Foreword: The origin of the pictures collected in this collection is documented only in a few cases. Only the information given directly on the illustrations (or on their reverse side) provides clear clues. The preservation of the documents and their collection as such is generally based on the order for the establishment of a war archive. Among other things, it was regulated here that (in addition to the files of the War Ministry to be archived and the lists of officers to be archived) documents or other documents of permanent military or war-historical value were to be taken over by authorities, military units and private individuals. In order to make it easier for private individuals to make a decision, the possibility has been expressly provided for; to be able to add conditions to levies, such as reservations of ownership, restrictions on use, etc... (1) In addition, own surveys on the history of Württemberg's military history should also be carried out. Although these regulations did not secure the data on the origin of the documents, nor any formation of an individual stock, they did secure the pieces to be collected by the staff of the new Army Archives themselves. In general, it can be assumed that not only cards, but also illustrative materials of all kinds played a major role in military training. (2) It has been demonstrated, for example, that a large amount of photographic material was available at divisional level. Unfortunately, however, there is no evidence as to which of the individual formations and how many of such documents as a whole have been included in this inventory. Nor is it possible to tell which materials have been lost. Such evidence has not been established. What is certain, however, is that the collection had to be specially formed as a collection and that it had been compiled in its present form for the first time in the Army Archives (3). The fact that Hermann Pantlen, Major a.D. (22. 10. 1887 - 10. 04. 1968), the head of the archive since 1935, Dr. rer. pol. Hermann Pantlen, attached particular importance to the processing and expansion of collections played a major role in this. A measure which, after the reallocation of responsibilities and after extensive transfers of stocks, should also serve to close the gaps that have arisen a little. (4) For this task Helmut Steinhart, who had previously been experienced in the field of libraries and the handling of private image collections, was newly hired against reservations of the NSDAP (5). He developed the division into the various series, whose signature system (inventory - series - number) was retained in the various later revisions. In this way, all editorial and extension work on holdings M 703 will enable the relatively frequently cited individual originals to be retrieved without difficulty and without detours at any time. In 1970 Karl Hofer had reinstated the inventory according to this system after various relocation-related changes, but also pointed to an urgently needed reworking, which was not possible for him at that time. This work was only continued under Bernhard Theil, who mainly included the area of image collections in his current work as part of the training of archivists. Between 1986 and 1994, new title recordings were made on index cards, structured according to the specifications of Steinhart's series and numbering system. The participants were archive referees and candidates who completed their training at the Main State Archives between 1986 and 1994. To mention only a few names, the names Ehrmann, Kresin, Schad, Zaschka are mentioned here, whose basic considerations about indexing methods and structuring possibilities are documented in the index files. (6) Not to be left unmentioned shall be the patient attendance of the trainees by Mr. Merk, who was temporarily assigned to the military archives during this period. First title recordings followed in a system derived from the Midosa/Midetit program at that time. However, the weaknesses of this database, fixed in very narrow specifications, were evident. It was not even possible to fit the sometimes quite extensive text parts into the given entry mask, and even minimal basic requirements could not be taken into account for abbreviations in the display style. The officer initially entrusted with the dissolution of the Gutenbergstrasse branch and the integration of the previously separate organisational unit into Division 1 of the Main State Archives, started recording the title recordings again as soon as possible. Due to the frequent access to these documents, however, he preferred to record the title entries using a sufficiently powerful database system. It therefore continued the project by setting up a market database for this purpose. Taking into account the existing hardware capacities and the special requirements of the inventory, he restructured the recording so that, above all, there were no more IT-related obstacles or restrictions on the input options. At the same time, the highest possible detection speed was achieved. The archive employee Gerd Mantel was finally commissioned with the actual input. Like Steinhart in 1938, Gerd Mantel was particularly suited to this task due to his previously acquired skills and interests, and in particular took care of the accuracy of detailed descriptions and conservation requirements. Before the individual index cards were entered, the individual pieces were therefore subjected to a further check and the state of preservation recorded in an appropriate section, with damage having to be noted for more than a third of the images (8). The advantages of the stock-specific recording, which had resulted in a structure of its own, did not prevent the database, which had originally not been created according to the specifications of the current Midosa version, from being converted into a form that corresponds to the Internet presentation system of the Provincial Archives Directorate based on Midosa structures. In addition to the adjustment of the structure, columns and data fields also had to be merged and converted into the corresponding database format; a job which was carried out with great care by Mr. Obst, who was also responsible for the transfer of Internet-enabled databases (PHP, MySQL). In its present form, the holdings comprise 2470 units of description and are stored or, for the most part, repackaged in a total of 23 drawers of modern standard card cabinets. The database on which this finding aid is based will be supplemented or updated with new individual items. The undersigned was responsible for the final editing, indexing and structuring into individual points of structuring that were as small as possible. Dr. Franz Moegle-Hofacker Comments: (1) See War Minister von Marchtaler's order of 03 Jan 1907 and the preface to Repertorium M 1/11, Kriegsarchiv (2) See, for example, the holdings M 700/1 ff, negatives and slides which had been created for school purposes. (3) Cf. foreword to Repertorium M 400/1, Heeresarchiv Stuttgart (4) Cf. foreword to Repertorium M 400/1, page XIII. (5) Cf. personal file Helmut Steinhart, M 400/1, Bü 56. (6) Cf. note from 20. 08. 1970 in files for indexing M 703. (7) files for indexing M 703. (8) cf. damage reports for restoration of holdings of July 2002

1. biography: Karl Joseph Wilhelm Florestan Gero Crescentius Prince of Urach Count of Württemberg was born on 15 February 1865 in Ulm as the younger son of Wilhelm (I.) Duke of Urach and Florestine Duchess of Urach née Princess of Monaco (1); the prince attended the primary school and the Jesuit grammar school in Monaco (2) together with his older brother Wilhelm (II.) Duke of Urach. In 1877 he moved to the Jesuit educational institution of Our Lady Stella matutina in Feldkirch. After a further change of school in 1881, he graduated from the Karlsgymnasium in Stuttgart in 1883 and studied for two semesters at the University of Munich (3) from 1883 to 1884. There he attended lectures in metaphysics and history of Greek philosophy with the professor of philosophy and later Bavarian Prime Minister and German Chancellor Georg Graf von Hertling (1843-1919) as well as lectures in political science with the journalist and writer Professor Wilhelm Heinrich Riehl (1823-1897). 1883 he was appointed second lieutenant à la suite of the Ulan regiment King Karl (1st Württ.) No. 19 (4). In April 1886 Prince Karl entered the active service of this regiment, but had to leave the active service due to illness. In March 1887, the prince retired as an officer à la suite from the active service of the regiment. In the following years the prince was granted the usual promotions for a member of the House of Württemberg under the position à la suite of the regiment: in 1887 he was appointed prime lieutenant, in 1891 cavalry master, in 1899 cavalry major and in 1906 lieutenant colonel. From 1884, Karl Fürst von Urach travelled extensively (5): from 1884 to 1886 he travelled South America, visiting the Cordilleras and studying the Indian tribes on the upper reaches of the Amazon (6). He later handed over the ethnological collection he acquired during his journey to the Linden Museum in Stuttgart. Also in the time after 1887 he often stayed in Italy, Greece, in the Balkans, in Egypt, where he owned real estate in Heliopolis near Cairo (7), and in the Ottoman Empire. In 1891 he took part in an expedition to Spitsbergen (8), in 1893 the prince travelled to the USA(9). The few documents on the trip to the USA (especially letters of recommendation) (10) that are preserved in the present inventory suggest that this trip was also used for ethnological studies of Indian tribes. So he learned Turkish, Arabic and Persian. Last but not least, between 1893 and 1925 the prince had Arab rooms (11) built into his palace on Neckarstraße in Stuttgart, which he decorated with furniture, carvings, tiles, works made of plaster stucco, carpets and other antiques from the Orient. During the First World War, Prince Karl was finally able to use his language skills and the knowledge he had acquired about this region during his many journeys to the Orient for his work as a German liaison officer in the Ottoman Empire (12). He performed this function between 1916 and 1917, when Prince Karl took over several honorary offices. He was president of the Württemberg group of the German Colonial Society (13) and member of the Württemberg regional association of the German Fleet Association (14). He supported the Society for the Promotion of German Settlements in Palestine (15). He also supported the work of the airship designer Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin by subscribing to shares in the company for the promotion of airship travel (16).Karl Fürst von Urach was awarded numerous orders in the course of his life (17): in 1883 the Prince received the Monegasque Order of Saint Charles, in 1889 the Grand Cross of the Persian Order of the Sun and Lions (18), in 1897 the Ottoman Order of First Class, in 1899 the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Medal. In 1910 he was awarded the Prussian Red Eagle Order. In 1916 he received the Wilhelmskreuz with swords and crown, one year later the royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen and the Iron Cross 2nd class. Karl Fürst von Urach died on 5 December 1925 in Stuttgart. He was buried in the Catholic section of the crypt of the castle church Ludwigsburg. 2. to the order and distortion of the stock:: Together with the Archive of the Dukes and Princes of Urach Grafen von Württemberg, the GU 120 collection was deposited in the Main State Archives in 1987. There, the archives of the House of Urach form the GU series of inventories within the inventory classification (tectonics). During the reorganization of the archive by Wolfgang Schmierer, Director of the Archive, the documents on Karl Fürst von Urach were given the signature GU 120, and since the materials were in a poor state of order, the units of registration had to be formed for the most part first. Where it made sense, the existing units were retained. During the indexing work, extensive documents were removed from the GU 120 holdings and assigned in particular to the GU 96 (Miscellaneous and Unclear), GU 100 (Foreign Archives and Other Collections), GU 107 (Florestine Duchess of Urach), GU 117 (Wilhelm (II.) Duke of Urach) and GU 202 (Bertha Freiin von Biegeleben) holdings. Moreover, it cannot be ruled out that further material of the provenance of Karl Fürst von Urach may be found in the as yet unlisted holdings of the House of Urach. by far the largest part of the holdings consists of the extensive correspondence of the Prince (category 2), above all with his mother (category 2.1.1) with his brother Wilhelm and his family (category 2.1.2) as well as with Bertha von Biegeleben (category 2.1.5). The latter was the court lady of his mother Florestine and a close confidante of the prince. In addition, correspondence with representatives of the German and European ruling and former ruling princely houses can be found in the holdings (Section 2.5). Karl Fürst von Urach also corresponded with numerous public figures (section 2.7), including scholars. Almost all correspondence is so-called unilateral correspondence, that is, only the letters of the correspondence partner are found in the existing stock. If there are isolated letters or drafts of letters from the Reigning Prince to the respective addressee, this is expressly mentioned in the title recording. Usually these are letters of the prince returned to the prince or his family afterwards. It should also be noted that Prince Karl did not make any copies of his correspondence. The correspondences can be regarded as an interesting source for the history of everyday life and mentality of the nobility. They show the manifold contacts which the prince maintained with members of other noble families. They also certainly offer details of the Prince's numerous journeys. However, it was not possible to index the contents of the correspondence due to the time and effort involved. Unfortunately, the correspondences and correspondence series contained in this collection sometimes have smaller gaps. It is not possible at the present time to answer the question of whether the previously unlisted holdings of the archives of the House of Urach still contain correspondence of the prince. Besides the correspondence, the extensive collections of photos and photographs (category 10) form the second largest part of the holdings in terms of the number of title recordings. Of particular interest are the photos and photo albums with photos from the Prince's numerous travels to South America, Egypt, the Ottoman Empire and the Balkans (Section 10.2.2). There are also photos taken during the aforementioned activity of the prince as a liaison officer in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War (section 10.2.4). Prince Karl's interest in Islamic (Arabic) art is also reflected in the numerous photographs of buildings and artworks of Islamic art, which are combined in section 10.3. Of the other materials preserved in the present collection, the Prince's manuscripts with literary and art-historical texts and a memorandum on the political reorganization of Europe by Germany in the First World War should also be mentioned, as well as interesting documents on the associations and societies in which the Prince was active and in which he was active. In an appendix (column 16) photos, an album and seal from the possession of the Wera Duchess of Württemberg née Grand Duchess of Russia are united, which after the death of the Duchess were handed over by her daughter Olga Prinzessin zu Schaumburg-Lippe to Karl Fürst von Urach.In addition, correspondences of the brother of Karl Fürst von Urach, Wilhelm (II.) Duke of Urach, to Charlemagne's estate, to the Arab rooms and to a newspaper article about the princes were added to the collection (19). Since these materials refer to Karl Fürst von Urach, the classification into the present holdings seemed to be reasonable. As expected, documents on Karl Fürst von Urach are also available in other holdings of the archives of the House of Urach. In particular the holdings GU 99 (photo albums and collections), GU 107 (Florestine Herzogin von Urach née Prinzessin von Monaco), GU 117 (Wilhelm (II.) Herzog von Urach) and GU 202 (Bertha von Biegeleben) are to be mentioned here. the archives of the holdings may only be inspected with the prior permission of the chief of the House of Urach. the holdings GU 120 were catalogued by the undersigned from autumn 2004 to April 2005. It comprises 4.6 running meters with 318 numbers.Stuttgart, in April 2005Eberhard Merk footnotes: (1) For Karl Fürst von Urach see above: Article by Wolfgang Schmierer in: The House of Württemberg. A biographical encyclopedia. Edited by Sönke Lorenz, Dieter Mertens, Volker Press. Stuttgart 1997. p. 390. Heinrich Fischer: Prince Karl von Urach as a research traveller. In: Swabian Mercury of 11 December 1926 pp. 17f. (Sunday supplement to the Swabian Mercury No. 580). Newspaper articles and obituaries in M 743/2 Bü 542.(2) See also Bü 1 (serial number 1) in this inventory. Schmierer does not mention attending school in Monaco. The data on the school attendance of Karl Fürst von Urach were taken from the short curriculum vitae written by Wilhelm (II.) Duke of Urach in Bü 21 (Ordnungsnummer 11).(3) See Bü 11 (Ordnungsnummer 2).(4) On military careers see the personal file of Fürst Karls in: M 430/1 Bü 2797, also Bü 7 (serial number 3), 121 (serial number 98).(5) A list of the Prince's travels, prepared by Karl's brother Duke Wilhelm (II.), is kept in Bü 21 (serial number 11). This list also served Heinrich Fischer as the basis for his article (loc. cit.)(6) See the manuscript of the prince in Bü 269 (Ordnungsnummer 145). A detailed description of the itinerary of the South American trip can be found in the article by Heinrich Fischer (loc. cit.)(7) Bü 297, 298 (serial number 208, 211)(8) Cf. the correspondence of Max Graf von Zeppelin in Bü 161 (serial number 118) and the manuscript of the prince in Bü 273 (serial number 146). Photos of Spitzbergen and Norway can be found in Bü 59 (serial number 247).(9) There are no photos of this trip in this collection.(10) Bü 177 (serial number 138)(11) See Bü 20 (serial number 217), Bü 80 (serial number 288), Bü 83 (serial number 202), Bü 316 (serial number 198). An impressive description of the Arabic spaces provides: Claus Mohr: Arab Art in Stuttgart. In: Deutsches Volksblatt 1926 No. 170 of 28 July 1926(12) See also Bü 108, 293 (serial numbers 5 and 6). Photos from this period have been preserved in Bü 42 (serial number 264).(13) There are no materials on the prince's work in the D e u t s c h e K o l o n i a l g e s c h e l l l s c h a f t in this collection.(14) Bü 285 (serial number 193)(15) Bü 294 (serial number 191)(16) Bü 296 (serial number 189)(17) See also Bü 6, 101 (serial numbers 7 and 8)(18) The award was made on the occasion of the state visit of Schah Nasir-el-din in 1889 in Stuttgart(19) Bü 10 (serial number 9), Bü 21 (serial number 11), Bü 23 (serial number 216)