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On 25 March 2023, the Dragoon Regiment of Ostrach hosted the Spring Meeting of the South-West German Association. The meeting served to get to know the individual units better, to exchange information between the groups, to announce upcoming dates and to foster camaraderie.

Commander Reiner Nusser was able to welcome groups from all over Baden Württemberg to the local history museum – including delegations from Stuttgart, Reutlingen, Wolfach, Sipplingen, Tuttlingen, Sigmaringen, Bad Saulgau and Weingarten.

The participants learned from the director of the local history museum, Gerhard Fetscher, about the special features of the three-country community of Ostrach as well as the circumstances surrounding the Battle of Ostrach in 1799. The museum received a lot of praise and recognition for the detailed exhibition and one or the other already announced another visit.

Afterwards, the participants were taken by the citizens’ bus to the Buchbühl memorial, where they were welcomed with three gun salutes from the dragoon cannon. Regimental historian Bernhard Ummenhofer explained the construction and significance of the monument. It was erected in 1903 by the Ostrach Veterans’ Association to commemorate the many who died in the battle of Ostrach.

The day came to a successful conclusion at the Landhotel Hirsch, where the Ostrach Dragoons received much praise for the organisation and implementation of the spring meeting from UEHMG Liaison Officer Bruno Herunter, Commander Toni Rädle, Hohenzollern Cuirassiers Sigmaringen, and Captain Jerg J. Werner, Stadtgarde zu Pferd Stuttgart, among others. On behalf of the Dragoon Regiment, Commander Reiner Nusser thanked all participants for coming, Gerhard Fetscher for the guided tour of the local history museum, the citizens´bus team for the transport and Petra Megerle for taking photos during the day.

Just before Christmas, the now traditional end of the year took place, with a virtual toast in uniform to Christmas and the upcoming New Year.

The executive committee of the UEHMG wishes all comrades and friends a healthy and happy New Year!

Traditionally, the Saint Sylvester´s cannon of the “Badische Böllerschützen Nußdorf” took place on 31.12.2022.

More than 300 spectators watched the cannons being loaded and fired in Überlingen Altbirnau. The cannoneers of the Dragoon Regiment Ostrach 1799 e.V. Matthias and Michael Kunze as well as Uli Schuler took part with the muzzle-loading cannon, calibre 95 millimetres.

On Sunday, 13.11.2022, the nationwide day of remembrance for the victims of violence, terror and war took place in Ostrach. The Dragoon Regiment No.11 zu Ostrach 1799 e.V. also took part.

Originally, the Remembrance Day was introduced by the “Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge” (German War Graves Commission) to commemorate the many millions of victims of the First World War. Especially in the current time, the day is not only a day of mourning, but also a sign for peace and reconciliation, especially for the victims of the terrible war in Ukraine.

The flag delegations of the associations and comradeships solemnly entered the church in Ostrach. The churchgoers, associations and comradeships then marched to the Ostrach cemetery with musical accompaniment.

The official commemoration ceremony then took place at the war memorial. Texts and poems were recited by pupils and Mayor Christoph Schulz gave a speech. While the music band played the song “vom guten Kameraden” (of the good comrade), the gunners of our dragoon regiment fired three salutes.

The subsequent lunch was a nice conclusion for all participants.

On Sunday, 13 November 2022, the traditional memorial mass for the fallen of the two World Wars took place in the Prandtauer Church in St. Pölten at the invitation of the church rector DDr. Knittel.

After two years of interruption due to corona, delegations of the Kameradschaftsbund, the Hesser Garde and the Radetzky-Orden followed the invitation. The UEHMG was represented by its President Major General iTR Michael Blaha, MSc, and the Deputy President Lieutenant Colonel iTR Michael Joannidis.

After a short prayer service and a salute at the Hesser Monument, the delegations marched together into the church, where the fallen and missing of the World Wars were commemorated in a dignified manner, but also the victims of the current war on the border of Europe.

Afterwards, the rector of the church, DDr. Knittel, invited the participants to the sacristy for a communal ending. A big “Thank you” for this event, which we hope will be attended more by the traditional delegations in the future.

On Sunday, October 23, 2022, a memorial event for the Blessed Emperor Karl I. took place in the palace garden of Laxenburg near Vienna on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death.

The President of the Cavalry Association, Colonel of Cavalry Franz Prandstätter, had the honour to welcome HIRH Eilika von Habsburg as representative of her husband HIRH Georg von Habsburg, as well as the President of the UEHMG, Major General iTR Michael Blaha, MSc, and the Adjutant General, Major General iTR Peter Pritz.

Many delegations accepted the invitation and were able to watch the dragoons and infantrymen in impressive drill demonstrations, which ended with a general de charge and a defile.

Afterwards, a field service commemorated the Blessed Emperor Karl I., whose official day of remembrance falls on October 21. This touching part of the event ended with a blessing of the horses.

Last but not least, the participants had the opportunity to enjoy food and drinks in the best imperial weather and to exchange ideas in a friendly atmosphere before the successful event came to an end. Below are many impressions provided by the Cavalry Association.

We all looked forward with great anticipation to the General Rapport 2022 in Schwaz in Tyrol. It was already clear during the preparations that a committed and professional team was at work here and that Schwaz itself is a good place for the preservation of tradition.

A large number of comrades had already arrived on Thursday to get in the mood for the next few days over a convivial dinner. It hardly needs to be mentioned that this first evening in companionable surroundings already turned out to be a long one.

On Friday, a wreath-laying ceremony took place at St. Martin’s Cemetery, where a commemorative plaque for the deceased of the 1st World War was presented. With great attention to detail, research had been done on all the persons mentioned and an exact assignment of origin, dates of life and religion had been made. The weather was also mild and the morning rain had even given way to sunshine. With humorous words from the pastor, dignified musical accompaniment and a large number of participants, this commemoration of the dead was a truly respectful start to the General Rapport.

This was continued with its large meeting in the rooms of the Franciscan monastery. As the reports were mostly very brief due to the limited possibilities of the previous year, the meeting could be held in just under three hours. The new admission of the Dragoon Regiment No.11 Maximilian Graf Baillet de Latour zu Ostrach 1799 and the Bürgerwehr Wolfach 1827 should be emphasised. For the accompanying persons, a guided tour of the beautiful little town of Schwaz took place during the meeting.

In the evening – and this is always a matter of concern to us at the UEHMG – a joint dinner for all participants was on the agenda. Almost 100 uniformed members and their accompanying persons took part and enjoyed the camaraderie. This exchange continued in small groups in various pubs until the early hours of the morning – understandable, since we had not met on such a large scale since last year.

On Saturday morning there was the opportunity to visit the Schwaz mine and Freundsberg Castle – both interesting sites with a lot of history and significance for the region. In the afternoon, the actual ceremony took place on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the k.u.k. Tiroler Kaiserjäger Schwaz, 1st Regiment, which was held entirely in the Franciscan Church due to the weather conditions. A dignified mass introduced the ceremony, followed by honourable speeches, a ramble through history and, last but not least, the handing over of command and some well-deserved honours.

The event ended with good food and drink in the inner courtyard of the monastery, although due to the temperatures, the already tried and tested localities nearby were quickly sought out again. It goes without saying that the General Rapport and the anniversary event of the Kaiserjäger ended on a convivial note until midnight.

On behalf of the UEHMG we thank all participants for their presence, the organiser for the truly excellent organisation and sincerely congratulate on the 100th anniversary.

For the first time we scheduled the traditional Imperial Ball in September – in the hope that Corona would not throw a spanner in the works again. At the beginning of summer, with the summer wave of the pandemic, we were still worried that it might not turn out after all. But the number 13 has brought us luck, even if it is said otherwise, and we were able to hold the 13th Imperial Ball like in the good old days.

But the preparations were more challenging than usual. Before the summer, many people do not want to plan a visit to an event and advance sales were quite slow at the beginning. We were all the more pleased that the historic town hall in Korneuburg was sold out again and that a wonderful event with many highlights could take place.

Among the many guests of honour, HIRH Gloria von Habsburg must be mentioned first and foremost. The great-granddaughter of Emperor Karl I, to whom the Imperial Ball is dedicated, signed the Golden Book of the City of Korneuburg in the early evening at a champagne reception in the City Hall. With this invitation, Mayor Christian Gepp, MSc, continued a tradition that is an honour for us year after year.

It is not possible to list the many representatives of the traditional regiments here, but we are happy to let the numerous pictures on the website of the Imperial Ball speak for themselves. In any case, we are very pleased that the ball of the traditional regiments – organised and hosted by Infantry Regiment 49 and Dragoon Regiment 2 together with the UEHMG – is so well received by the uniformed traditional environment.

One of the first highlights was already the dance opening by a top couple of HSV Wien. Dancing at this high level is a joy to behold and obviously encouraged the ball guests in the further. The soprano Jowita Sip enchanted the audience throughout the hall with her voice as part of her artistic interlude. She deliberately underlined the internationality of the UEHMG with a selection of songs in different languages. And of course, the ball guests did not let her go without an encore, which, in addition, musically made everyone dream.

As a novelty, the „Club Charles“ was presented for the first time this year – a discotheque powered by Radio Arabella. Cult hits from the past and present for all generations were played and those who did not want to dance visited the premises out of curiosity and for the sake of the good bar. We would like to keep this programme item in the future.

As every year, we also put together 13 main prizes for the tombola at the 13th Imperial Ball. High-quality gifts from supporters of the ball were handed over to surprised and delighted ball guests, above all VIP tickets for a boxing event with multiple Austrian champion Marcel Meinl, who also personally handed over the ball gifts at the beginning.

The catering was once again provided by our k.u.k. Court kitchen with à la carte specialities. Those who also wanted to enjoy a good glass of wine could take a break at the Habsburg Wine Bar with wines from the vineyard of Maximilian von Habsburg or retire to the smokers‘ lounge in the entrance area.

With the midnight quadrille and midnight snack, the official part of the ball ended, and for the organisers and many guests the communal entertainment really began. The hard core, of course, lasted until the taps at 4 am. All guests enjoyed a few hours of light-heartedness and regardless of whether it will be, February or September, one thing is certain: the 14th Imperial Ball will take place in 2023!

> Click here for impressions of the 13th Imperial Ball