[donmaus]

I have just received a copy of Jan Still's excellent Weimar Lugers and now understand why everyone thinks so highly of it.

I have been staring at the reproductions of source documents for Police Unit marks on p. 195 and have a question (really, many questions but I'll only post one now) that I hope someone can educate me on.

The 1922 table listing marks for Police Academies (upper right on p. 195) has several headings within it. I'm puzzled by the two: "Pol.-Schulen." and "Pol.-Schule". Using my very rusty understanding of German and a German - English dictionary, the only difference between these seems to be that the former is the plural of the latter. However, I notice that the specified abbreviations of the two organizations listed under the plural heading contain "Ps" for "Polizeischule" while the abbreviation for the same word for the ten entries under the singular heading is "P".

Am I missing something in the interpretation of "Schulen" versus "Schule" that would explain the difference in the abbreviations?

 

[Edward Tinker]

I thought it meant School. The ...len means something, I would ahve to see it to half way know...

Ed

 

[Dwight Gruber]

Don, I find this site useful

http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/

--Dwight

 

[Edward Tinker]

Schule {f} = school
Schulen {pl} = schools

 

[Guest_V]

Don,

you´re right. And there´s absolutely no logic in many of the abbreviations. One reason is that Germany was a collection of separate states and decisions were not centralised like in the UK or France. Before WW II, they couldn´t even decide on using the same alphabet.

Patrick

 

[donmaus]

Patrick,

My difficulty in writing this off as a result of the decentralized nature of Weimar government is that this instance occurs in a single table in a particular document issued by Prussian authorities. I have to believe that the legendary Prussian characteristics of order and discipline would lead to some consistency in this case. I am trying to see if I can identify a basis for having two different abbreviations for the same word back-to-back in the same document.

There are some differences between these two groups of organizations:
*The two organizations employing the "Ps." abbreviation are the Academy for Advanced Training (Hoehere Polizeischule) and the Academy for Physical Training (Polizeischule fuer Leibesuebungen). These appear to be "headquarters" type organizations that would serve all Prussian administrative districts.
*The ten academies employing the "P." abbreviation are all named according to Prussian Provinces and, presumably, served only those regions.

From the above, I can see some rationale for listing them under different headings in the table but cannot see that rationale reflected in the headings used nor can I see how that would relate to the "Ps/P" difference. I was hoping someone would have the key.

So far, the database I'm assembling on Weimar Police Unit marks (125+ marks and growing) has no instance of the "Ps" mark. This may be because these two organizations had few weapons assigned to them since their students were graduates of the other academies and were already in operational units with assigned weapons which they brought with them. It may also be that the "Ps" abbreviation was quickly abandoned in favor of "P" for these organizations. By the time the 1932 Prussian regulations were issued, the designated marks for these two organizations were "PL." and "HP."

 

[Guest_V]

well Don, another reason is the basic lack of logic in most of the Germanic languages (Norwegian is even worse). Whenever I point out a mistake to a German, the usual answer is "It doesn´t matter, you know what I mean." For the last couple of years, the government´s decision to enforce a unified spelling reform has been headline news. They have just given up and the law is to be scrapped. So they certainly don´t think logical abbreviations are important and wouldn´t understand anyone worrying about their inconsistencies. Of course, this all makes trying to decipher unit markings all the more intersteing.

Patrick

 

[copdoc]

Hope it is OK to revive an old post. I have 2 pistols I have wondered about. They are from 2 different sources. One is an HsC 909xxx E/L no unit marks that I can find, but the holster that was brought back with the gun has PS1602 on the back. I can find no other marks. I also have an FN M1910 493xxx that has PS1033 stamped on the forstrap. The FN has the Silesia import mark that I think was only post war. The pistol may be pre WWII but I am not sure how to tell as the serial #s overlap (pre and post war) on that model. It came with a very tiny homemade shoulder holster that would fit a 10 year old.
Any ideas what the PS on these 2 would mean? Can not post pics yet.
There is a lot of great info on this forum.
Thanks
copdoc

 

[Edward Tinker]

Jim, welcome to the forum. It is ok to revive a old posting, but it is much better to just start your own thread.

Ed

 

[donmaus]

Jim,

Lacking photos, it would help if you would describe the marks exactly, including any periods and lower-case letters.

Don

 

[copdoc]

My camera is not set up yet. My pda takes low res pics but it can be seen. I have never posted pics but will try. If they do not come through I will read the directions.
The PS is capitalized on both and I do not see any periods.
Thanks


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Download Attachment: photo_hscholster.jpg
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[keoki7]

Originally posted by villiers

well Don, another reason is the basic lack of logic in most of the Germanic languages (Norwegian is even worse). Whenever I point out a mistake to a German, the usual answer is "It doesn´t matter, you know what I mean." For the last couple of years, the government´s decision to enforce a unified spelling reform has been headline news..."
Patrick(quote]

Patrick, I don't know about the Nordic cousins, but the only Germanic language that I have found to be short on logic is English. This is probably due to having slept with the french.

 

[donmaus]

Jim,

The photos didn't come through but if there are no periods in the marks, I doubt they are Weimar police.

 

[copdoc]

thanks
I am think the Browning is post WWII but the HsC is a WWII captured piece. It was unusual to me that they both had similar markings. This is a great web site I will try to look through some other pieces and learn how to post pics
jim