Request for advice on finding biographical info on members of SS-Kavallerie regiments

[RichardA]

Thanks. That's great. These two Böttchers are new to me. This could be very helpful.

Here are a couple of 'H. Böttcher' officers:

SS-Ustuf. Herbert Böttcher
born in Gunsdorf on 5.6.1913.
SS Nr.: 8.134.

SS-Ostuf. Herbert Böttcher
born in Stettin on 29.10.1903.
SS Nr.: 459.

Stuart.

[RichardA]

Thank you. Yes, that's definitely the right Scharfetter, although the German newspapers of the day seem to have been fairly random about their spellings. Also, that would make sense as the right Oskar Lengnick, as the age is about right and he was previously SS-Understurmführer. Is there any way of inferring anything from the SS-number about what he regiment he was in?

This forum is brilliant, by the way...

Oskar Lengnick, no birth place unfortunately, so we don't know if this one was from East Prussia.
Born 21 June 1913, SS-number 153357, SS-Obersturmführer from 30 January 1939.
Not too reliable source, but worth further checking.
http://www.dws-xip.pl/reich/biografie/n ... er153.html


That might not be correct, but according to this article Scharfetter (note only one f) was SS-Oberscharführer when he won an opening race in Zakopane/Poland in December 1938.

28.Dec.1938.jpg

And fragment of his photo from NAC. Zakopane, Dec. 1938

PIC_1-M-1062-1.jpg

[GregSingh]

Out of curiosity, any idea where stables (Stall Georgen) which provided horses for German team at that event in Zakopane were located?
Could it be in Georgenburg near Insterburg in East Prussia? You mentioned Insterburg in your initial post.

These stables were massive, up to 500 horses. Buildings were still standing 20 years ago, I saw some photos from 1998.

[RichardA]

Out of curiosity, any idea where stables (Stall Georgen) which provided horses for German team at that event in Zakopane were located?
Could it be in Georgenburg near Insterburg in East Prussia? You mentioned Insterburg in your initial post.

These stables were massive, up to 500 horses. Buildings were still standing 20 years ago, I saw some photos from 1998.

That’s a good question, to which I don’t currently know the answer. But I think Stall Georgen and Georgenburg (now Mayovka) were almost certainly the same place.

My understanding is that Oskar Lengnick bred his most famous horse (Herold) at Neu-Lappönen (now Osjornoje), which is about 40 miles north-west of Wandlacken and 50 miles west of Georgenburg/Mayovka.

Generally, though, he is associated with Insterburg (now Chernyakhovsk) and with the stud at Trakehnen (Yasnaya Polyana), which is about 30 miles west. The same is true of Curt Scharfetter and Hans Schmidt.

“H. Böttcher” was associated with Niederung (not actually in East Prussia but on the Baltic coast)

A lot of the horses these men rode are said to have come from Trakehnen (“the city of horses”), and most of them are described as Trakehner horses. But I don’t know how literally this is meant in geographical terms – ie, did they come from the city, or just somewhere nearby?

As you say, though, Mayovka/Georgenburg is very close to Insterburg/Chernyakhovsk, and I’d be amazed if Stall Georgen was a different place. There certainly were huge stables where the Trakehner horses were kept, with many of them being plundered at the end of the war, I'm told.

It would be a lot easier to work this out if they could limit themselves to one place-name per place!