17th Division (German Empire)

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17th division

active October 11, 1866 to September 1919
Country German EmpireGerman Empire (Reichskriegsflagge) Kingdom of Prussia
Armed forces Prussian Army
Type division
structure See: Outline
headquarters Kiel (1866–1871)

Schwerin (1871-1919)

Participation in battles Franco-German War
Siege of Metz
Siege of Paris
Battle of Loigny and Poupry
Battle of Orléans
Battle of Le Mans

First World War

Conquest of Liege
Battle of St. Quentin
First battle of the Marne
Battle of the Somme
Third Battle of Flanders
Spring offensive
Hundred days offensive
Commanders
Please refer: List of commanders

The 17th Division , also known as the 17th Infantry Division for the duration of the mobile relationship , was a large unit of the Prussian Army .

Lineup

The division was established in Kiel on October 11, 1866 and was one of several mixed units of the Prussian Army. It was recruited from contingents of the Hanseatic cities and the Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg . The 33rd Infantry Brigade consisted of contingents from Hamburg and Bremen , and until the formation of the new Infantry Regiment No. 162, that from Lübeck . The 34th (Grand Ducal Mecklenburg) Infantry Brigade consisted of the contingents of the Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Mecklenburg-Schwerin . The 81st Infantry Brigade, formed in 1897, contained the two regiments from Lübeck and the Prussian Schleswig-Holstein . The division cavalry formed the 17th (Grand Ducal Mecklenburg) cavalry brigade with two dragoon regiments from Mecklenburg and at times a Prussian cavalry regiment. The 17th Artillery Brigade, which was formed in 1899, was made up of two artillery regiments, the Holstein Field Artillery Regiment No. 24 garrisoned in Güstrow and Neustrelitz and the Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Field Artillery Regiment No. 60 , which together with the brigade staff in Schwerin was in garrison.

structure

While the division was still subordinate to the VIII. Army Corps when it was mobilized in 1870 , it was later subordinate to the IX. Army Corps .

Franco-German War

76th Fusilier Battalion in the Battle of Loigny

Peace structure 1914

Organization of war during mobilization in 1914

Memorial of the Hamburg Infantry Regiment (2nd Hanseatic) No. 76 in Hamburg
  • 33rd Infantry Brigade
    • Bremen Infantry Regiment (1st Hanseatic) No. 75
    • Hamburg Infantry Regiment (2nd Hanseatic) No. 76
  • 34th Infantry Brigade
  • Staff and 3rd Squadron / 2. Hanover Dragoons Regiment No. 16
  • 17th Field Artillery Brigade
    • Holstein Field Artillery Regiment No. 24
    • Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Field Artillery Regiment No. 60
  • 1st Company / Schleswig-Holstein Pioneer Battalion No. 9

Division of War of May 21, 1918

  • 34th Infantry Brigade
    • Bremen Infantry Regiment (1st Hanseatic) No. 75
    • Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Grenadier Regiment No. 89
    • Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Fusilier Regiment Kaiser Wilhelm No. 90
    • MG Sniper Division No. 75
    • 4th Squadron / 2nd Hanover Dragoons Regiment No. 16
  • Artillery Commander No. 17
    • Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Field Artillery Regiment No. 60
    • 1st Battalion / Foot Artillery Regiment No. 24
  • Engineer Battalion No. 126
  • Division News Commander No. 17

history

After the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, the command was in Schwerin until it was demobilized and finally dissolved in 1919 .

Franco-German War

At the beginning of the war the large formation was a reserve division before being dispatched to the sieges of Metz and Paris in September 1870 . She then took part in the Loire campaign and fought in the battles of Loigny-Poupry , the second Orléans battle , Beaugency-Cravant and Le Mans .

First World War

The division was used exclusively on the Western Front during the war . At the beginning of the First World War she was involved in the advance through Luxembourg , Belgium to France and fought in the battle of St. Quentin and the Marne . One of their brigades was involved in the capture of Liege . In 1916 she fought in the Battle of the Somme and in 1917 in the Third Battle of Flanders . The division took part in the 1918 spring offensive and in the retreat battles of the Hundred Days Offensive .

Battle calendar

1914
1915
  • to October 12th - fighting on the Aisne
  • October 16 to November 3 - Autumn battle in Champagne
  • from November 4th - Trench warfare in Champagne
1916
  • until June 15 - trench warfare in Champagne
  • June 15 to July 5 - Reserve of the OHL at Mézières
  • 0July 8th to September 14th - Battle of the Somme
  • September 19 to December 24 - Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
  • from December 25th - trench warfare on the Somme
1917
  • until March 15 - trench warfare on the Somme
  • March 16 to April 8 - fighting in front of the Siegfried Front
  • 0April 9th ​​to 26th - Spring battle near Arras
  • April 26th to May 31st - fighting in front of the Siegfried Front
  • 0June 1-6 - Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
  • 0June 7th to 12th - Reserve of the Army Group "Crown Prince Rupprecht"
  • June 13th to July 30th - Battle of Flanders
  • July 31 to August 6 - Reserve of the Army Group "Crown Prince Rupprecht"
  • 0August 7th to September 22nd - fighting in the Siegfriedstellung
  • September 23 to October 12 - autumn battle in Flanders
  • from October 13th - trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
1918
  • February 15th - trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
  • February 15 to March 18 - OHL reserves in the 6th Army
  • March 19-20 - Deployment for the Great Battle of France
  • March 21 to April 6 - Great battle in France
  • 0April 7 to July 16 - Fights between Arras and Albert
  • July 17-25 - Trench warfare in Flanders
  • July 26th to August 3rd - Mobile defensive battle between Marne and Vesle
  • 0August 4th to September 3rd - trench warfare on the Vesle
  • September 3 to 18 - fighting in front of the Siegfried Front
  • September 19-27 - Fights in the Siegfried Line
  • September 28-30 - trench warfare north of the Ailette
  • 0October 1st to 9th - defensive battle in Champagne and on the Meuse
  • October 10th to 12th - fighting on the Hunding and Brunhild fronts
  • October 13-17 - Fights on the Aisne and Aire
  • October 18-23 - Battle of Vouziers (parts of the division)
  • 17th to 25th October - Defensive battle in Champagne and on the Meuse
  • October 25th to November 1st - defensive battle in the Hunding position
  • 02nd to 4th November - trench warfare on the Aisne
  • 0November 5th to 11th - fighting in retreat in front of the Antwerp- Maas position
  • from November 12th - evacuation of the occupied territory and march home

Commanders

Rank Surname date
Lieutenant General Adolf von Rosenberg-Gruszczynski October 20, 1866 to July 13, 1870
Lieutenant General Gustav von Schimmelmann July 18 to November 1870
Lieutenant General Hermann von Tresckow November 14, 1870 to January 29, 1871 (Führer)
Lieutenant General Gustav von Schimmelmann January 30, 1871 to March 19, 1872
Lieutenant General Ludwig von Schlotheim March 20, 1872 to April 5, 1880
Lieutenant General Hermann Ludwig von Wartensleben 0April 6, 1880 to August 20, 1884
Lieutenant General Walther Bronsart von Schellendorff August 21, 1884 to July 11, 1888
Lieutenant General Otto von Derenthall July 12, 1888 to March 14, 1890
Lieutenant General Karl Finck von Finckenstein March 24, 1890 to January 26, 1895
Lieutenant General Ernst von Petersdorff January 27, 1895 to May 14, 1897
Lieutenant General Anton Herwarth von Bittenfeld May 20, 1897 to June 8, 1900
Major general Klaus from and to Egloffstein 0June 9 to July 8, 1900 (in charge of the tour)
Lieutenant General Klaus from and to Egloffstein 0July 9, 1900 to May 17, 1903
Lieutenant General Günther von Kirchbach May 18, 1903 to September 18, 1907
Lieutenant General Kurt von Pritzelwitz 0October 1, 1907 to February 8, 1911
Lieutenant General Gotthard Nickisch from Rosenegk 0February 9, 1911 to February 3, 1913
Lieutenant General Hans von Winterfeld 0February 4, 1913 to March 2, 1914
Lieutenant General Arnold von Bauer 0March 3 to October 14, 1914
Lieutenant General Theodor Stengel October 15, 1914 to May 10, 1916
Lieutenant General Hans von Minckwitz May 11, 1916 to January 1, 1917
Lieutenant General Arthur of Gabain 0January 2, 1917 to July 30, 1918
Lieutenant General Siegfried von Held 0August 1, 1918 to January 19, 1919
Major general Johannes von Busse January 20 to September 30, 1919

literature

  • Hein: The little book about the German army. Verlag Lipsius & Tischer, 1901, Reprint Weltbildverlag GmbH, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-8289-0271-5 .
  • Hall of Fame of our Old Army. Published on the basis of official material from the Reichsarchiv , Militär-Verlag, Berlin 1927, pp. 66, 115.
  • Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army Which Participated in the War (1914-1918). United States War Office as War Department Document No. 905, Office of the Adjutant, 1920, pp. 275-278.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Günter Wegner: Occupation of the German armies 1815-1939. Volume 1. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1993, p. 114
  2. ^ A b Claus von Bredow, Ernst von Wedel: Historical ranking and master list of the German Army. Part 1. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1972, ISBN 978-37648-0847-1 , p. 524 ff.
  3. ↑ Pflieger: Holstein Field Artillery Regiment No. 24 (= memorial sheets of German regiments. Issue 50). Verlag Gerhard Stalling, Oldenburg / Berlin 1922, p. 7 f.
  4. ↑ see Hugo von Kottwitz , 33rd Infantry Brigade
  5. ↑ Bredow, p. 524.
  6. ↑ Hermann Cron: Hall of Fame of our old army. Berlin 1935.
  7. ↑ Dermot Bradley (ed.), Günter Wegner: Occupation of the German Army 1815-1939. Volume 1: The higher command posts 1815–1939. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-1780-1 , p. 114.