Hello
My name is Sebastian Nelson and I recently came across a photograph in an old family photo album. This is my first post to this forum, and I apologize that this post isn't about an actual relic, but rather an old photo. There seem to be so many knowledgeable and helpful people on this forum that I thought maybe somebody could help me.
The album belonged to a relative from my mother's family (the family originally came from Germany). Unfortunately I am ignorant of German uniforms...I'm not sure if he is wearing a military uniform, a police uniform, the uniform of a fraternal organization or perhaps he was just a bellboy in a hotel! I'm not sure if the photo dates from the nineteenth century or the twentieth century. I'm not even sure what German state this man was from (according to the stamp at the bottom of the image, the photographer's studio appears to have been located in Bavaria).
A good friend who studies German military history tells me that the man in the photo might be wearing a 1888-1895 model "waffenrock." Unfortunately I couldn't see any insignia visible that might help identify the uniform. The only detail I could notice was that two pieces of his collar appear to be of two different colors. At first I could only view a black and white photocopy of the image, so I wasn't sure about this. This weekend I was able to view the original photo in person, and in spite of the sepia tone it does appear to be two colors. I tried to scan the image using one of those hand held scanners, but unfortunately the results left something to be desired.
Can anyone help me try to identify this uniform? Is anyone familiar with German uniforms with two-color collars? I'll try to attach both images to this message (the photocopy and the poor-quality scan).
Many thanks!
-Sebastian Nelson
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