IR 31

It was one of the regiments of the Transylvanian 16th Infantry Division. They were attached to the XII. corps  and fought through its battles. The cadre and battalions of the regiment were stationed in Nagyszeben. In addition to the German-speaking population of the cities of the Saxon area of Transylvania, the regiment was mainly made up of the Romanian population of the surrounding villages. One-third were German, two-thirds Romanian.

The Battle of Aspern was the memorial day of this regiment. It seems that the success against Napoleon’s armies was very much burned into the Austrian national consciousness, even though all that happened was that Austria was not defeated again. The French went on past Vienna all the way to Győr, where they defeated the forces of the Hungarian noble uprising, and then started to return home. One of the letter seals of the regiment thus depicts this battle day.

The 31er Kappenabzeichen itself is one of the neatest regimental badges. Here I present the simpler version, pressed from sheet metal. Anyway, the center of the badge was yellow, matching the color of the lapel. Below is the monarch’s name on a white shield.