I. Corps (Bundeswehr)

I. Corps XXX
Association badge
active	Jul 2, 1956 to Aug. 31, 1995
Country	Germany
Armed forces	armed forces
Armed forces	army
Type	corps
Location	Muenster
last tour
Commanding general	Lieutenant General Hannsjörn Boës
Chief of Staff	Brigadier General Rudi Ehninger

The former headquarters of the 1st Corps, the former General Command and, since 1995, the seat of the 1st German-Dutch Corps on Schlossplatz in Münster.

The I. Corps was a large unit of the Army of the Bundeswehr in Munster . It existed from 1956 to 1995. The 1st German-Dutch Corps emerged from it.

Association badge

Except for the corps number "I", the association badge was identical to the association badge of all corps in the army . It showed the federal eagle as the German sovereign symbol . The color scheme is based on that of the flag of Germany . The badge was worn by the soldiers of the corps troops and the staff of the corps on the left sleeve of the service suit. The braided black and yellow (black and gold) border testified the position as a corps.

See also : List of Association Badges of the Bundeswehr

history

Army Structure I (1956–1959)

As a preparatory measure for the establishment of a new large formation, an advance command of Army Staff I arrived in Münster on July 2, 1956. It used the building of the old General Command on Schlossplatz . Until Army Staff I was subordinated to the Federal Ministry of Defense on September 15, 1956 , the association was initially led by the North Staff , which was located in Hanover . The renaming to "I. Corps ”took place on October 1, 1956. On July 1, 1957, one year after its establishment, the corps was subordinated to NATO .

The 1st Grenadier Division in Hanover and the 3rd Panzer Division from Hamburg , both of which were subordinated to the Corps on September 15, 1956, were among the first units to be assigned to the I. Corps . Other units were the 6th Grenadier Division, initially set up in Hamburg , which was assigned to the I. Corps only in times of peace, and the 7th Panzer Division in Lippstadt , set up on August 1, 1958 , which was assigned to the III. Corps was handed over.

In addition to the subordinate large units, a number of staff troops and support units were also set up, such as the 502 field weapon regiment set up in Lübberstedt on January 3, 1957. After this moved to Bielefeld in 1958 , it was converted to repair command 1 in 1959. Also in 1957, the 401 Corps Artillery Command was set up on June 1st. After it was moved from Munster via Bielefeld to Münster in the course of the year , it was finally converted into Artillery Command 1. On November 1, 1957, the Quartermaster Regiment 901 was set up in Coesfeld , later the Supply Command 1 in Rheine . Corpspionierkommando 701 was set up in Münster on September 1, 1958, as the last unit within the framework of Army Structure 1 .

Army Structure II (1959–1970)

In the middle of the conversion to Army Structure II, from which the I. Corps was less affected due to the still active deployment phase, the last division of the corps, the 11th Panzer Grenadier Division , was set up in Oldenburg .

The corps troops themselves were also further increased. On July 1, 1959, Corps Army Aviation Command 1 was set up in Münster, which would later become Army Aviation Command 1 . Corps Medical Command 1 was also set up in Münster on January 1, 1960. From it, the medical command 1 was formed. The third new unit in Munster was the establishment of the Corps Telecommunication Command 1, later Telecommunication Command 1, on November 17, 1960. The last new unit was the Air Defense Command 1 on April 1, 1962. With this own command of the later anti-aircraft command 1, the anti-aircraft troops had their own command, after they had previously taken over the command of artillery command 1. In the absence of its own air defense units, the leadership of the new command until 1970 was limited to the air defense battalions of the subordinate divisions.

Overall, the deployment phase lasted until December 31, 1964. From this point onwards, around 87,000 soldiers were subordinate to the corps.

Army Structure III (1970–1981)

When Army Structure III came into force, I Corps was assigned its own combat troops for the first time . For this purpose, the 100th Panzer Regiment, which had already been disbanded in 1975, was set up in Hemer on April 1, 1970 . Another new unit was the 27th Airborne Brigade , which was actually subordinate to the 1st Airborne Division in Bruchsal , but was subordinate to the 1st Corps in use. In addition, the 1958 came to the III. Corps surrendered 7th Panzer Division again under the command of the I. Corps, whose manpower increased to around 114,000 men and thus commanded about a quarter of all Bundeswehr soldiers at that time.

The flying units were further strengthened. After both a light and medium Army Aviation Transport Regiment were set up in 1971, an anti-tank helicopter regiment was set up in Wietzenbruch in 1979 . With the anti-aircraft battalion 110 established in Wuppertal in 1970 and the reserve battalion in Greven , anti-aircraft command 1 received its own troops for the first time in over ten years.

The I. Corps also had two special features. The 110 medical battalion, set up in Budel in the Netherlands between 1971 and 1986, was the only unit of the corps that was stationed abroad. Another special feature was the replenishment training center 100 in Leese . It served to train the reservists of the supply units .

Army Structure IV (1981–1991)

There were only a few changes within the framework of Army Structure IV. In the 1980s, the anti-aircraft troops were modernized, in the course of which the anti-aircraft battalion 110 was increased to the anti-aircraft regiment 100 and equipped with the anti-aircraft tank Roland . The previous guns were handed over to the reserve battalions 130 and 140 in Greven. A similar change went through the corps artillery, which surrendered its weapons to the divisional artillery . The only unit left for Artillery Command 1 was the 150 missile artillery battalion in Wesel, which was equipped with nuclear weapons .

Subordinate to the I. Corps were 1989 a. a. the following major associations and corps:

1st Panzer Division , Hanover

Panzer Grenadier Brigade 1 , Hildesheim

2nd Panzer Brigade , Braunschweig

Panzer Brigade 3 "Weser-Leine", Nienburg

3rd Panzer Division , Buxtehude

7th Panzer Grenadier Brigade , Hamburg

8th Panzer Brigade , Lueneburg

Panzerlehrbrigade 9 , Munster

7th Panzer Division , Unna

19 Panzer Grenadier Brigade , Ahlen

Panzer Brigade 20 “Märkisches Sauerland”, Iserlohn

Panzer Brigade 21 "Lipperland", Augustdorf

6th Panzer Grenadier Division , Neumünster (in case of defense, switch to LANDJUT )

Panzergrenadierbrigade 16 , Wentorf

Panzergrenadierbrigade 17 , Hamburg

Panzerbrigade 18 , Boostedt

11th Panzer Grenadier Division , Oldenburg

Panzergrenadierbrigade 31 "Die Oldenburgische", Oldenburg

Panzergrenadierbrigade 32 , Schwanewede

Panzer Brigade 33 "Celle", Celle

Airborne Brigade 27 , Lippstadt

Artillery Command 1 , Münster

Missile Artillery Battalion 150, Wesel

Supply Battalion Sw 120, Werlte

Security Battalion 100, Ahaus

Drone battery 100, Coesfeld

Army Aviation Command 1 , Handorf

Air Defense Command 1 , Münster

Pioneer Command 1 , Münster

Telecommunication Command 1 , Münster

Resupply Command 1 , Rheine

Repair command 1 , Bielefeld

Medical Command 1 , Münster

NBC Defense Battalion, Emden

Military Police Battalion

Army Music Corps 1

resolution

After German reunification and the end of the Cold War , a profound restructuring of the Bundeswehr began. In this context, the troops were reduced while at the same time realigning them to international missions . In September 1993, various corps troops such as Air Defense Command 1, Pioneer Command 1 and Medical Command 1 were disbanded. For the I. Corps itself, the plans initially provided that it should be united with the Territorial Command North in Mönchengladbach . However, new considerations on multinational units led to the 1st Corps being disbanded in August 1995. It was replaced by the 1st German-Dutch Corps .

Commanding generals

No.	Surname	Beginning of the appointment	End of appointment
15th	Lieutenant General Hannsjörn Boës	October 1, 1991	August 31, 1995
14th	Lieutenant General Klaus Naumann	April 1, 1991	September 30, 1991
13	Lieutenant General Jörn Söder	April 1, 1988	March 31, 1991
12	Lieutenant General Dieter Clauss	April 1, 1986	March 31, 1988
11	Lieutenant General Gerhard Wachter	October 1, 1982	March 31, 1986
10	Lieutenant General Kurt von der Osten	1st October 1979	September 30, 1982
9	Lieutenant General Ferdinand von Senger and Etterlin	April 1, 1978	September 30, 1979
8th	Lieutenant General Hans-Heinrich Klein	1st October 1974	March 31, 1978
7th	Lieutenant General Hans Hinrichs	1st October 1970	September 30, 1974
6th	Lieutenant General Otto Uechtritz	15th January 1968	September 30, 1970
5	Lieutenant General Jürgen Bennecke	October 1, 1966	January 14, 1968
4th	Lieutenant General Wilhelm Meyer-Detring	October 1, 1963	September 30, 1966
3	Lieutenant General Heinz Trettner	March 1, 1960	September 30, 1963
2	Lieutenant General Gerhard Matzky	April 2, 1957	February 29, 1960
1	Major General Curt Siewert	October 8, 1956	March 31, 1957

Web links

• History and formation of the I. Corps
• The I. Corps in Lower Saxony
• Description of the history of the I. Corps
• Stock BH 7-1 "I. Corps ": inventory overview and finding aids in the Federal Archives

Coordinates: 51 ° 57 ′ 57 "  N , 7 ° 36 ′ 55"  E