Royal Bavarian Infantry Body Regiment

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First lieutenant of the Grenadier Guard Regiment 1814

The infantry body regiment was the house regiment ( guard regiment ) of the Bavarian kings from the end of the Napoleonic wars to the fall of the Wittelsbach monarchy and the associated dissolution of the Bavarian army .

precursor

Even before the actual body regiment , two infantry regiments in Bavaria had this name:

history

Lineup

The regiment was formed by the highest resolution on July 16, 1814 as the " Grenadier Guard Regiment " from the grenadier companies of the Bavarian line infantry regiments. The tallest and most beautiful people (sic!) Were transferred to the Grenadier Guard Regiment, the excess to the 1st Infantry Regiment . The regiment then consisted of three battalions of six companies each . The first colonel in command was Franz Freiherr von Hertling, who held the command until February 11, 1824. On April 13, 1815, the regiment received its flags in Munich. A field battalion was assembled from all battalions on April 14, 1815 and deployed under the 6th Reserve Infantry Brigade for guard duty in Mannheim and Auxerre . After the armistice the II. And III. Battalion moved to Auxerre. On September 22nd, 1815 the flags were consecrated in the cathedral of Auxerres.

The garrison was basically the royal seat of Munich , but the regiment's battalions were temporarily outsourced (1st battalion 1851/53 in Germersheim , 1862 in Landau; 2nd battalion in Landau in 1853 , 1859 in Landsberg , 1871 in Augsburg ; 3rd battalion in 1873 in Fürstenfeldbruck ).

Immediately after the death of Max I. Joseph , his son and successor Ludwig I ordered the dissolution of the expensive guards regiments. From December 6, 1825, the regiment was renamed " Line Infantry Body Regiment " consisting of two battalions of six companies each (20 to 30 men). Since October 28, 1835, it has only been known as the " Infantry-Leib-Regiment ", but without a regiment number it was at the top of the infantry rankings. In fact, however, it retained its guard status. "Leiber" quickly developed into the nickname of the regimental members.

On April 27, 1841, Hugo Bosch became the first colonel in command without a title of nobility (which he only received in 1850). In 1848 the III. Battalion set up again. The regiment was put on alert on April 4, 1848 during the turmoil of the revolution and took up position in front of the residence . The 1st and 2nd battalions were sent to Sigmaringen on October 5, 1848 to protect Prince Karl August von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and to dissolve the provisional government there. After similar missions under an "observation corps" in the Ulm and Günzburg area , the battalions returned to Munich by December 31, 1849. For the 50th anniversary of the regiment on July 16, 1864, his officers and their Commander-in-Chief Karl Graf von Spreti went to a “banquette” in the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten . His officers and men received 500 guilders from King Ludwig II and from Prince Otto 100 guilders cruet allowance.

War against Prussia 1866

During the war with Prussia and its allies in the summer of 1866, the infantry body regiment was not used as a unit. While the 1st battalion was stationed in the federal fortress Mainz , the II. And III. Battalion under Colonel Commandant Siegmund Freiherr von Pranckh subordinated to the 1st Brigade . The 4th battalion was broken up in a battle with a Prussian- Mecklenburg unit near Seybothenreuth on July 29th. In four battles the regiment had to mourn seventeen dead and 136 wounded, whereby strangely after the first battle of the regiment near Nüdlingen the Colonel Commandant was replaced by the non-aristocratic Adalbert Högenstaller (2nd civil Colonel Commander).

Franco-German War 1870/71

In the war against France in 1870/71, the regiment was subordinated to the 1st Brigade, subsequently to the 1st Division . It established 66 officers and 2,879 men in the Lechfeld camp . In the battles at Wörth on August 6, 1870 and at Sedan on September 1, the body regiment was at the focal point of the fighting and suffered some losses. For the military services at Sedan on September 1, 1870, the commander of the III. Battalion Major Joseph Graf von Ioner-Tettenweiß received the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order . After the battle at Artenay on October 10, 1870, the regiment occupied Orléans a day later , but had to evacuate it on November 9, 1870 against far superior French forces (Loire Army). Due to the prudent and brave behavior of Captain Karl Hoffmann, chief of the 9th company of the regiment, he prevented superior French detachments from breaking through in the battle of Villepion on December 1, 1870, and held the already highly endangered position until the end of the day. For this he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order. On December 2, 1870, the regiment proved itself in the costly battle of Loigny and Poupry near Bazoches, for which the first lieutenant of the 8th Company, Hermann Ehrne von Melchthal , was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order for bravery in the face of the enemy has been. The regiment retook Orléans the following day. On December 7, 1870, Lieutenant Friedrich Krieger, as a company commander of the 11th Company at Lemons (Meung, right bank of the Loire) , rejected the onslaught of superior French forces on an artillery position and went on to counterattack at his own initiative. While pursuing him, he took numerous French prisoners and captured an enemy battery . For his energetic intervention he received the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order. Also on December 7, 1870, in the battle at Le Bardon (northwest of Meung on the right bank of the Loire), Lieutenant Alfred Meyer distinguished himself for his brave behavior, for which he received the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order on May 24, 1871 . In the battle of Beaugency on December 8, 1870, the regiment was able to hold its positions against the French attacks. Here the officer Heinrich von Vallade , educator of King Ludwig III. , mortally wounded. The regiment was kept in readiness for the siege of Paris , but no longer had to intervene in the fighting.

According to official sources, the infantry body regiment had marched out with 66 officers and 2,879 men. 54 officers and 2193 men took part in the triumphal march on July 16, 1871 in Munich.

In eight transports, 34 officers and 2,333 men were sent on as replacements, so that the regiment had a total loss of dead, wounded and sick of 46 officers and 3,019 men, i.e. over a hundred men more than initially marched out.

From the founding of the Reich to 1914

Greeting postcard from the Bavarian Infantry Body Regiment (New Year 1913)

In 1872 the companies consisted of four officers, fourteen non-commissioned officers and 124 men. The 4th and 12th companies, together with one company each from the 1st and 2nd Infantry Regiments, formed the training battalion in Munich.

On July 7, 1881, a member of the Wittelsbach family, Arnulf von Bayern , was in command of the regiment until March 20, 1884, after which he was placed à la suite . In addition, were deployed as commanders u. a. Felix Graf von Bothmer (1901 to 1903, from 1912 à la suite) and Friedrich Kreß von Kressenstein (1903 to 1905), in addition, as à la suite, Rupprecht von Bayern (1899).

The IV. Half Battalion (13th and 14th companies) set up in 1893 was surrendered to the newly set up 20th Infantry Regiment four years later . In 1911 one was machine gun - Company set up.

First World War

1914

During the First World War , the Leib-Regiment entered the combat strength of 65 officers and 2,962 men (as of August 7, 1914) initially in the 1st Infantry Brigade (together with the 1st Infantry Regiment "König" ) in France as part of the 6th Army , whereby the regiment had to pass the first acid test during the assault on Badonviller on August 12, 1914. With around 450 dead and wounded losses of its own, it brought in 800 French prisoners and rich spoils of war. After the battles at Badonviller, Georg Fürst composed the “Badonviller March”, which became known as the “ Badenweiler March ”. On August 19, 1914, the first two officers and 432 non-commissioned officers and men were replaced. In the battle of Péronne on September 24 and 25, 1914, the advance ended due to violent French counter-attacks. By then the regiment had lost over a thousand men. Lieutenant Colonel Franz Epp succeeded Colonel Friedrich Freiherr von Pechmann as commander on December 24, 1914.

1915

The regiment dug in near Péronne and held its positions through the winter of 1914/15. It recovered to 81 officers and 3,245 NCOs or men (April 1, 1915). In May 1915, the 13th and 14th companies were set up again and handed over to the reorganization of the 24th Infantry Regiment. On May 19, 1915, the regiment retired from the 1st Infantry Division and was transferred to South Tyrol as one of the core troops of the newly established German Alpine Corps . On July 1, 1915, the Mountain MG Division 205 and the Reserve MG Division 4 were subordinated to the regiment for a long time. On July 31, 1915, the regimental flags were handed over to the witness office in Munich, as they were no longer of any importance in modern warfare. In the Tyrolean mountains it captured around 750 Italians by October 1915 with relatively low losses. Starting in winter 1915/16, the Alpine Corps was shifted back and forth between the western and eastern fronts in order to intervene as an elite force at the focal points of the fighting. In October 1915 it was ordered to Champagne to be sent to the Serbian front after a brief deployment .

1916

After six months of service in the Balkans , the regiment returned to France, where it took part in the Battle of Verdun in the summer of 1916 . In doing so, the regiment succeeded in taking the village of Fleury with its western elevation on June 23, 1916 , for which the infantry body regiment was named in the army report. Due to the situation in neighboring sections of the front, however, no further advance to the west was made. In June 1916 alone it lost 22 officers and 1,163 NCOs and men. In July 1916 it captured twenty French machine guns and took 2,000 French prisoners. After the battles in the Argonnerwald from August 18 to September 8, 1916, the regiment reported a lack of 36 officers and a thousand non-commissioned officers or men. From autumn 1916 on, the regiment was deployed in Romania , where it blocked the strategically important Red Tower Pass and contributed significantly to the success of the Central Powers' offensive against Romania. During these battles on November 7, 1916, Prince Heinrich of Bavaria was appointed commander of the III. Battalion in the front line seriously wounded and died the following day from his injuries. The regiment excelled in pursuing the Russian-Romanian units to the Putna River and took over a thousand prisoners.

1917

On January 3, 1917, the combat strength of the regiment was only 1,354 men. On April 24, 1917, the 2nd and 3rd MG companies were set up. From May to July 1917 the regiment briefly returned to the Western Front in Upper Alsace, only to be relocated back to Romania in the summer. On July 24, 1917, the so-called “Leiberring” was founded for 24 months of net front service time and awarded to 61 officers and 1,087 NCOs and men. At the end of August the regiment had shrunk to 1,055 men when a thousand replacements finally arrived in October and November 1917. In October 1917, the regiment took in northern Italy at the 12th Isonzo battle part, which is especially during the storming of the heavily fortified Kolowrat-back and the Monte Matajur distinguished. The 1st Battalion of the regiment was the first to penetrate Cividale del Friuli . The pouring rain and the resulting swollen torrents prevented the complete defeat of the Italian army. With “only” 280 casualties, 11,000 Italians were captured and 97 machine guns, ten mortars , one hundred artillery pieces and an armored car were captured.

1918

The regiment then took part in the unsuccessful spring offensive of 1918 in West Flanders ( Operation "Georgette" ). After the extremely bloody fighting over the Kemmelberg and Scherpenberg from April 18 to 29, 1918, 55 officers and around 1,400 men were killed and wounded. The companies were reduced to about 80 men each. In autumn 1918, after defensive battles on the Somme (total strength of the regiment on September 20, 1918: 380 men!), It was relocated to Serbia to cover the German retreat. On October 10, 1918, the 4th, 5th and 6th companies of the Cyclist Battalion No. 3 were subordinated.

losses

The regiment suffered total losses during the war

  • Dead: 98 officers and 3,304 NCOs or men
  • Missing: approx. 450 men
  • Prisoners of war: 533 men.

Whereabouts

Badge of the regimental association

After the armistice of Compiègne , the regiment had to make its way back from the Balkans from November 12 to 23, 1918 through areas with hostile populations via Hungary to Bavaria. About sixty men were until the arrival in Munich deserter , an unmistakable sign of the resolution of internal order. The regiment was demobilized on November 28, 1918 in Munich except for a small tribe and finally disbanded. No free formations formed from the demobilized parts.

However, many former members of the regiment joined nationalist paramilitary organizations and reactionary Freikorps on. The meeting point for former officers was the “Leiberzimmer” in Munich's Sterneckerbräu. This restaurant was also the first office of the German Workers' Party (DAP), which was renamed the NSDAP in 1920 .

After Bavaria's military sovereignty passed to the Reich in 1919, the tradition of the infantry body regiment in the Reichswehr was transferred to the 1st and 2nd companies of the 19th ( August 24, 1921) by the chief of the Army Command, General of the Infantry Hans von Seeckt. Bavarian) Infantry Regiment . In the Wehrmacht , the 1935 Infantry Regiment, which was renamed Grenadier Regiment 19 in 1942, continued the tradition. On August 31, 1944, it took over the traditional name of "List" from the disbanded Grenadier Regiment 199 in memory of the Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 from the First World War, which also had this nickname and in which Adolf Hitler had served. When his regime collapsed, the regiment came to an end with the retreat to the Bay of Danzig . Due to the breaks in German military history, the assignment of specific association traditions for the Bundeswehr was generally prohibited . The contact person for questions about the Leib Regiment is the Feldjäger Battalion 451 in Munich, after the Panzer Grenadier Battalion 223 and after its dissolution in 1992 the Command Support Regiment 60 performed this function. In addition, the comrades and friends Leibregiment e. V. with seat in Munich since 1984 the tradition of the regiment.

Uniformity

Schematic representation of the uniform after the introduction of the Prussian tunic and the spiked bonnet (1890)

The uniformity initially differed from the line infantry in particular by the apparent from the example of the French Guard Grenadiers inspired bearskin hats , also white buttons, Kragenborte and braids on the front and cuffs and long coattails. With the conversion to the body regiment, the bearskin hats gave way to the caterpillar helmet ; Collar border, breast braids and longer skirt tails fell away. With the introduction of the Prussian tunic in the Bavarian Army (1872), the body regiment, unlike the rest of the infantry, wore white buttons, braid and Swedish cuffs. In 1886 the caterpillar helmet gave way to the pickel hood. The basic color of the uniform skirt was always light blue until the introduction of field gray.

Known members of the regiment

Commanders

The regiment owner was always the king himself, the military and administrative leadership of the regiment, however, lay with the colonel commanders or, from 1872, commanders.

Rank Surname date
Franz Xaver von Hertling July 16, 1814 to February 11, 1824
Friedrich von Greis February 11, 1824 to May 22, 1836
Johann von Fleischmann May 22, 1836 to April 27, 1841
Hugo Bosch April 27, 1841 to October 18, 1844
Wilhelm von Jeetze October 18, 1844 to April 7, 1847
Ludwig von Deroy 0April 7, 1847 to June 30, 1848
Jakob Ermarth June 30, 1848 to January 19, 1851
August by Frays January 19 to September 19, 1851
Caspar von Hagens September 19, 1851 to May 9, 1859
Karl von Spreti 0May 9, 1859 to January 11, 1865
Siegmund von Pranckh January 11, 1865 to July 13, 1866
Adalbert Högenstaller July 13, 1866 to April 14, 1867
Anton von Täuffenbach April 14, 1867 to March 27, 1871
Rudolf von Gumppenberg March 27, 1871 to November 3, 1872
Heinrich von Wirthmann 0November 3, 1872 to December 15, 1875
Otto von Parseval December 15, 1875 to July 7, 1881
Arnulf of Bavaria 0July 7, 1881 to March 20, 1884
Hugo von Helvig March 20, 1884 to May 11, 1888
Moriz von Bomhard May 11, 1888 to March 8, 1889
Wilhelm Gemmingen von Massenbach 0March 8, 1889 to November 25, 1891
Ludwig von Grauvogl November 25, 1891 to January 15, 1895
Theophil von Reichlin-Meldegg January 15 to November 9, 1895
Carl von Horn 0November 9, 1895 to May 10, 1896
Karl Ferdinand Maximillian of Malaisé May 10, 1896 to March 17, 1897
Alfred Eckbrecht from Dürckheim-Montmartin March 17, 1897 to August 14, 1901
Colonel Felix von Bothmer August 14, 1901 to May 18, 1903
Colonel Friedrich Kreß von Kressenstein May 18, 1903 to October 17, 1905
Colonel Karl von Brug October 17, 1905 to September 11, 1906
Colonel Max von Montgelas September 11, 1906 to September 18, 1908
Alexander von Harsdorf on Enderndorf November 18, 1908 to January 24, 1910
Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel Bernhard von Hartz January 24th to March 25th 1910 (entrusted with the tour)
Colonel Bernhard von Hartz March 26, 1910 to September 30, 1912
Colonel Friedrich von Pechmann 0October 1, 1912 to December 25, 1914
Major / Lieutenant Colonel Franz Epp August 19 to December 25, 1914 (in charge of the tour)
Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel Franz von Epp December 26, 1914 until the end of the war

Knight of the order Pour le Mérite 1914/18

  • 0December 5, 1917: Lieutenant in the reserve Ferdinand Schörner
  • May 29, 1918: Colonel Franz von Epp

Knight of the Military Max Joseph Order 1914/18

  • November 15, 1915: First Lieutenant Hans von Speidel, killed on December 28, 1916
  • June 25, 1916: Heinrich von Bayern, killed on November 8, 1916
  • June 23, 1916: Lieutenant Colonel Franz von Epp
  • July 11, 1916: Captain Emmerich von Godin
  • June 24, 1916: Captain of the Reserve Günther von Pechmann
  • July 20, 1916: Lieutenant in the reserve Wilhelm Meng
  • 0January 6, 1917: Major Robert von Bothmer, killed on September 28, 1918
  • 0January 6, 1917: First Lieutenant Ludwig von Bothmer
  • August 10, 1917: Lieutenant in the reserve Hans von Ruckteschell
  • October 27, 1917: Lieutenant in the Reserve Karl von Halt
  • May 28, 1918: Lieutenant in the reserve Franz Wimmer
  • September 18, 1918: Captain Hans von Pranckh

Others

Traces in the present

The Leiberheim in Munich-Waldperlach. View around 1920
  • At the Munich Ostfriedhof , near the main entrance, there is a Leibregiments-Vereinigung e. V. erected a memorial for the soldiers of the regiment who fell and went missing in World War I.
  • Of the Turkish barracks built for the regiment in the classical style in 1826 (so called because of its location on Munich's Türkenstrasse), only the imposing main gate remains today ; the barracks itself was largely destroyed in World War II and later demolished. The Pinakothek der Moderne is now located on the site .
  • The Germering town band wears the historical gala uniform of the musicians of the Grenadier Guard Regiment from 1814 to 1826 to many of its performances.
  • In 1892 the association of former members of the regiment was founded in Munich. From 1907 to 1911 the association built a rest home for the regiment in the forest near Perlach , which still exists today under the name " Leiberheim " and is now a public beer garden . The district of Waldperlach developed around the property.
  • The standards of the Infantry Leib Regiment are kept in the Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt .

literature

  • The k.-b. Infantry Leib Regiment 1814 to 1914. edited by Oskar Illing. Munich 1914.
  • Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen , Friedrichfranz Feeser : The Bavaria book of the world wars 1914-1918. Volume I. Chr. Belser AG publishing bookstore. Stuttgart 1930.
  • Josef Reiss (Ed.): The k.-b. Infantry body regiment in World War 1914/18. Munich 1931. (Memoirs of German regiments. Bavarian share. Volume 70).
  • Günter Wegner: Germany's armies until 1918. Volume 10: Bavaria. Biblio publishing house. Osnabrück 1984. ISBN 3-7648-1199-4 .
  • Günther Hebert: The Alpine Corps. Establishment, organization and deployment of a mountain troop in the First World War. Boppard 1988. ISBN 3-7646-1860-4 .
  • Jakob Knab: Unassailable tradition. The Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order and the Royal Bavarian Infantry Body Regiment. in: HISTORY ACROSS. Journal of the Bavarian History Workshops. Issue 12 (2004).
  • Florian Kühnhauser: War memories of a soldier of the royal Bavarian infantry body regiment. Leonhard Wenzel publishing house. Partenkirchen 1898.
  • The body. Monthly magazine of the former members of the Inf. Leib-Regiment in Bavaria. 1921-1933. Bavarian regiment newspaper publisher Rosenheim.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ From 1872 the designation commanding officer became common
  2. ↑ A detailed account of the battle at von Bagensky: History of the Royal Prussian 4th Guards Regiment on Foot 1860–1889. Ernst Siegfried Mittler and son. Berlin 1889. pp. 117–121 with map p. 116.
  3. ↑ Florian Kühnhauser - statistical appendix
  4. ^ Jürgen Kraus: Handbook of the units and troops of the German army 1914-1918. Part VI: Infantry. Volume 1: Infantry Regiments. Publishing house Militaria. Vienna 2007. ISBN 978-3-902526-14-4 . P. 431.
  5. ↑ Jakob Knab , information as in literature, p. 27
  6. ↑ Jakob Knab, details see or in literature, p. 26
  7. ^ Benedikt Weyerer: Sterneckerbräu, Munich. In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria . October 16, 2009, accessed March 9, 2012 .