Imperial German Konigs-Ulanen Regiment 13 Enlisted Parade Ulanka Hannover Prussia

Presented here is an Imperial German enlisted man's Ulanka (the parade tunic of a Uhlan, or lancer, of the German cavalry) of the Königs-Ulanen-Regiment (1. Hannoversches) Nr. 13 (King's Uhlan Regiment, 1st Hanoverian, No. 13), the King's Uhlans garrisoned at Hannover. The regiment is confirmed by the crowned cipher "WR II" (Wilhelmus Rex II, for Kaiser Wilhelm II) carried on the epaulette crescents, the "highest" name-cipher of the regiment's chief, worn with the white facings and white-metal buttons that are the regiment's established scheme. The tunic is of private-purchase quality, as commonly obtained by one-year volunteers and longer-serving enlisted men who could afford a finer garment than the issue pattern.

The Ulanka takes its distinctive form from the Polish national dress on which the entire Uhlan branch was modeled, and is unmistakable among German cavalry tunics: a short, waisted jacket closing in a double-breasted plastron front that could be buttoned across to display either a colored Rabatte (plastron facing) or, as worn here, the plain blue field. The body is dark blue wool broadcloth cut with a high standing collar, deep pointed Polish cuffs, and a short skirt with an ornamented, piped rear vent. The collar, cuffs, and piping are executed in white, the Abzeichenfarbe (facing color) of the regiment, and the tunic is set throughout with domed white-metal (nickel) ball buttons, two rows down the plastron front and further buttons dressing the cuffs and the scalloped rear skirt ornament. The rear of the tunic carries the characteristic piped "Polish" seams sweeping from shoulder to skirt. The interior is lined in black and fitted with an internal waist-adjustment strap and buckle. On each shoulder is mounted a scaled metal epaulette with a rounded scale-edged strap and a convex silvered crescent (Halbmond), the crescent bearing the gilt crowned "WR II" cipher beneath a Prussian royal crown; these are the metal parade epaulettes of the enlisted man, secured through the shoulder by a ball button and retaining strap.

The regiment carries one of the more pointed histories in the Imperial cavalry, bound up with the Prussian absorption of the Kingdom of Hanover. It was formed by cabinet order of 27 September 1866, raised in the immediate aftermath of Prussia's annexation of Hanover following the Austro-Prussian conflict of that year, and garrisoned in the former Hanoverian capital. To bring the new regiment into being the Guard cavalry was made to give up its own men: the Regiment der Gardes du Corps and the first three Guard Uhlan regiments each surrendered an Eskadron, so that the new Hanoverian lancers were built from Guard squadrons and carried that elite descent from their first day. In 1867 the regiment received the designation 1st Hanoverian Uhlan Regiment No. 13, and on 13 September 1889 Kaiser Wilhelm II, as King of Prussia, appointed himself its chief (Regimentschef) and conferred the final title Königs-Ulanen-Regiment, the source of the "WR II" cipher on these epaulettes.

Around 1890 Wilhelm II went further and granted the regiment the exclusive privilege of performing the old presentation and parade marches of the former Hanoverian Garde du Corps on special occasions. This was a deliberate act of dynastic statecraft. Hanover had been an independent kingdom, ruled by a branch of the House of Welf and tied for over a century to the British crown, until it backed Austria in 1866, was defeated, and was annexed outright, its king dispossessed and its army dissolved. By reviving the ceremonial traditions of the vanished Hanoverian Guard within a Prussian regiment bearing his own cipher, the Kaiser bound the memory of the old kingdom to the new order and to himself personally, an expression of his belief, voiced repeatedly to his officers, that tradition was the surest support of the monarchical state. The King's Uhlans thus wore a uniform that carried both Guard blood and the layered memory of a conquered kingdom refashioned into loyal Prussian service. Although a Prussian regiment, its ranks were permitted to carry forward the older Hanoverian battle honors won alongside Wellington in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo. Before the First World War the regiment formed part of the X Army Corps; it served as a mounted regiment throughout that war and was disbanded in 1919, its tradition afterward carried by a squadron of the Weimar-era 13th (Prussian) Cavalry Regiment.

Condition is very good and notably fresh. The dark blue wool is sound, clean, and bright with even color and only minor handling wear, holding its shape and tailoring crisply. The white collar, cuffs, and piping are clean and intact, the white-metal buttons and the silvered epaulette crescents are bright and complete with the gilt "WR II" ciphers sharp and legible, and the interior lining and waist strap are present and sound. There is no significant moth damage with the exception of one small hoke on the back of the ulanka, staining, or loss. Given the overall freshness of the wool and metal, a buyer is encouraged to examine the tunic in hand and satisfy themselves as to period manufacture, as is only prudent with any bright and exceptionally well-preserved uniform of this class.

For the collector, the Ulanka is among the most visually distinctive of all Imperial German tunics, and enlisted parade examples retaining their metal scale epaulettes are considerably scarcer than the plainer field blouses. As a tunic of the King's Uhlans of Hanover, a regiment uniting Guard descent, the personal chiefship of the Kaiser, and the absorbed traditions of a former kingdom, this piece holds strong appeal for the Prussian cavalry collector, the Hanover-focused collector, and anyone assembling Uhlan parade dress. It is a handsome and complete enlisted Uhlan parade Ulanka in the white-faced Prussian pattern, confirmed to one of the most storied lancer regiments of the Kaiserreich.