What can you tell me about the "K k Elappentrain-werkstalle Nr.7" Austro-Hungarian army unit?

Question

I found an old picture of my great grandfather with his Austro-Hungarian army unit. They pose with a sign that reads "K k Elappentrain-werkstalle Nr.7"
The picture was taken sometime around WW1.
What can you tell me about this unit?

Thanks!

I know the K.k. stands for kaiserlich österreichisch königlich böhmisch.

I'm not looking for a translation of the name, as much as I'd like to know what that unit actually did in WW1, where they were stationed, etc.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Is it possible that some of the letters in the handwriting are not clear? Because I think this could be EK (Etappen Kommando) and 'Etappen-train-werkstätte'. The Etappen system was one of the first modern army supply system, introduced by the Prussian army about150 years ago.

That means that your Great Grandfather could have been part of a Military Communications or Supply workshop, a specialist technician, maybe someone who maintained the telegraph lines with the combat zone or dealt with supplies to the front line. If he worked in these kinds of jobs after the war, then that would help to confirm the theory.

You can find more information about these organisations here:
http://tinyurl.com/2hmvtl
and here:
http://tinyurl.com/336t6b
Do a text search in this page for 'etappen'. Remember that 'Kommando' in German is not the same as we understand by the word 'commando'. It just means group or command.

The only direct Google hit I could find for 'etappen-train' was this Wiki article about an Austrian politician who was part of this group during WW1. In German the web address is here:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Vaugoin but you can see a rough translation via Google's automatic translator here:
http://tinyurl.com/2kyujz

The Museum of Military History in Vienna might be worth a shot. Why not post them a copy of the picture and the caption? Curators and librarians love a challenge and maybe they will be able to pin down some specific information about the unit's history. The museum website is: http://www.hgm.or.at/eng/

Finally, here is a good list of Austrian family history links where you may be able to find more information about your ancestor.
http://www.cyndislist.com/austria.htm

Hope this has got you a little further in your search.

Answer 2

More correctly its the K.u.K,

great site with info on the Austrian-Hungarian Army can be found at:

http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/index.htm

Answer 3

I'm not certain about the unit. I know that K k stands for Kaiser-King. It was probably an engineer group that worked on rail transport.