Royal Prussian Land Gendarmerie

Prussian Landgendarm of the XI. Gendarmerie Brigade Kassel

The Royal Prussian Landgendarmerie was the gendarmerie of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1812 to 1918 . Until the establishment of the Prussian Security Police in 1919, the corps was after the gendarmeries of Bavaria and Saxony with a good 5,500 gendarmes in 1918, the largest police force in the empire , albeit fewer in number than the Royal Protection Team Berlin with around 7,000 officers and the protection team Hamburg with around 6,000 officers. In contrast to the Royal Saxon Landgendarmerie , which was founded in 1810 and was subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior , the Prussian Gendarmerie was organized militarily and part of the army . In the war against France in 1870/71 and in the First World War in 1914/18 it provided the core of the field gendarmerie . In 1920 it was converted into a country hunt.

After the annexation of the Electorate of Hesse in 1866, the Land Gendarmerie Corps of the Electoral Hessian Army and the Royal Hanoverian Land Dragon Corps were taken over into Prussian services during the annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover .

founding

The gendarmerie corps was founded by a royal edict on July 30, 1812, based on the model of the French gendarmerie impériale . Considerations for the establishment of a police force based on the French model had been made since 1806. The only thing the corps had in common with the Gensdarmes regiment of the Prussian army, which was dissolved in 1806, was its name.

The tasks of the gendarmerie corps consisted in

• the maintenance of permanent police stations,
• the transport of prisoners,
• the support of civil authorities,
• the prevention of desertions ,
• the (official) mail transport in the respective district,
• conducting patrols for both the prevention and prosecution of crimes ,
• immediate assistance in the event of threats,
• the inclusion of reports against police regulations.

The reform of 1820

Just eight years after its founding, the corps was founded by King Friedrich Wilhelm III. Thoroughly reformed with the ordinance on the other organization of the gendarmerie and service instructions of December 30, 1820. Previously existing regional gendarmerie of the kingdom were dissolved and the competencies between military and civil administration clearly regulated. Organizationally, the gendarmerie was subordinate to the Ministry of War , but in service to the Ministry of the Interior and the local civil authorities. Eight brigades were to be stationed in each province , each divided into two departments. The total strength of the corps was to be 96 sergeants and 1,240 gendarmes, 1,080 of whom were mounted . From 1820 to 1825 there was also a border gendarmerie, which was disbanded due to ineffectiveness; The border guards took over their duties as pure tax officials.

staff

The gendarmerie was recruited exclusively from former NCOs of the army, and later also of the Imperial Navy . The probationary period, which was also the training period, lasted six months and ended with the gendarmerie examination. From 1899 the budding gendarmes were trained in two gendarmerie schools in Einbeck and Wohlau (see below). The gendarmerie officers were always semi- disabled when they were retired from the army .

Employment requirements were:

• a flawless lifestyle,
• no criminal record ,
• good knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic,
• Health and "strong physique",
• "Good natural abilities".

The gendarmes themselves had the rank of NCOs and the gendarmerie NCOs the rank of sergeants. Due to the poor communication links, the lower authorities and the innkeepers were obliged to inform the gendarmes about events relevant to the police.

The equipment of the foot gendarmes corresponded to the infantryman of the army with knapsack, cartridge pouch and bread bag as well as the rifle with attached bayonet , which had to be carried at all times. The horse material had to be suitable for warfare, i.e. it had to meet the standards of the cavalry . From 1825, the Prussian gendarmerie began to reduce the number of mounted gendarmes in favor of hiring foot gendarmes. The number of officers who had been excessively employed in the gendarmerie after the end of the war in 1815 for reasons of supply was also severely limited.

In the early phase of the corps, the gendarmes also served in cities. In 1835, 5 sergeants and 117 gendarmes were stationed in the capital Berlin .

In 1848 the gendarmerie was withdrawn from Berlin together with the military in the course of the German Revolution and instead the Royal Protection Team was set up, which would later become the model for numerous German municipal police . By a cabinet order of September 19, 1848, gendarmes with a faultless 25-year service period were granted the right to wear the silver portepee on the officer's saber. This purely external recognition and not associated with material advantages was not without significance in the militarily organized gendarmerie. From January 1, 1849, the Ministry of the Interior was no longer responsible for salary and pension benefits.

The number of staff in 1862 was:

• a chief with the rank of general ,
• an adjutant ,
• eight brigadiers with the rank of colonel ,
• 35 district officers mostly with the rank of captain ,
• 101 sergeant major
• 1,570 gendarmes, 1,121 of them mounted.

The brigades were divided into districts, headed by a district officer. These in turn were divided into mounts, which usually comprised a district . At the head of a mount stood a sergeant major, responsible for training, official activities and the management of the subordinate officers.

When the war against France broke out , the field gendarmerie was formed from the gendarmerie personnel . In 1872 the Gendarmerie Brigade Alsace-Lorraine was founded, which was organized according to the Prussian model, but remained independent as a Reich troop. Service expense allowances were introduced in 1875, and relocation expenses were reimbursed in 1879. In 1885/86 revolvers were introduced for sergeants and mounted gendarmes , which replaced the completely outdated cavalry pistols (apparently M 50 percussion pistol ).

The number of staff in 1903 was:

• a boss
• 12 brigadiers
• 56 district officers
• two adjutants
• five officers at the corps staff (including two paymasters)
• 427 sergeants, 379 of them mounted
• 4,858 gendarmes, 1,913 of them mounted
• three porters as caretakers (one each at the command in Berlin and the gendarmerie schools in Einbeck and Wohlau)

On July 20, 1906, a new regulation was introduced that was still in force at the end of the 1920s. In addition to changes in training, the gendarmes were now granted the right to vote in the Reichstag, Landtag and municipalities.

Organization around 1905

Seal of the Royal Prussian Command of the 9th Gensdarmerie Brigade

In 1905 there were 12 gendarmerie brigades analogous to the Prussian provinces:

• 01st Brigade in Koenigsberg
• 02nd Brigade in Szczecin
• 03rd Brigade in Berlin
• 04th Brigade in Magdeburg
• 05th Brigade in Poznan
• 06th Brigade in Wroclaw
• 07th Brigade in Munster
• 08th Brigade in Koblenz
• 09th Brigade in Kiel
• 10th Brigade in Hanover
• 11th Brigade in Kassel
• 12th Brigade in Gdansk

The distribution of the gendarmes was agreed jointly between the war and interior ministries. The strength of a gendarmerie brigade, in contrast to the general term of the gendarmerie brigade (five gendarmes including one brigadier ), was a good 300 gendarmes, commanded by a colonel as brigadier , to whom four to five district officers with the rank of captain with 40 to 50 gendarmes each were subordinate .

First World War and November Revolution

When the First World War broke out in 1914, one eighth (12.5%) of the sergeants and gendarmes transferred to the field gendarmerie . Most of the mounted gendarmes had to hand over their horses to the army and switched to bicycles . During the war, a partially hostile relationship with the rural population developed, as the implementation of ordinances to supply towns and the field army met with resistance. Therefore, due to the scarcity of personnel, the Ministry of the Interior finally requested non-commissioned officers and crews from the war ministry who were available from the war ministry and who were employed as auxiliary gendarmes primarily to combat surreptitious trafficking. At the end of June 1917, the "Service Instructions for the Auxiliary Gendarmes and Auxiliary Field Jäger" appeared in which the tasks of the gendarmes were clearly defined:

• Securing agriculture;
• Prevention of sabotage , e.g. B. on railways, paths, canals. Transmission lines, harvest supplies of all kinds, mills, storehouses, barns;
• Surveillance of prisoners of war, prevention of escape and recapture of prisoners of war.

When on duty, the auxiliary gendarme wore the uniform of their unit as well as a white armband with the inscription: "Auxiliary gendarme (auxiliary military police) Deputy General Command ... Army Corps". They were subordinate to the gendarmes and their civil superiors. Although attempts were made to promote the specialist knowledge of the auxiliary gendarmerie with improvised courses, it became clear that the personnel called up for the field gendarmerie were urgently needed. Therefore, at the end of 1916, a start was made to recall the gendarmes who had been called up to the field gendarmerie when the war broke out, which was done by the summer of 1917. Regardless of this, a good 2,000 auxiliary gendarmes remained in the rural gendarmerie alone by the end of the war.

During the November Revolution of 1918, the gendarmerie was also often disarmed by workers 'and soldiers' councils . Immediately after the outbreak of the revolution, on November 19, the military status of the gendarmerie was abolished and it was completely subordinated to the Ministry of the Interior. This was also welcomed by the gendarmerie itself, especially since the Saxon gendarmerie and the protective teams of the big cities have always been subordinate to the interior ministries and city magistrates. De facto, however, the gendarmes had already had freedom of assembly and the right to form associations since November 12, since the Council of People's Representatives in Prussia had granted this to all officials. The “Prussian Gendarmerie Association” was founded as early as November 28, 1918, which later became the “Association of Prussian Landjägereibeamten e. V. ”was renamed and can be seen as an early form of an official union .

The strength of the Prussian Landgendarmerie was on April 1, 1919:

• a boss,
• 12 brigadiers,
• two adjutants of the chief,
• 59 district officers,
• 14 paymasters,
• two registrars,
• a calculator,
• 472 sergeants (383 of them mounted),
• 5,380 gendarmerie sergeants (2,045 of them mounted),
• three porters.

In addition, there were around 3,000 auxiliary gendarmes, some of whom were recruited from the former gendarmerie brigade Alsace-Lorraine, but obviously mostly from the former auxiliary gendarmes, as well as 900 candidates who could not previously be taken on for budgetary reasons. On March 6, 1919, the gendarmes were appointed auxiliary officers of the public prosecutor's office.

With an ordinance of the Prussian state government of June 21, 1920, the Landgendarmerie was renamed Landjägerei and the ranks were adjusted accordingly, e.g. B. Gendarmerie District Officer to Landjägerrat, Gendarmerie Oberwachtmeister to Landjägermeister, Gendarmerie Sergeant to Oberlandjäger and Landjäger. The helmets with the royal coat of arms were worn until 1922, when their use both inside and outside of the office was prohibited by an ordinance of the MdI of August 9, 1922. Instead, only the service cap was worn until 1926, analogous to the Schupo, the shako was introduced.

As of April 1, 1922, the country hunters had a total of 673 country hunters, 4,227 high country hunters and 4,227 country hunters.

Gendarmerie schools

In 1899 the Ministry of the Interior decided on June 30th to set up gendarmerie schools in Einbeck and Wohlau, as there had been a deficit in technical training for years. Teaching began in the same year.

The teachers were the commander, his deputy and a few sergeants. Course participants were the officers who had left the army with the prospect of employment in the gendarmerie and the gendarmerie trainees who had left the army. In addition, two-month courses were held for candidate sergeants. Furthermore, old sergeants received four-week courses to familiarize them with the school system. Little by little, for the same reason, all the officers were assigned to the school for a few weeks. The curriculum included the following subjects:

• Instruction and instruction book;
• Equipment and clothing;
• Competencies;
• Criminal Code , Code of Criminal Procedure ;
• History and constitutional law ;
• Association law, trade regulations, press police, measure and weight police, hunting, field, fishing and forest police, forest theft, road, construction and fire police;
• Investigation service;
• Medical service, cattle disease police;
• Record keeping (diary, wanted letter register, etc.).

In addition, shooting and cycling instruction was given, in addition, the police visited the practical view Schöffengericht negotiations on the District Court Einbeck. At the end of the course, the commander took a written and oral final exam.

The preparation of the officer candidates took place on a voluntary basis; they could therefore withdraw from the course at any time. Her instruction included constitutional law, general law, and the administration of justice. It was assumed that the officer candidates had already mastered the material of the gendarmerie candidates.

An “instruction for the Prussian Gendarmerie Schools” did not appear until 1910. When the First World War broke out, both schools were closed because the war was expected to be short. However, the need to reopen soon became apparent. In September 1916, school operations were resumed in Einbeck. As a result of the November Revolution , both schools were closed again, but reopened in early 1919. On July 21, 1920 the name was changed to Landjägereischulen, and on September 15, 1927 a third school was opened in Allenstein .

Uniformity

Uniforms seem to have been very inconsistent in the early years due to the severe shortage of uniform materials during and after the coalition wars. Apparently, like officers, gendarmes wore the uniforms of their old units or a combination of old and new uniforms.

Knoe07 35

Prussian gendarmes around 1840 NCOs on horseback and on foot

The uniform introduced in 1812 was evidently based on that of the Prussian dragoons and consisted of a dark blue collar for riders and a long skirt for foot policemen, dark gray long trousers and a black shako that could be covered with an oilcloth. The skirt collar was cornflower blue. Off duty officers could wear a two-pointed hat (point forward). The uniform was changed in the course of the reform of 1820 and a dark green collar analogous to the hunters and riflemen in the army was introduced.

In 1843, similar to the army, there was a complete new uniform. The shako was replaced by the helmet ( spiked hood ) and the collet by the tunic . The pants color remained dark gray and the skirt color dark green. In 1871 black and blue trousers were introduced. From the 1880s to around 1906, officers wore a black overcoat ( interim skirt ) on occasion ; in summer they were allowed to wear white trousers when they were not on duty. The previously gray coats have been replaced by black. From 1900 the gendarmes were allowed to wear a cape without a badge. From 1903 officers and sergeants were allowed to wear gray Litewken , from 1904 the gendarmes were allowed to wear a so-called house coat without any badges. Shortly before the outbreak of war in 1914, a light gray-green summer skirt was being tested.

This uniform was worn little changed until the outbreak of the First World War. From 1916 the field-gray uniform of the infantry with blouse, stone-gray trousers and the field-gray uniform coat was introduced. To what extent this uniform was actually implemented in full is unclear. After the war, depending on availability, a hodgepodge of old green and field gray clothing was worn. In 1925 a gray-green uniform (skirt and trousers) and in 1926 the shako of the police was introduced for the rural hunt. This uniform was 1928 again modified and all officials an additional Stiefelhose introduced in Breechesform.

Chiefs of the Landgendarmerie

Rank	Surname	date
Major General / Lieutenant General	Ludwig von Brauchitsch	May 10, 1812 to January 19, 1827
Lieutenant General	Ernst Ludwig von Tippelskirch	January 30, 1827 to January 23, 1840
Lieutenant General	Karl Georg von Loebell	January 27, 1840 to October 15, 1841
Lieutenant General	Peter of Colomb	0December 2, 1841 to September 20, 1843
Lieutenant General	Leopold von Lützow	September 21, 1843 to August 29, 1844
Lieutenant General	Wilhelm von Ditfurth	0October 3, 1844 to March 7, 1848
Major general	Wilhelm von Thümen	0March 8, 1848 to April 3, 1856
Major general	Ludolf von Alvensleben	0August 8, 1857 to April 20, 1865 (in charge of the tour)
Lieutenant General / General of the Cavalry	Ludolf von Alvensleben	April 21, 1865 to December 29, 1867
Lieutenant General	Friedrich von Bismarck-Bohlen	0January 1, 1868 to July 29, 1870
Lieutenant General	Alexander von Stuckrad	July 30, 1870 to August 17, 1871
Lieutenant General	Emil von Schwartzkoppen	October 19, 1871 to December 23, 1873
General of the Infantry	Ferdinand von Stülpnagel	December 24, 1873 to October 15, 1875
Major General / Lieutenant General	Gustav von Neumann-Cosel	November 16, 1875 to November 1, 1878 (in charge of the tour)
Major General / Lieutenant General	Hermann von Wartensleben	0November 2, 1878 to April 5, 1880 (in charge of the tour)
General of the cavalry	Gustav Waldemar von Rauch	April 20, 1880 to August 1, 1888
Lieutenant General / General of the Infantry	Albert von Rauch	0August 2, 1888 to August 24, 1897
Lieutenant General / General of the Infantry	Ludwig von Hammerstein-Loxten	August 25, 1897 to July 31, 1904
General of the cavalry	Victor von Hennigs	0August 01, 1904 to September 8, 1908
General of the Infantry	Kurt from Medem	0September 9, 1908 to June 24, 1913
General of the Infantry	Thilo von Westernhagen	June 25, 1913 to August 9, 1916
General of the artillery	Franz Friedrich von Pfeil and Klein-Ellguth	August 10, 1916 to March 31, 1921

See also

• Royal Hanoverian Land Dragon Corps
• Kk Gendarmerie

literature

• Raymond B. Fosdick: European police systems. London (Allen & Unwin) 1915, reprints 1969, 1972.
• Landjäger major Werner Blankenstein: The Prussian land hunting through the ages. Erfurt 1931.
• Winkelmann: The gendarmerie service. 4th edition, Berlin 1895.
• Winkelmann: The gendarmerie probist. 5th edition, Berlin 1897.
• Entry: Gendarmerie. In: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon. 6th edition, Vol. 7, Leipzig / Vienna (Bibliographisches Institut) 1905, pp. 546f.
• Edgar Graf von Matuschka: Organizational history of the army 1890-1918. In: Military History Research Office (Ed.): German Military History in Six Volumes 1648–1939. Vol. III, Herrsching 1983, pp. 157-311, ISBN 3-88199-112-3 .
• Heinrich Ambros Eckert / Dietrich Monten : The German army. After the uniforms from the years 1835 to 1843 edited by Georg Ortenburg. Dortmund (Harenberg) 1990, ISBN 3-611-00132-5 .
• Jürgen W. Schmidt (ed.): Police in Prussia in the 19th century. Ludwigsfelde (Ludwigsfelder Verlagshaus) 2011, ISBN 978-3-933022-66-0 .

Web links

• Uniform boards of the Prussian gendarmerie on www.polizeiuniform.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dermot Bradley (ed.), Günter Wegner: Occupation of the German Army 1815-1939. Volume 1: The higher command posts 1815–1939. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-1780-1 , pp. 26-27.