Günter Dirrheimer

Following in the footsteps of the author's book on the Austrian army during the Biedermeier period, he has chosen to examine the uniforms of another peace-time army, the Imperial and Royal army of 1895. Based on a set of paintings made by a former officer turned struggling painter from photographs, it again shows the Austrian army's frivolous love to create complex and distinct uniforms for minor branches and services. In one case, a distinct uniform existed for a single officer occupying that job,. While the vast majority of infantry are covered in two plates (for German and Hungarian infantry), these two plates do not do justice to the complexity of the Austrian uniform. The different German and Hungarian regiments distinguished themselves by two sets of buttons (yellow, white) and no fewer than 28 lapel colors. I love the display of these color combinations in the Viennese Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, showing the doomed absurdity of Kakanien at its finest. The army that went to war in 1914 quickly learned that gaudy colors were no longer appropriate on the battlefield.… (altro)

A wonderful, commented reprint of uniform plates about the post-Napoleonic Austrian army of 1823. A peculiarity of the Austrian army was its regional specialization: Hungary and Galicia (Poland/Ukraine) supplied cavalry, German Austria and Bohemia artillery, the mountain and border regions of Tyrole and the Balkans Jäger and Grenzer. The Italians staffed the navy. As a post-Napoleonic army, this is still a very colorful collection of units with every kind of specialist in a unique uniform (often further split into German and Hungarian variants). Even the bakers received their own proper uniform as did the Danube river shipping troops. The time fame is just a bit too early for the appearance of railroad engineers.… (altro)