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What does 'Rittmeister' mean?

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J.M. Alberdingk Thijm

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Dec 14, 1996, 3:00:00 AM12/14/96
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Paul <pn...@GOL.COM> wrote:

> Hi all
>
> Can anyone give me an idea of what a 'Rittmeister' does/did - it might have
> been a Cavalry rank during the first world war, but I'm not sure. Any
> suggestions gratefully received.
>
> Paul
>
> Searching for KORTE (Ko"ln), FREYDANCK (Prussia), and VON STAHL

In Dutch Rittmeister, spelt Ritmeester, still is a cavalry rank,
equivalent to a captain

--
J.M. Alberdingk Thijm
e-mail: th...@bcmc.nl

Siegfried Rambaum

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Dec 14, 1996, 3:00:00 AM12/14/96
to Paul

On Sat, 14 Dec 1996, Paul wrote:

> Can anyone give me an idea of what a 'Rittmeister' does/did - it might have
> been a Cavalry rank during the first world war, but I'm not sure. Any
> suggestions gratefully received.

It is equivalent to a captain's rank in the Cavalry


Christian Ziehe

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Dec 14, 1996, 3:00:00 AM12/14/96
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Rittmeister was a rank in the german army before 1918.
This rank was held in the cavalary but also in the flying services,
because the first german aiforce officers were formerly cavalary members.
Christian


Felix G. Game

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Dec 15, 1996, 3:00:00 AM12/15/96
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Rittmeister = Captain in a horse-mounted unit (Ulahnen, Husaren)

--
Felix G. Game
Genealogy & Translation
Professional Services
Austria & Hungary

Jacob K. Olsen

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Dec 15, 1996, 3:00:00 AM12/15/96
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Rittmester is still used in Norway, too.

JKO

hagen...@aol.com

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Dec 15, 1996, 3:00:00 AM12/15/96
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All answer can only be ok, however I am not familiar with what an army
captain is.
It comes from ritt or reit = ride and Meister is Master in sence of
mastership.
He led even in early times an esquadron (Eskadron) and is an equivalent to
a "Hauptmann" who leads a "company" (100 soldiers +-20).

Helmut H. Agena // Ohlendiekskamp 68 // D 22 399 Hamburg // Germany
Researching genealogy of AGENA / AGEN from Ostfriesland and writing a book
about them . GEDCOM hold 1500 entries of Agena, Agen, Aggen and relatives.
HAgen...@aol.com or Helmut...@t-online.de Voice international: *49
40 606 71110
Voice national : 040 606 71110

W. Fred Rump

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Dec 16, 1996, 3:00:00 AM12/16/96
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hagen...@aol.com wrote:

>All answer can only be ok, however I am not familiar with what an army
>captain is.
>It comes from ritt or reit = ride and Meister is Master in sence of
>mastership.
>He led even in early times an esquadron (Eskadron) and is an equivalent to
>a "Hauptmann" who leads a "company" (100 soldiers +-20).

A captain = Hauptmann
but aside from that there were differences. Today being a captain is
not that big of a deal but in the times of the cavalry when they still
had horses and not tanks, being a Rittmeister was quite a little
title. Many a Prinz or Graf did not get past Rittmeister as they did
not ssstay in the service their whole lives but proudly retained the
title Rittmeister Graf von soundso. As an example I offer Rittmeister
Alexander Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein Graf von Hachenburg. He started
as 2.Leutenant in 1865, He became a Rittmeister in 1876 and retired in
1883 to live as Rittmeister a.D. (ausser Dienst) auf Schloss
Hachenburg, Hessen-Nassau. There are many such examples of noble
families who seemed to value titles from Rittmesiter up their whole
lives.

Fred
W. Fred Rump fr...@k2nesoft.com
26 Warren St. fr...@compu.com
Beverly, NJ
609-386-6846 http://www.k2nesoft.com/~fred

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