Old Prussian Hussar Command Rheinsberg
The Rheinsberg Hussar Command was the bodyguard of Prince Heinrich of Prussia .
history
After the end of the Seven Years' War , Frederick II gave his younger brother his own body hussars in recognition of Heinrich's rank as an important general. The troop was created by splitting up the 25-man body hussars of Duke Ferdinand of Braunschweig, who were deployed in 1761 . Heinrich received 12 men, commanded by a lieutenant , who from then on served in his residence at Schloss Rheinsberg . The small hussar command was primarily an award that the king had bestowed on the prince. In addition to this rather symbolic task, the soldiers stood guard at the castle and thus underlined the character of the residence and were used for messenger rides and personal services.
The strength of the command seems to have increased over the years: instead of the original 13 soldiers, eyewitness reports later mention 24 men and a captain , and later even a half-squadron of 40 men. The salary was always paid by the king.
During the War of the Bavarian Succession , Heinrich's Hussar Command was temporarily reunited with his other half in 1778, which in the meantime had formed the body troop of the respective governor of Magdeburg as the Magdeburg Hussar Command and served him as a reinforced body hussar division for the duration of the campaign. After the end of the war, the units were separated again in 1779 and returned to their respective garrisons.
After Prince Heinrich's death, his brother Ferdinand took over the body hussars together with Rheinsberg Castle. After the Prussian defeat against France in 1806, the Rheinsberg Hussar Command was dissolved.
uniform
Prince Heinrich dressed his body hussars, who were always mounted exclusively with white horses, in 1763 entirely in red and silver according to his own taste. In 1778/79, when they were merged with the Magdeburg Hussar Command, they were only temporarily given pure red Dolmans with brown fur jackets as a common uniform. After returning to Rheinsberg, Heinrich gave his body hussars back their previous uniforms, which they then kept until 1806.
literature
- Richard Knötel : Uniform Studies , Volume XV, Sheet No. 31. Max Babenzien publisher, Rathenow 1893
- Eva Ziebura: Prince Heinrich of Prussia. Berlin: Construction paperback, November 2004. ISBN 3-7466-1770-7
- Christian Graf von Krockow : The Prussian brothers. Prince Heinrich and Frederick the Great. A double portrait , Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, October 2002. ISBN 3-423-30659-9