Garrison Bamberg, circa 1937. Very fine ensemble consisting of visor cap, dress tunic, trousers, and dress sash. The visor cap is a typical production by the firm PeKüro for a Bamberg uniform shop, the cap in high elegant saddle form, manufactured from field-gray cloth in fine officer quality. Complete with national eagle, traditional death's head, oak leaf wreath, and cockade in silver-plated non-ferrous metal, Waffenfarbe (branch color) golden yellow. Interior with light brown sweatband with black velvet edge, side stamped “Deutsches Leder”, light silk lining, under the celluloid visor with silver-embossed designation “Georg Pickel Bamberg Stirndruckfrei Deutsches Reichspatent”, with handwritten owner label “F.Filser 5.M.G.Sch. K. Regiment 17 Bamberg.”, size 57.
Wehrmacht dress tunic as Rittmeister in Cavalry Regiment No. 17. Elegant privately-purchased piece, cloth in fine officer quality, complete with all insignia. Bullion hand-embroidered breast eagle on dark green, hand-sewn. The collar patches and sleeve patches in bullion hand-embroidered execution, machine-sewn. The sewn-in shoulder boards with applied traditional death's heads in officer quality, high-domed and silver-plated (not “normal” death's heads for Panzer collar patches!), Waffenfarbe golden yellow. On the breast loops for a ribbon bar and for three pin-on badges: Iron Cross 1st Class, German Rider's Badge, and General Assault Badge. Interior with dark green silk lining, rear with woven tailor's label “Nikolaus Farroth - Eduard Sachs Nachf. Frankfurt a.M. Kaiserstrasse 40”. Complete with dress aiguillette, the braid of aluminum thread. Additionally the matching stone-gray long trousers of gabardine, with golden yellow piping on the sides. Furthermore a pair of stone-gray suede gloves for officers as well as a dress sash for officers.
The entire uniform is only lightly worn with slight signs of age, all insignia still originally sewn, in untouched original condition. Complete with an Obermayer mannequin, fully dressed for a collection or museum exhibition.

Extremely rare, in this completeness with provenance documentation certainly unique!

In 1936 the 17th Cavalry Regiment was renamed Cavalry Regiment No. 17, whereby the 5th Squadron was reorganized as the machine gun squadron, commander was Rittmeister Filser. In 1937 the regiment received its standard in Munich on Königsplatz. The regiment continued the tradition of the 1st and 2nd Life Hussar Regiments and wore as tradition insignia the death's head of the Life Hussars: worn in the Reichswehr by 1st and 2nd Squadrons; in the Wehrmacht by the regimental staff, Staff I. Abteilung 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 11th Squadrons; from 1943/44 the entire regiment.

In 1939 the regiment was dissolved, the troops divided among the Divisional Reconnaissance Battalion 12, the Divisional Reconnaissance Battalion 32, the Divisional Reconnaissance Battalion 175, and the Cavalry Replacement Battalion 5.

The newly established Cavalry Regiment 5 in 1944 received by order of June 3, 1944 again the traditional name Cavalry Regiment 5 “Field Marshal von Mackensen”. It simultaneously received the tradition of the two Life Hussar Regiments No. 1 and 2 of the old army.

By order of December 29, 1944, the special unit “Cavalry Regiment 5 'Field Marshal von Mackensen'” received the death's head of the Life Hussars on shoulder boards and headgear. The death's head was to be worn as follows:

On the visor cap and field cap stamped from white metal, between national insignia and oak leaf wreath, or cockade.
On the center of shoulder boards, for officers in yellow metal, for NCOs and enlisted men embroidered in golden yellow, and for Portepee officers in white metal.

The regiment was authorized on December 4, 1944 to wear a cuff title Feldmarschall von Mackensen and the saber. The remnants of the reconnaissance battalions were renamed divisional fusilier battalions after transfer of the cavalry squadrons. After fighting in Austria, the unit was dissolved in June 1945 near Aalen (Württemberg).

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Wehrmacht Complete Dress Uniform from the Estate of Rittmeister F. Filser, Commander of the 5th M.G. Squadron in Cavalry Regiment No. 17

This complete parade uniform of a Rittmeister (cavalry captain) in Kavallerie-Regiment Nr. 17 represents an exceptional testament to cavalry tradition in the early Wehrmacht. The ensemble, worn around 1937 in Bamberg, documents not only the military practice of this era but also the conscious cultivation of Prussian and Bavarian cavalry traditions in National Socialist Germany.

Reiter-Regiment 17 was established on 11 May 1920 in Military District VII as the only Bavarian cavalry regiment of the new Reichswehr. Thus it took over the tradition of all former cavalry regiments of the Royal Bavarian Army. With the expansion of the Reichswehr to Wehrmacht, the regiment underwent several renamings: on 1 October 1934 it was renamed Reiter-Regiment Bamberg, on 15 October 1935 Reiter-Regiment 17, and finally on 6 October 1936 Kavallerie-Regiment Nr. 17.

In 1936 the 5th Squadron was reorganized into a machine gun squadron (MG-Schwadron), commanded by Rittmeister Filser. The rank of Rittmeister is equivalent to a Hauptmann (captain) in other branches and typically designates the commander of a squadron, a company-sized unit. In 1937 the regiment received its standard at Königsplatz in Munich, a significant ceremony for any military unit.

Particularly noteworthy is the tradition skull (Traditions-Totenkopf) that marks this uniform. The regiment continued the tradition of the 1st and 2nd Leib-Husaren Regiments. These Leibhusaren-Regiments Nr. 1 and Nr. 2 had been garrisoned in Danzig-Langfuhr and wore black uniforms. Their distinctive feature was the skull on the fur cap. The use of the Totenkopf in Germany as a military emblem began under Frederick the Great, who formed a Hussar cavalry regiment in the Prussian army, Husaren-Regiment Nr. 5 (von Ruesch). It adopted a black uniform with a Totenkopf emblazoned on mirlitons. The Totenkopf remained part of the uniform when the regiment was reformed into Leib-Husaren Regiments Nr. 1 and Nr. 2 in 1808.

In Kavallerie-Regiment Nr. 17, the Leibhusaren skull was worn as a tradition badge: in the Reichswehr by the 1st and 2nd Squadron, in the Wehrmacht by the regimental staff, staff of the 1st Battalion, and the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 11th Squadrons. The skulls on this uniform are in officer execution, highly domed and silvered, and differ from the normal skulls for panzer collar patches.

The visor cap was manufactured by PeKüRo company for a Bamberg uniform shop; the cap maker was Georg Pickel, Bamberg. The parade tunic comes from the tailor Nikolaus Farroth – Eduard Sachs Nachf. in Frankfurt am Main, Kaiserstrasse 40. The Waffenfarbe (branch color) of gold-yellow identifies the wearer as belonging to the cavalry. The uniform shows loops for a ribbon bar and three pin-on badges: Iron Cross 1st Class, German Rider's Badge, and General Assault Badge.

The regiment played a significant role in the German resistance against the Nazi regime. The future Oberst Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was accepted into the regiment as an officer candidate in 1926. Regimental comrades in the resistance were Generalleutnant Karl Freiherr von Thüngen, Major Ludwig Freiherr von Leonrod, Oberst Rudolf Graf von Marogna-Redwitz, and Major Roland von Hößlin. In Bamberg Cathedral, a memorial plaque commemorates the five so-called “Bamberger Reiter,” former members of the regiment who gave their lives in the fight against the Nazi regime, including participants in the assassination attempt of 20 July 1944.

At mobilization of the Wehrmacht on 25 August 1939, the regiment was dissolved as planned and from it reconnaissance battalions were formed for infantry divisions of the 1st wave. The newly formed Kavallerie-Regiment 5 received by decree of 3 June 1944 the tradition name Kavallerie-Regiment 5 “Feldmarschall von Mackensen.” It simultaneously received the tradition of both Leib-Husaren Regiments Nr. 1 and 2 of the old army. By decree of 29 December 1944, the special unit “Kavallerie-Regiment 5 Feldmarschall von Mackensen” received the Leibhusaren skull on shoulder boards and headgear.

Production and issue of the Waffenrock was suspended in 1940, but it remained authorized for walking out for those who had or could purchase it. This complete parade uniform with documented wearer represents an impressive connection between Imperial military tradition and the Wehrmacht of the 1930s.