Featured Stein

~ A Double-Unit Artillery Regimental ~
by SCI Master Steinologist Walter B. Vogdes

Field Artillery Regt. "von Holtzendorff" (1. Rheinish) Nr. 8 Saarlouis 1898-99,
and Lehr Regt. Field Artillery Gunnery School Jüterbog 1899-1900

Kannondonner ist unser Gruss...Cannon thunder is our greeting.

Double-unit regimental steins are very scarce and uncommon. In 1898 Josef Becker began his service in the Imperial Army as a member of the 7th Battery of the Field Artillery Regiment "von. Holzendorff" (1st Rhenish) Nr. 8 garrisoned in Saarlouis. Becker must have distinguished himself because for his second year of service he was selected for assignment to the Field Artillery Gunnery School as a member of the 4th Instructional Battery of the Field Artillery Schiessschule in Jüterbog. Becker would have placed the order for this stein while serving in Jüterbog, before leaving his active military career for the Landsturm, or reserves. The absence of a roster on this stein is quite natural. Normal practice would be to list all the members of Becker's original regiment. These lists were printed and applied as transfers, and undoubtedly many of the members of Becker's original regiment in Saarlouis had such transfers applied to their steins. Therein lies the rub - Becker, near Berlin, was miles away from the transfers which were prepared for his original unit in Saarlouis, near the western border between Germany and France.

The pottery stein, marked on the base and manufactured by Merkelbach & Wick, shows three scenes (see below): four gunners engaged in a crew drill, a horse-drawn gun and limber going up an incline, and a mounted artilleryman with raised sword. The lid includes two artillerymen manning their cannon, and a crowned and spread-winged eagle thumblift.


Zum Andenken a. m. Dienstzeit 7. Battr. Feld Artl. Regt. v. Holzend. (1. Rhein.) No. 8. Saarlouis 1898-99. Donner, Hagel, Tod und Blitz, Alles kommt aus dem Geschütz.	Josef Becker Das allerstärckste Kriegesheer, kann ohne uns nichts machen, Die Siegesgöttin lacht nicht eher, bis die Kanonen krachen!	Zur Zeit b. d. 4. Lehr Battr. Feld Artl. Schiessschule Jüterbog 1899-1900 Sieg oder Tod!
In memory of my service years 7th Batt. Field Artl. Regt. v. Holzend. (1. Rhein.) No. 8. Saarlouis 1898-99. Thunder, Hail, Death, Lightning, All comes from our guns.	Josef Becker The strongest of all armies, Can do nothing without us, The Goddess of Victory smiles When the cannons roar!	To the time with the 4th Instr. Batt. Field Artl. Shooting School Jüterbog 1899-1900 Victory or Death!

In a curious coincidence the stein of one of Becker's battery-mates in the Shooting School in Jüterbog is shown in Maj. John Harrell's book "Regimental Steins" (figure 253). The steins are identical except for the dedication, and the fact that the owner of that one spent his first year of service with the 1st Thuringian Field Artillery Regiment No. 19. That stein was also fitted with a music box in the hollow base, although this stein never had one.

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