What is it all about?
Welcome to the pages of the (Westphalian-)Prussian Hussar. Let us start with a few words about the topics covered in the articles and videos on these pages. In order to keep it clear, a short list follows here, before the explanations follow below. Let’s start with the individual points:
Commemorating
Commemorating the war and the fallen is my greatest concern, so that this remains in memory. Because: War belongs in a museum! It has no place anywhere else. Even if it is a noble thought, it should be the most important thing for us to do everything we can to realise and accept it. My main focus is on the cavalry in particular, as it underwent an incredible upheaval between 1910 and 1920. I am also concentrating as much as possible on the forgotten units of the Imperial Army in order to keep their memory alive. The Hussar Regiment “Emperor Nicholas II of Russia” (1st Westphalian) No. 8 and the associated Westphalian Army Corps VII form the framework for this. You can find out why this regiment and army corps were chosen on the “About me” page.
Reconstruction(s)
To keep the memory alive, I rely on reconstructions alongside originals. This makes history tangible. In order to be as close as possible to the originals with the reconstructions, no effort is too great for me. As a rule, we use originals as models in order to be able to produce appropriate reconstructions. In some cases, I use original parts to complete the reconstructions if they are available and functional. I manufacture the majority of items ourselves. Only in exceptional cases are expert craftsmen called in for production. I take particular care to ensure that these items meet the highest quality standards. I source the materials almost exclusively from German/German-speaking manufacturers and producers. If there are no manufacturers in German-speaking countries, I fall back on other European countries. This enables me to reliably test the uniforms and equipment for their respective functions and practicality and to share our experiences with the public. In this way, I want to play my part in the culture of remembrance, which leads us to the next point:
Culture of Remembrance
The concept of remembrance culture originates from historical studies and basically describes how a society remembers events, how these memories change and are constantly renegotiated. The media play a major role in this:
- Books, i.e. (autobiographical) novels and historical research literature
- memoirs
- Films of all kinds (propaganda, entertainment, new and old)
- Documentaries, good, bad and false
- photographs
- Art/artistic processing
- Articles in magazines
- Museums
- Digital media
- Social media
Obviously, I am myself part of this culture of remembrance in several aspects. I use my historical background knowledge to gradually analyse, critically classify and comment on the various components. In this way, I also want to determine the influence of the various works on the image today so that I can better explain this to those interested. Of course, various museum visits are also on the agenda. I am currently focussing on the early media in order to be able to interpret the background.
Background
By background I mean various historical events which, unlike the reconstructions or pieces of equipment, do not relate to objects. This section is also not about works of remembrance culture, but we move between the two categories here. In other words, this section takes a closer look at the background to incidents, developments, events, techniques and other things. A wider range of topics can therefore be expected here, drawn from the various sub-disciplines of the historical sciences. The next section will be more experimental:
Historical Horsemanship (and Riding)
Historical riding is again far more practically orientated. This is primarily about learning how to ride a lance, the physical training of cavalrymen, horse training and trail riding in period equipment and uniform. The trail riding should take place on a number of traditional paths. These projects are correspondingly complex, as they require a lot more research, preparation, training and expertise than the other categories. In other words, the previous categories are brought together here and tested in practice in order to draw the right conclusions. At least to the extent possible. In this way, the sources and reports can be re-read and re-evaluated and the achievements, if not the hardships, of our ancestors can be presented in a new light. All of this is strictly based on the sources, or is clearly source-based, which brings us to the last point:
Sources
Everything here is based on historical sources, and accessibility to these is extremely important to us. So I have set up an archive here. It contains photographs and visual sources on the one hand, and written sources on the other. These come from my private collections, which I am slowly but steadily expanding. Of course, I also have to digitise them and upload them here, which means a lot of work alongside my other projects, so it can always take a while before there is an update. So it’s always worth coming back here.
Closing words
If you have any questions, criticism or suggestions, please feel free to contact me at any time. Otherwise we wish you an insightful time on our pages and happy discovering. If you want to stay in this Category you can keep reading:
