Official History of the War, Schlachten des Weltkrieges. The Reichsarchiv published this history. The volumes in this series cover most of the major actions fought in the war. Unfortunately both German and British series have left out large sections of the fighting that took place outside the major actions of both sides.

Research into individual soldiers is unfortunately very difficult unless one is able to locate a reference to the person in question within a regimental history or other official records that still survive today. There are other sources of information that can be used in certain cases but finding these are often a matter of luck rather than detailed research. These include checking with the hometown of the soldier if this information is known. Many towns and villages have set up memorials to the men who died in the war and additional details may be obtained from the town records.

This info used to appear on the WFA website. I believe it is the article that had been submitted by Ralph Whitehead, that no longer appears on that site. Chris

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Thank you for keeping a copy of the article Chris, I looked for it the other day on the old WFA site and it was gone as were all of the others like it.

Ralph

[Malcolm]

Thanks Chris. I've passed on the info to my friend Tony whose Grandfather was

Bernard Hinke, born 1896 in Witten, died 6th November 1918 in France. He is going to write to Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgraberfursorge.

Aye

Malcolm

[Bob Coulson]

Ralph,

Very informative and interesting article.

Bob.

[Patrick]

Hello

8 Hinke found died in wwi in the German database:

http://www.volksbund.de/graebersuche/content_suche.asp

if you fill in all the details search does not come up with anything

no match with Bernard - only one Hinken left with no details

only with family name

That soldier Hinken is buried in France Roye -St Gilles Military cemetery

Block 1 Tomb 1200

if it is correct soldier maybe fill in the form on the database to make it complete

search link

http://www.volksbund.de/graebersuche/conte...F1A4359DC48957F

cimetery link :Roye -St Gilles

http://www.volksbund.de/kgs/stadt.asp?stadt=746

Rgds

Patrick