The cross hammars on the uniform may signify that your grandfather was involved in mining or metallurgical. The use of the hammers or battle axes is symbolic of the almost military organization of the German mining guilds or "corporations". The uniform symbolizes the closely knit (faternal-like organizations) of the old German mining guilds. The crossed hammers today is the official insignia of AIME (American Institute of Mining Engineers). The duties and responsibilities of the various mining and smelting officers and workers are described in a book published Nurnberg in 1556, Agricola's De Re Metallica ...it includes the technical drawing that illustrate the various specialized techniques of the many branches of mining.. It was translated in 1912 by Herbert C. Hoover and Lou Henry Hoover and sells for $17.95 in 1950 by Dover Publications, Inc. NY. Miners dressed to the position they held and were often paraded on special occasions....colbalt miners wore blue knee pads, sulfur miners-yellow. Some of the mining musicians have plumes on their hats. My grandfather attended the Dresden Institute of Technology and received his degree in Metallurgy and Mining Engineering from the Freiberg School of Mines in 1912. When he saw war coming in 1914 he left Germany and brought with him several axes, canes, swords and water colors that are now on display at the National Mining Museum in Leadville, Colorado. If you can scanned the photo I could try to identify the uniform. I have a small book that I worked at translating a few years ago about the uniforms. Susan [email protected] wrote: > > I have a photograph of my great grandfather Johann Gustav Hentschel, who > lived near Bautzen (prior to his emmigration to America in the 1880's), > in a uniform. He wears a hat, with a plume. On the hat and the lapels > are crossed hammers insignia. Does anyone recognize this uniform? > --Mary Ann >