Ralph J. Whitehead Posted 21 March , 2005 Share Posted 21 March , 2005 Hello Everyone, A friend at work discovered my interest in WWI and asked if I could help them solve a mystery. It seems that he had a relative who was killed in the war, either 1915 or 1916 according to family stories. He was in the German army, from Bavaria. He served in a Bavarian infantry regiment but they have no idea which one. They do know that his last name was Rothärmel. Unfortunately this is all we have. I have checked the German War Graves site and a number of Casualty lists I have without success. The family was Catholic and there is a good chance that a Sterbebild (death card) was printed by the family so if anyone ever comes across this name in their searches for these cards on ebay or elsewhere I would appreciate hearing about it, thanks. Ralph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Hederer Posted 22 March , 2005 Share Posted 22 March , 2005 Ralph, They could try the Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt)" WASt They have mostly records from WWII, but some from WWI. It can take a long time for them to reply, but if they happen to have his service record, then it's worth the wait. They could also try and contact someone with connections to the archives in Munich. I would suspect this is their best avenue of approach. I have a similiar case in that some friends of mine have a great-grandfather who was killed at Verdun (or so the family history goes). But there is no record of his grave, or date of death in any of the records, which makes it hard. These are hard cases. If you have any one scrap to work on then things can come together. My wife's uncle was killed in WWII, and just from his name I was able to do enough research to figure out where he was buried, when he was killed, and what unit he was serving in. Good luck, Ralph! Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 22 March , 2005 Share Posted 22 March , 2005 Ralph, The Krankenbuchlager might also give some info. Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted 23 March , 2005 Share Posted 23 March , 2005 Hi Ralph, And why not try this? Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Kriegsarchiv Postfach 22 11 52 80501 MÜNCHEN DEUTSCHLAND A friend of mine who was looking for the military career and circumstances of the death of a Bavarian soldier, found there what he was looking for. He didn't even have to go to Münich and received all the information he wanted by the mail! Best regards and best of luck, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph J. Whitehead Posted 23 March , 2005 Author Share Posted 23 March , 2005 Thanks for the recommendations everyone. I have sent an inquiry to the archives and I am awaiting a response. I will try the other suggestions as well and see what I get, thanks again. Ralph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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