This picture / memento belonged to my Grandfather. Looking for more information on the picture. If possible narrow down the year(s) and regiment this may be for.

Is this something all service men received?
Is the head of the person receiving the memento, or a stock picture?

At top appears to have been renderings of 3 individuals that were cut-off at some point.

Originally the thought is this was my Grandfather, but after some investigation I'm wondering if it may be my Great-Grandfather. My Great-Grandfather married at the age of 28. From what I have read this is a good indication of military service.

My Great-Grandfather was born in 1830, recruitment year 1850. My Grandfather was born 1879, recruitment year 1899.

Both are from the village of Zdiar, Slovakia. The recruiting county would have been Spis (Szepes/Zips).

Several different versions of this type of memento have been posted on these boards over the last 3 months or so. They appear to be quite common. I think individual soldiers bought these for themselves or had them presented to them I don't think they were given to all soldiers. These other ones were for German soldiers.

The locations you mention are in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and I think the soldier is wearing Austro-Hungarian headwear. The text is in German, but this was the language of the Austrian part of the Empire. I suspect that the middle portrait cut off at the top would be the Emperor, the other two would be senior officers. In one version I saw the top 3 portraits were the German Kaiser, the Emperor and the Italian king. This made them marketable to soldiers from all 3 empires. I think this version is probably solely aimed at Austro-hungarian soldiers judging by what little I can see of the uniforms that are cut off.

Only the head is unique to each picture. The rest of the picture is generic. Sometimes there is a space for the regiment to be inscribed, but that may have been cut off from this one, or it may never have had this element.

Sometimes the head of the soldier looks a little odd as it is added later to show the individual whose service is commemorated. Apart from the regiment name, this is the only personalised part of the picture. The artistry of whoever adds the head may not be up to the artistry of whoever made the original print. Can you see a difference in production method by close examination of the original ?

The dates were for later 19th century.

Thanks for the info.

By late 19th century, I assume it is would be 1890's instead of 1850's?

Looking at the original the head is different. Makes you think it was added after the fact, or replacing the original. Basically the head looks like a photo where as the rest looks more "fined".

The ones I have seen are from the 1880s and 1890s. I don't know if they were in use earlier.

However, you should note that they tended to be be made at the end of an individual's service rather than the beginning. Consequently it may help if you knew when these two left the army rather than joined it.

Zur Erinnerung an meine Dienstzeit
In memory of my service

uniform looks for this:
http://www.kuk-wehrmacht.de/img/oe1898_05.jpg
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/K.u._Landwehr
see Train 34/2, Train-regiment 85/1.3 (would fit with map)and ku.Landwehr Detachiertes Battallion 15/3. and 9/4. in nearby-area stationed.
military-maps - area 6 Kassa:
http://www.kuk-wehrmacht.de/regiment/img/oegarnkart1898.jpg
http://www.mlorenz.at/images/militaerterritorialeinteilung_1...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BDdiar
http://maps.google.at/maps?hl=de&gs_rn=1&gs_ri=hp&am...

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zips
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komitat_Zips
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Map...
http://www.spis.sk/mapy/r/r1913.html

Thank you for the information.

After looking over the map at http://www.kuk-wehrmacht.de/regiment/img/oegarnkart1898.jpg I have a couple of questions for clarity:

The legend titled "K. ung. Landwehr" is for the Royal Hungarian Army?
Legend "K. k. Landwehr" is Imperial Royal Army (Austria)?
The rest of the legend is for the Imperial & Royal AH Army (joint)?

Why do think 34/2 and 85/1.3 are Train versus Infanteria-Regiment or detachiertes Batallion? In either case I assume thse would by k.u.k?

For the Royal Hungarian Army, I understand the reasoning for 9/4, but why do suggest 15/3?

From my understanding Hungarian Army records post-1867 have been lost. I'm assuming I would not be able to find records if my grandfather served in the k.u.?

Again thank you for take the time to answer my questions.

found only german Wikipedia,but maybe take a translator:
* The Joint Army/Gemeinsamen Armee from both parts of the country (this list),
* the imperial and royal/kaiserlich-königliche (kuk)Landwehr militia from all non-Hungarian parts of the country,
* the ku Landwehr (Honvéd) only from Hungary and the time belonged to Hungary parts of Serbia, Croatia, Romania (Transylvania) and Slovakia (Upper Hungary) .
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_k.u.k._Kampftruppen

"Why do think 34/2 and 85/1.3 are Train versus Infanteria-Regiment or detachiertes Batallion? In either case I assume thse would by k.u.k?"
"For the Royal Hungarian Army, I understand the reasoning for 9/4, but why do suggest 15/3?"
possibilities think about stationed regiments-symbols on map for Zips and about uniform on picture:
http://www.kuk-wehrmacht.de/regiment/img/oegarnkart1898.jpg
http://www.kuk-wehrmacht.de/img/oe1898_05.jpg

A Guide for Locating Military Records for the Various Regions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire:
http://www.iabsi.com/gen/public/ahm.html