Guard measure
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The Gardemaß defined in the original military usage, a certain height , which the suitability of each guard unit includes. The original idea behind it was that the uniform size of the soldiers in the respective guards resulted in a uniform image at parades .
The guards measure was particularly used in the Kingdom of Prussia . In 1675, Prince Elector Friedrich von Brandenburg founded a unit of soldiers who were known as the Old Prussian Infantry Regiment (called: the Langen Kerls) .
In today's linguistic usage, the term “have a corresponding guard ” is extended to all external characteristics in order to assign the person described - purely externally - to a certain group.
Guard measure in the Kingdom of Prussia
A highlight of the preparation of the Guard troops with a standardized Gardemaß was in Prussia under the auspices of Frederick William I practiced. In 1713 Friedrich Wilhelm I became king in Prussia and the Old Prussian Infantry Regiment (called: the Lange Kerls) was upgraded to the Guard , this regiment was used for honor guard services or representative purposes. None of the guards soldiers were allowed to be less than six Prussian feet (1.88 meters) tall .
The Prussian king provided the recruits with all available means to obtain suitable recruits . So many Prussian recruits roamed the surrounding countries and recruited suitable recruits through money, kidnapping or violence. Very few of the new recruits came voluntarily. Many tall men therefore fled the Kingdom of Prussia in order to evade the access of the Prussian advertisers. Particularly tall foreigners no longer wanted to study in Prussia. A prominent example is the tall poet Johann Christoph Gottsched , who fled from Königsberg to Leipzig in 1724 in order not to be drafted into the king's guard regiment. In 1720 the Prussian king ceded some Prussian colonies and bases to the Kingdom of Holland and handed over a sum of 7,650 thalers in order to receive 12 tall Africans for his guard. During his reign the Prussian taxpayers had to raise 36 million thalers for the establishment and maintenance of the regiment.
The huge size for the time was visually enlarged by the high red grenadier cap . Found bone preparations of an anonymous Tall Guy were 2.23 meters tall. Friedrich Wilhelm I often left the remains of his soldiers to the Anatomical Theater in Berlin, which was established in 1713, for medical purposes before they were buried with military honors .
The Russian Tsar Peter I used to return the favor every year for the precious gifts that the Prussian king had given him with a delivery of "giants". The salaries and meals of the Prussian canteen giants were well above the average at the time. The king donated land and houses to his guardsmen. In order to settle a particularly large number of large people in Prussia, the king married them to large and strong peasant girls and took on sponsorships for the children from this marriage.
Particularly large members of the guard were:
- The Irishman James Kirkland was 2.17 meters tall
- Jonas Heinrichson with a height of 2.12 meters. He served with the Lange Kerls between 1713 and 1736.
Only extreme ugliness , skin diseases or a lack of front teeth were reasons for exclusion from serving in the Guard.
Without existing incisors, the paper cartridges for the ammunition of the muskets could not be bitten off. The charge consisted of paper balls wrapped around black powder and sub-caliber round balls. For loading, the end of the paper cartridges had to be bitten off with your teeth in order to fill the powder pan of the lock with the black powder. The rest of the powder was poured into the barrel. Then the bullet with the paper could be inserted into the barrel and crammed firmly onto the powder charge using the ramrod.
The Potsdam Regiment No. 6 had developed into an experimental unit in which the drill regulations binding for the entire army were tested and worked out, but which at the same time fulfilled the function of representation. This guard unit was not disbanded by Frederick II , but the oversized soldiers were distributed to existing regiments. Some guards soldiers were assigned directly to his personal Crown Prince Regiment No. 15 .
Guard measure in modern times
military
China
Women's Guard
There are also pure women's guards in the Chinese army . The corresponding guard size is given as 175 centimeters.
Germany
National Peoples Army
In the guard regiment "Friedrich Engels" , the guard was at least 1.80 m. The specially selected guardsmen were selected from among the ranks of reservists and conscripts. According to the requirements of the time, the military district commandos should select applicants who should also be " photogenic ".
armed forces
The " Guard Troop " of the Bundeswehr is the guard battalion at the Federal Ministry of Defense (WachBtl BMVg). The formal suitability is defined by the following kiteria:
- Soldiers not only have to have the highest level of fitness T1 , the addition X1 also applies to them - no glasses, no beard, no stomach. (called pattern grade T1X1 ).
- Height between 1.78 and 1.96 meters
- fitness
- Minimum age: 17 years
Vatican city
Papal Swiss Guard
- Body size: The standard height is 1.74 m.
- Impeccable health: Before starting the recruitment school, a medical examination is carried out in Switzerland. During the training to become a guardsman, additional health checks are required and the resilience of the recruits is checked by means of a psychological-physical test.
- The Swiss Guard is an all-male corps.
- Age: Minimum age 19 years and maximum age 30 years.
- Swiss citizen
- Roman Catholic Faith
Civil society
aviation
In civil aviation, some airlines have set a standard for their flight attendants , but this restriction met with criticism:
- The Russian airline Aeroflot suffered legal defeat against two of its stewardesses - at least partially. A Russian court ruled that the airline cannot tell its employees what size uniform to wear. Aeroflot had previously stipulated the Russian size 48 (EUR 42 or L) as the maximum.
- Some Asian airlines pay attention to the waist size of their flight attendants . If they fail to meet the standard, they will first be transferred to less rewarded flights and then to the ground staff .
Modeling profession
In German-speaking countries, a minimum height of 1.76 meters has been stipulated for participation in the TV show Germany's Next Topmodel since 2012 . In the earlier episodes the above was Body size not yet decisive. The previous winners Barbara Meier (1.74 m) and Jana Beller (1.73 m) were shorter. The 2009 winner, Sara Nuru , with her height of 1.76 meters, achieves the required minimum size selectively.
See also
- Prussian Army
- Infantry regiments of the Old Prussian Army 1644–1806
- List of infantry regiments of the Old Prussian Army
- Napoleon complex
literature
- Rolf Fuhrmann: The long guys - The Prussian giant guard 1675 / 1713-1806 . Zeughaus Verlag, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-938447-29-1
- Jürgen Kloosterhuis: Legendary "tall guys". Sources on regimental culture of the royal grenadiers of Friedrich Wilhelm I, 1713–1740 . Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-923579-03-9
Individual evidence
- ↑ Definition of Lange Kerls on the website of rbb Preußenchronik (accessed December 19, 2019)
- ↑ On the true size of Langen Kerls newspaper article in the Lausitzer Rundschau of September 24, 2005 (accessed December 19, 2019)
- ↑ Lange Kerls: The elite battalion receives from three Potsdam reinforcements newspaper articles from Carolin Holzmeier in the newspaper: Der Tagesspiegel (accessed December 19, 2019)
- ↑ Lulatsch bei Langen Kerls, a report by Wilfried Neisse dated May 8, 2015 on the website of the newspaper new Germany (accessed on December 20, 2019)
- ↑ Jürgen Kloosterhuis : Legendary "tall guys" . Sources on the regimental culture of the royal grenadiers Friedrich Wilhelm I, 1713–1740, Berlin: Secret State Archives Prussian Cultural Heritage 2003, p. 48, ISBN 978-3-923579-03-7 .
- ↑ Drill and make-up tips for China's female soldiers by Johnny Erling. A newspaper article dated August 23, 2015, published in Welt (accessed December 19, 2019)
- ↑ Peter Heinze: Berlin Military Stories. About Allies, NVA and Bundeswehr from the Cold War and after , Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-937885-69-8 , 356 pages, p. 70.
- ↑ The Bundeswehr is running out of tall guys A newspaper article from July 18, 2013 published in the WZ (accessed December 19, 2019)
- ↑ Recruits with health and guardianship A newspaper article by Simone Meyer from November 23, 2010 in the Berliner Morgenpost
- ↑ Requirements for service on the Swiss Guard website (accessed December 19, 2019)
- ↑ Aeroflot has to pay due to the urge to slim an article by Timo Nowack on the aero telegraph website from September 9, 2017
- ↑ Obesity can become a problem for flight attendant careers on the website of t-online.de (accessed December 20, 2019)
- ↑ Guard measure 1.76 meters: Klum and ProSieben raise hurdles for "Germany's Next Top Model" a contribution by Petra Schwegler from August 15, 2012 (accessed December 20, 2019)