German Alpine Corps

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Mountain troops' cap badge: Alpen-Edelweiss

The German Alpine Corps was a large unit of the German army in World War I and is considered the first German mountain troop . During the First World War it was erected in May 1915, initially with the aim of supporting Austria-Hungary in defending its border with Italy .

precursor

The German Empire did not have any mountain troops until the First World War . Nevertheless, as early as 1892, the Goslar and Schlettstadter hunters received ski training on the orders of the Prussian Ministry of War . However, the civilian side recognized the military value of ski training much more clearly and propagated it vehemently. As early as 1896, the Black Forest Ski Club invited the Schlettstadt hunters to races, initiated the patrol run in 1902 and, when the German Ski Association (DSV) was founded in 1905, suggested that its main task was to train useful skiers for the army .

Only after they met the well-trained, ski-agile French Chasseurs alpins in the Vosges at the beginning of the winter of 1914/15 , did they set up their own German snowshoe battalions . On October 14, 1914, the “DSV Committee for the Formation of the German Voluntary Ski Corps” issued an appeal “to Germany's skiers”, which invited them to join the snowshoe troop. On November 21, 1914, the Bavarian 1st Snowshoe Battalion met in Munich. Shortly afterwards, the Württemberg snowshoe company No. 1 and the Prussian snowshoe battalions No. 2 and 3 followed.

history

With Italy's declaration of war on May 23, 1915, a threatening situation arose for Austria-Hungary: apart from the garrisons of fortifications , the active troops, the Imperial and Royal Rifle Regiments intended for defense in the high mountains, were on the eastern front in Galicia . The Danube Monarchy first had to organize a line of defense made up of Standschützen and other improvised formations. The German OHL was aware that with the small forces that Austria-Hungary could now provide to defend the Tyrolean border, the danger for southern Germany could be very great. The best security of Bavaria was the Tyrol. A few days before Italy declared war, the Prussian Ministry of War had ordered the Alpine Corps - a reinforced infantry division  - to be set up from elite regiments around a Bavarian core . In accordance with its future use in the high mountains, the Alpine Corps was to receive mountain equipment (e.g. snowshoes, ice ax, mountain boots, etc.), which was initially insufficient due to a lack of experience and could only be improved in the course of the "deployment in Tyrol". As corps troops (heavy artillery, columns and trains , engineer companies , telephone units and an aviation division) were also assigned to the Alpine Corps , this military unit was called a corps despite the strength of a division .

The German Alpine Corps was classically subdivided into two Jäger Brigades: the 1st Jäger Brigade of the Bavarian Army under Major General Ludwig von Tutschek with the Infantry Leib Regiment and the 1st Jäger Regiment as well as the Prussian 2nd Jäger Brigade under Colonel Ernst von Below with the Jäger Regiment No. 2 ( Hannoversches Jäger Battalion No. 10 , Reserve Jäger Battalions No. 10 and 14) and the Jäger Regiment No. 3, consisting of the previous four snowshoe battalions.

In addition, there were six cycling companies , seven machine gun departments (mountain machine gun departments ), 48 field and mountain guns and a battery each of 10 cm cannons and 15 cm howitzers, as well as mine throwing departments, pioneer companies, intelligence forces, etc. and at times also the Bavarian Field Aviation Department 9 b to.

"Mission in Tyrol" - The Dolomite Front

The Bavarian Lieutenant General Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen was appointed "Leader of the Alpine Corps". He had previously been Chief of Staff of the 6th Army "Crown Prince Rupprecht". After a dispute with the chief of the OHL General Erich von Falkenhayn , which ended with even Kaiser Wilhelm II. Being involved, Falkenhayn removed Krafft from AOK 6 and found in him the ideal cast for the "Führer des Alpenkorps". Because Krafft was a particularly mountainous man who had been out and about in the Dolomites with his brother Albrecht at an early age. As a result, he knew the area exactly and thus also the first operational area of ​​the Alpine Corps. This was initially sent as a reserve to the new front in South Tyrol . The south-western front was divided into five defensive sections, so-called "rayons", which stretched from the Swiss border in the west to the Carnic ridge in the east. The front on the Isonzo formed its own section. Although the men already had combat experience from the western front , they had not received any mountain training. This resulted in accidents, some of which were fatal. The men also fell ill, for example because they were initially poorly equipped, or because, for example, their inexperience melted the snow and drank undiluted and subsequently suffered from gastrointestinal diseases. The "Operation in Tyrol" represented the actual mountain training of the Alpine Corps. The joint operation of the German soldiers with the Standschützen was of particular value . The Standschützen were men who were used to the mountains and showed the soldiers of the Alpine Corps the correct behavior and use in the high mountains. In return, the Germans helped to improve the military training of the Standschützen.

Since the Italians proceeded extremely hesitantly in their attack and thus gave away the element of surprise, the first weeks after the declaration of war passed in relative calm, the alleged Italian breakthrough did not take place. In return, the time gained in this way gave the men of the Alpine Corps and the other defenders the advantage of expanding and improving the sometimes high-alpine front. The numerically superior enemy, who had a well-trained mountain troop, the Alpini , would not have broken through the front without major losses. The use of the Alpine Corps was mainly limited to defensive and patrol battles as well as artillery support. Since the German Reich was not yet officially in a state of war with the Italians, the Alpine Corps was forbidden to enter Italian territory or to be used for attack companies where this was necessary. The transfer of the Alpine Corps primarily served to strengthen the back of the Austro-Hungarian ally politically and morally. It was not until August 1916, after Romania entered the war, that Italy also declared war openly on Germany.

The Alpine Corps was mainly deployed in Rayons IV. (Fleimstal) and V. (Pustertal) at the focal points of the Dolomite front. For example at the Col di Lana , at the Kreuzbergpass , in the Sexten Dolomites and at the Tofanen.

The Alpine Corps contributed significantly to the stabilization of the Dolomite front. When Austria-Hungarian units were freed from the Eastern Front in October 1915 and could be relocated to the Tyrolean Front, the Germans were withdrawn from the Dolomites. They left behind a well-developed high-alpine position with caverns , cable cars, accommodations and trained riflemen . It could be taken over by the now sole responsible kuk troops. As a thank you, but above all as an outward sign of the solidarity of the fighting soldiers, the men of the Alpine Corps were presented with 20,000 edelweiss badges by the Tyrol State Defense Command in June 1915, which according to regulations had to be worn on the headgear above the left ear. This badge had already been introduced by the Austro-Hungarian army in 1907 as an emblem for their mountain troops . It was worn on the paroli as well as on the cap and held a high status among men.

Serbian campaign

The corps left the Dolomites in mid-October 1915 and was transferred to the western front via Munich and Diedenhofen to serve as an army reserve in the Champagne region . Unloaded on October 20 at Launois southwest of Charleville , the soldiers were deployed in the Sedan area . Three days after their arrival, however, a new order made it necessary to transport the corps to the Balkan Peninsula. Since Serbia , which was attacked at the beginning of October , was able to hold its own against Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, the Alpine Corps was now sent there to reinforce the German 11th Army .

On October 30, the group "Below" crossed the Danube near Orșova and advanced towards Krusevac . Most of the corps crossed the Danube at Veliko Gradište to the west and pursued the Serbs through the valley of the south-western Morawa , the main Serbian river that rises on the Kara-Dagh . Proceeding further via Pozarevac , Kragujevac was reached by November 4th , and Kraljevo on November 8th . However, the Serbs had already managed to retreat across the mountains south of it. The Bavarian hunters should the XXII. Free reserve corps that were not equipped for the mountain war there. From November 13th the further persecution through the mountains in Sanjak Novipazar began , on November 14th there was a battle on the Dedina Stolica during the southern advance. The group "Below" occupied Raška together with parts of the 44th Reserve Division . On November 24th, the vanguard reached the Ibar near Ribaric and the border of Montenegro . But after the remaining Serbian army had escaped via Montenegro, the march back through the Morawatal north to Krusevac took place on November 28th. On December 21, the corps marched past the commander-in-chief, August von Mackensen , in Niš in the presence of the corps commander . Proceeding via Nisch, Leskovac was reached on December 22nd and the further advance along the southern Morawa to Macedonia was prepared. In the first 39 days the corps had marched about 700 km.

However, since the French and British had advanced from Salonika in the meantime , the corps was retained and remained in readiness at Leskovac until the end of the year. Until mid-February 1916, the corps remained near Jelašnica . From there the corps was brought forward via Kumanovo , Skopje and Veles through the Strumica valley to Istip in southern Macedonia . When the corps moved to Verdun at the end of March 1916, the “Serbia” section ended. It was a campaign that demanded more casualties from the corps from the strains of the march than from the fighting.

Battle of Verdun

Plaque of the corps in Azannes-et-Soumazannes
Red Tower Pass

On May 28, 1916, the corps was subordinated to the 5th Army ; on June 1, it moved into quarters in Azannes . In the Battle of Verdun , the alpine fighters on the eastern bank of the Meuse were assigned to General von Lochow's eastern attack group. The first deployment of the corps took place on June 8th in the section of the I. Bavarian Corps . Through the Hassoule Gorge, also called the Dead Gorge, they reached the hotly contested Fort Douaumont . From here it went directly to the main battle line in the area of ​​the village of Fleury and the Thiaumont intermediate plant . On the right wing the Bavarian 1st Division was also assigned against Thiaumont and the 103rd Division against the Souville-Tavannes section as a neighbor on the left . Fleury, Thiaumont and the ammunition rooms at Fleury (Poudriere de Fleury) were captured in two major raids on June 23 and July 11, 1916. A small shock troop of the infantry body regiment even reached the so-called "felt exhibition" (Ouvrage de Morpion) and thus achieved the furthest advance of German troops before Verdun in the short term. On August 9, 1916, the corps was released from the 5th Army and thus from the Battle of Verdun.

Romania campaign

Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary on August 27, 1916. Immediately afterwards Russian troops moved into the Vltava , to the left of it the Romanian Northern Army broke through the Eastern Carpathians into Hungary and the Romanian 1st and 2nd Armies from Wallachia into Transylvania . On August 28, the German chief of staff Erich von Falkenhayn was replaced by the duo Hindenburg and Ludendorff and received an army command in the Romanian campaign .

The highest army command on the Eastern Front under the leadership of Leopold von Bayern set up two new armies to protect Transylvania . The more northerly Austro-Hungarian 1st Army under Colonel General Arz von Straussenburg and the southern German 9th Army under General Erich von Falkenhayn. The last-named 9th Army was assigned the Alpine Corps, which had been vacated by the western front and which has now been transferred to the Romanian theater of war.

During the Battle of Sibiu , the Alpine Corps crossed the Zibins Mountains , which separated the two wings of the Romanian 1st Army, which was deployed on a broad front. Coming over the mountain ridge , on September 26th, the Alpine troops brought the necessary relief to the German 187th Infantry Division , which was in the frontal attack . Advancing in the rear of the enemy, the Romanians were blocked from retreating through the Red Tower Pass . According to statements from prisoners, the corps with its 9 battalions had successfully fought 54 of the Romanian army. At Red Tower , a plaque with the inscription was attached to the rock face "Alpenkorps 26-29.IX 1916" in memory of this victory.

Archduke Karl and Field Marshal Mackensen visit the hunter troop

On October 9th, the left wing of the 9th Army was victorious again near Kronstadt and prepared for a further incursion into southern Romania. The commander of the Infantry Leib Regiment, Prince Heinrich of Bavaria , was wounded during the fighting on November 7th and died the day after. On that day the regiment conquered the last height of Monte Sule, on November 21 the group “Krafft” finally broke through the Transylvanian mountains to the south and reached the lowlands of Wallachia . Persecution fights followed at Curtea de Argesch to Piteşti . At the beginning of December the "Krafft" corps played a decisive role in the battle of the Argesch , which ultimately led to the capture of Bucharest . After this battle, the 9th Army swung from east to north , with the “Krafft” group forming the focal point . On December 7th, the hunters conquered together with the XXXIX. Reserve Corps Ploesti and the oil fields there.

Fighting on the Jalomița followed in mid-December . The "Krafft" group was deployed on the left wing of the 9th Army. An offer of peace by the Central Powers was ignored by the enemy during this time. On December 21st the Christmas battle of Rimnicul-Sarat broke out . Opposite the corps were not only Romanians, but for the first time also Russians ( Trans-Caspian Cossack Brigade ). A battalion was ordered to Șindrilița on December 23 and was in contact with the neighboring group “ Gerok ” of the Austrian army group “ Archduke Josef ”. After the battle, the 9th Army advanced to the Sereth and was advanced to the Putna sector . The corps followed the Magura in the direction of Odobeşti , which was on its last branch.

On January 2, 1917, the corps reached Boloteşti . However, no further action was taken over the six to eight meter wide Putna , which was only one meter deep . On the other bank was the border with the Russian Empire , months of trench warfare followed on the river.

On April 10, 1917, the Alpine Corps retired from the 9th Army and spent several weeks in resting quarters in the Kronstadt area. The new corps commander visited his units in Mühlbach on April 13th . In May, new hunting commands, the later assault troops were trained at the same time were kompanie as MW - trains set.

At the end of May 1917, the Alpine Corps was moved back to the Western Front in Upper Alsace . During the mine throwing training at the Kaiserstuhl , several units attended a lecture by the knight of the order Pour le Mérite , Captain Hans-Joachim Haupt , about the storming of the Douaumont fort . On June 14th the corps was transferred to the “Loch von Belfort ”.

At the beginning of August 1917 the Alpine Corps moved again to Romania. In the breakthrough battle on the Șușița, the hunters crossed the Putna on August 12, 1917 in the direction of Străoane . Under the leadership of Captain Fischer, the group of the two 10th Jäger Battalions attacked Muncelul on August 15 . With the capture of Muncelul, the last major battles in this section ended on August 28th, followed by trench warfare again, this time at Zabrautioru .

Italy campaign

Following the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo , Emperor Karl asked the German OHL for help from the troops on the staggering Isonzo front . It happened at the time when the Battle of Flanders was at its height, nevertheless the OHL complied with the request and sent six divisions to the Italian theater of war. Among the units going to Italy was the Alpine Corps, whose leadership was taken over by Major General Ludwig von Tutschek from September 5th.

Matarello south of Trento became the assembly room of the Alpine Corps, which was initially subordinate to the 11th Army High Command. The task of the corps was to notify the opposing Italians of the arrival of German units and to distract them from the planned attack preparations at Tolmein . In the area of ​​the apparently most favorable point of attack, however, there were not yet enough soldiers. On October 10, the corps was the Bavarian III. Army Corps (group "Stein") subordinated to the newly established 14th Army and prepared for the twelfth battle of Isonzo .

In the breakthrough battle through the Julian Alps , which lasted from October 24th to 27th, 1917, it fell to the Alpine Corps to attack the height 1114, the center of the whole Kolov rally. Starting at Tolmein, the corps, together with the 12th Division, made a quick breakthrough through the positions of the Italian XXVII. Corps under General Badoglio . On the first day of the attack on October 24th, the infantry body regiment conquered this hilltop and Monte Kuk, the village of Luico fell the following day. After the storming of Monte Matajur on October 26th, the second Italian position - defended by the IV Corps under General Cavacciochi - was also shaken.

The breakthrough of the 14th Army had succeeded on October 27th on the entire attack front and therefore the Italian 2nd Army in full retreat. The corps marched on Clenia , stormed Monte Madlessena and pursued the Italians further towards Cividale . Meanwhile the 14th Army cut off the retreat of the Duke of Aosta's 3rd Italian Army, which was retreating between Gorizia and the Adriatic Sea , and attacked the enemy's rear connections from the upper Tagliamento . To the east of Udine was the headquarters of the Italian chief of staff, Cardonas , and this too fell into German hands by October 29th.

The Monte Tomba

The Tagliamento front collapsed since November 3rd, on the 8th the Alpine Corps crossed the river near Pinzano and now operated in a westerly direction on Aviano following the kuk group "Krauss" . The German-Austrian advance could only be stopped by the Italians on the Piave River after they had been reinforced by six French and five English divisions. In the village of Vas, the Jäger Regiment 1 managed to cross the Piave on November 18, while the German Jäger Division operating on Alano was subordinated to the Alpine Corps. Standing to the left of the Jäger Division, the corps was deployed opposite Monte Tomba in the First Battle of the Piave . It left the tomba position on December 16 and was withdrawn some 100 km behind the front line to Cordenons and Vivaro , where it was supposed to spend Christmas.

Again on the western front

In January 1918 the corps was again transported to the Western Front and unloaded in Saarburg . Until April 7th, the corps remained in Cirey as a reserve of the German Argonne Front. From there it was transferred to the Army Group "Crown Prince Rupprecht" in Flanders , in order to take part in Operation Georgette (or "Battle of the Lys") from April 9th ​​in Lille . On April 12, the corps replaced the 10th replacement division at Steenwerk and attacked Bailleul on the morning of April 13 . After a short break, the corps was relocated to the upstream Rossignolhöhe for the "Second Battle of the Kemmel ". The corps' storm troops were equipped with flamethrowers and attacked from the front. The so-called "Second Battle" caused the corps to lose 3,500 men, but on April 25 they managed to storm the mountain. The Kemmelberg was maintained until the corps left the sector on May 7th. The corps was relocated to Tourcoing as a new Army Group Reserve until May 15, and from May 17 to resting quarters around Eename .

After twelve weeks of rest, the corps left Flanders and was thrown into the focal point of the defensive struggle of the 18th Army at Roye as an intervention division . After the Black Day of the German Army , the corps was first used as an OHL reserve in the Nesle area , in the area of ​​the newly formed Army Group " von Boehn ". On August 18, the order was issued that the 18th Army should prepare the abandonment of the area west of the Somme , until August 28, the Alpine Corps returned to the line Épénancourt to Béthancourt . Trucks returned the corps to the area north of Péronne on September 1st . Before the Siegfried position , the corps had to secure the canal at Moislains as a reserve of the 2nd Army before it withdrew to the Tincourt position on September 4th .

The new Épehy position, one height in front of the valley of the Scheldt Canal , had to be kept under all circumstances according to the corps orders on the 5th. On September 8, strong British attacks on Epehy could still be repulsed. Everyone was aware that if Epehy was lost, then the position of the canal on the one hand and the eastern heights in front of it would be untenable, and there would be no holding back. The canal was actually supposed to be expanded into the main resistance line (HWL) beforehand. Due to the lack of time, however, this project could no longer be completed. The Battle of Epehy on September 18 was to be a major day of combat for the corps . The English, supported by tanks , overran the position and thus the corps. Captain Fischer - commander of Reserve Jäger Battalion No. 10 - fell. Heinrich Kirchheim , commander of the Jäger Battalion No. 10, was awarded the Order Pour le Mérite for his performance on that day on October 13th. On September 22nd, the worn-out troops were freed by the 8th Division and once again transported to Serbia.

End of the war in Serbia

The Balkan front was already wavering, on September 29, 1918 Bulgaria capitulated. From October 3rd to 9th, unloading took place in the familiar niche, and a first defensive position was to be taken on the heights of the Pasjaca Planina. The superordinate XXXIX. Reserve Corps tried to delay the collapse of the 11th Army . The 219th Division , which is adjacent to the Alpine Corps , lost its heights at Toplica , the only remaining option for the German 11th Army was to retreat to the Kraljevo - Kruševac - Knjaževac line in order not to be encompassed by the pursuing Serbs. After the last resistance south of Kragujevac and the withdrawal of the neighboring Austro-Hungarian 30th Division from Kraljevo, the general movement of the Alpine Corps to Belgrade began on October 30th. The retreat through Semlin was started by Hungary, which was already hostile. The German border was reached via the railway line Szeged , Budapest , Vienna and Salzburg .

Leader of the Alpine Corps

Rank Surname date
Lieutenant General Konrad Krafft from Dellmensingen May 21, 1915 to February 28, 1917
Lieutenant General Leo Sunday March 1 to September 4, 1917
Major general Ludwig von Tutschek September 5, 1917 to December 2, 1918

Edelweiss badge

The edelweiss badge worn by the Alpine Corps was of Austro-Hungarian origin. For help in dire need, when after the Italian entry into the war the borders to the Austro-Hungarian monarchy were almost bared and German troops were deployed to help until the front was stabilized by reinforcements brought in. In gratitude for this help, the Tyrol Regional Defense Command awarded the men of the Alpine Corps the edelweiss of the Imperial and Royal Mountain Troops in June 1915 - a similar badge is still worn today by the German Mountain Troops.

literature

  • Hebert, Günther: The Alpine Corps. Establishment, organization and deployment of a mountain troop in the First World War. Boppard 1988, ISBN 3-7646-1860-4 . (Dissertation at the University of Munich, 1983)
  • Kastner, Reinhard: Bavarian aviators in the high mountains. The Bavarian Field Aviator Department 9 in the Alpine War. Gröbenzell 1998. (Booklet for the exhibition of the Bavarian Aircraft Historians eV in the Schleissheim aircraft yard of the Deutsches Museum)
  • Lichem, Heinz von : The lonely war . Hornung Lang, Bozen 1974, ISBN 978-3-87364-031-3 .
  • Lichem, Heinz von: Gebirgskrieg 1915–1918 , Volume 2. Athesia, Bozen 1981, ISBN 88-7014-236-1 .
  • Schaumann, Walther : Guide to the scenes of the war in the Dolomites. Volume 1. Verlag Foto Ghedina Cortina d'Ampezzo, 1973.
  • Voigt, Immanuel: Evidence from the Dolomite Front. The Alpine Corps in pictures, reports and biographies. Athesia, Bozen 2017, ISBN 978-88-6839-288-8 .
  • Voigt, Immanuel: The Alpine Corps on the Dolomites Front 1915. Myth and reality. Athesia, Bozen 2014, ISBN 978-88-8266-866-2

Contemporary representations:

Web links

Commons : Deutsches Alpenkorps  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Erich von Falkenhayn: The campaign of the 9th Army against the Romanians and Russians 1916/17. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1921.
  2. ^ Albert Reich : Through Transylvania and Romania.
  3. ↑ Even if the place in the LINK is only called Muncelu , it is more than likely that it is Muncelul in German regimental histories of the First World War
  4. ^ Kolovrat, Open-Air Museum First World War
  5. ^ Monte Tomba
  6. ^ Erich Ludendorff : My war memories 1914-1918. Berlin 1919, p. 547.
  7. ↑ The term was first used in 1916 in the army report.