kk gendarmerie

The kk gendarmerie ( French gens d'armes : "armed people") was brought into being as a militarily organized guards by imperial decree of June 8, 1849 . With the reorganization of the public security system after the revolution of 1848 , the kk gendarmerie replaced a large number of the security organs active in the countryside in villages and small towns (Büttel, Landdragoner, etc.), including the lordly patrimonial police .

Reorganized several times, the Imperial and Royal Gendarmerie was the immediate forerunner of the Federal Gendarmerie , model of the Royal Hungarian (Ku) Gendarmerie (1881) and, together with the latter, the parent organization of the Imperial and Royal Gendarmerie Corps for Bosnia and Herzegovina (1879/1908).

Corps history from 1849 to 1918

Lombard gendarmerie in the Austrian Empire around 1840.

Initially conceived as a security force " covering the entire scope of the Austrian Empire", the area of activity of a state police body extended for the first time over the entire territory of the Habsburg monarchy . Field Marshal Lieutenant Johann Franz Kempen, Baron von Fichtenstamm, took over the management of the new troops as "General Gendarmerie Inspector" .

The model for the new organization was the gendarmerie regiment in Lombardy. With the annexation of the Lombardy - Venetian Kingdom after the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Austria took over the gendarmerie regiment that was active there and had almost 1,000 men. Until then, in the Habsburg Monarchy only the " Military Police Guard Corps " (since 1840: "Military Police Commands") established in the larger cities (Vienna, Lemberg, Krakow, Przemysl and others ) as a militarily organized security guard was known .

The dark green, red piped uniform along with the armpit cord worn on the left shoulder was copied by the kk gendarmerie and the simultaneously established bodyguard gendarmerie department ("Burggendarmen"; since 1868: kuk bodyguard rider squadron ), the latter being copied together with the similarly uniformed k. (u.) k. The Life Guard Infantry Company provided security and orderly duty in the Vienna Hofburg.

Initially welcomed by the population, the imperial and royal gendarmerie was politically instrumentalized in the era of neo-absolutism (1850–1860): In addition to fighting crime , it now also included the preparation of political dossiers on public officials (teachers, judges, civil servants, etc.).

In the course of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise in 1867, the Imperial and Royal Gendarmerie lost its responsibility for the Hungarian half of the empire; only in Croatia-Slavonia and Transylvania did the gendarmerie remain active. It was not until 1881 that a uniform state security guard was established in Transleithanien with the installation of the Royal Hungarian (ku) gendarmerie . Previously, the responsible local authorities had shown themselves to be overwhelmed as a regulatory authority. The 1871 re-established " Serezaner -Corps" that his service to the former Military Frontier had done, went on in the new ku gendarmerie.

Initially part of the Imperial and Royal Army , the Imperial and Royal Gendarmerie was detached from the Army with the Gendarmerie Act of February 26, 1876 under the Imperial and Royal Prime Minister, Prince Adolf von Auersperg . As far as the public security service was concerned, it was subordinate to the respective kk district and state authorities. The Imperial and Royal Ministry of National Defense was the superior authority in military, administrative and economic matters ; the gendarmerie was thus formally part of the Landwehr , its members were soldiers according to legal status . It was not until 1918, after the fall of the monarchy, that the gendarmes were equated with state officials below the officer level and placed under civil jurisdiction.

kuk military policemen

Since the establishment of field gendarmerie departments - which could only be mobilized in the event of war - in 1870, the two or three state gendarmerie had to provide the necessary officers and foot gendarmes (mounted gendarmes initially provided the cavalry). During the First World War , the kuk Feldgendarmerie and the auxiliary or replacement gendarmes attached to it were primarily responsible for maintaining order behind the front and in the occupied territories, which also included fighting enemy espionage and so-called Komitaji gangs (armed rioters ). The “Organic Regulations and Service Regulations for the Field Gendarmerie of the Austro-Hungarian Army” issued in 1897 specified the further field of activity, including in particular the support of the General Staff officers by means of scout, courier, orderly and escort service. The field gendarmerie was also responsible for bringing in deserters and for regulating road traffic; The well-trained field gendarmes should not be used for mere guarding tasks such as the transport of prisoners of war.

organization

The list of sixteen gendarmerie regiments published in the Reichsgesetzblatt was made by decree of the Ministry of the Interior of January 18, 1850 on the "organization of the gendarmerie". In each crown country one (in Hungary: three) of the regiments numbering around 1000 men, according to the statute, served. Each regiment consisted of several wings on duty , each headed by a Rittmeister 1st or 2nd class. The wings, in turn, were divided into platoons, each commanded by a first lieutenant or lieutenant. The sub-unit of the train was the district consisting of several posts with a sergeant or post leader at the head.

Organization of the gendarmerie regiments by ordinance of January 18, 1850
Regimental number	Crown land	Regimental number	Crown land
1	Austria above and below the Enns and Salzburg	9	Voivodina
2	Bohemia	10	Croatia and Slavonia
3	Moravia and Silesia	11	Illyria
4th	Galicia with the Bukovina and Cracow regions	12	Steyermark
5	Hungary	13	Tyrol and Vorarlberg
6th	Hungary	14th	Lombardy
7th	Hungary	15th	Veneto
8th	Transylvania	16	Dalmatia

In 1854 the number of regiments was increased from sixteen to nineteen. The reason was the excessive expansion of the areas of responsibility of regiments 4, 5 and 6. The changes were as follows:

Organization of the gendarmerie regiments in 1854
Regimental number	Crown land	Regimental number	Crown land
4th	Eastern Galicia and Bucovina	17th	Krakow
5	Administrative area of Košice (Kassa)	18th	Pressburg (Pozsony / Bratislava)
6th	pest	19th	Ödenburg (Sopron)

After the loss of Lombardy to France in 1859 and the conversion of the gendarmerie regiments into fifteen regional gendarmerie commandos (LGK) in 1866, the following new division resulted:

Conversion of the gendarmerie regiments into state commandos by the highest resolution of January 28, 1866
LGK no.	Staff station	Crown land	LGK no.	Staff station	Crown land
1	Vienna	Nieder- u. Upper Austria , Salzburg	9	Temesvár	Hungary
2	Prague	Bohemia	10	Cluj-Napoca	Transylvania
3	Venice	Veneto, Tyrol, Vorarlberg	11	Lviv	Eastern Galicia and Bucovina
4th	Brno	Moravia and Silesia	12	Krakow	West Galicia
5	Košice	Hungary	13	Laibach	Styria, Carinthia , Carniola , coastal country
6th	pest	Hungary	14th	Agram	Croatia and Slavonia
7th	Pressburg	Hungary	15th	Zara	Dalmatia
8th	Ödenburg	Hungary

The most significant changes came in 1867. After the defeat by Prussia and Italy in the German War in 1866, Veneto was lost to Italy. At the same time, Hungary became an independent part of the empire within the Habsburg state association. A circular decree of May 8, 1867, decreed the transfer of the security service to the Hungarian state authorities. However, it was not until 1881 that a separate royal Hungarian (ku) gendarmerie was founded, the development of which was largely unaffected by the now reduced number of kk gendarmerie in the Austrian part of the empire. In the Hungarian half of the empire, the Imperial and Royal Gendarmerie was initially only preserved in Croatia-Slavonia and in Transylvania, where it was temporarily subordinated to the Reich Ministry of War . In 1868 the Central Gendarmerie Inspection was abolished; Powers were transferred to the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Defense in Vienna, whereby the Imperial and Royal Gendarmerie became part of the Imperial and Royal Landwehr . The military command as well as the disciplinary power lay with a newly systematized gendarmerie inspector.

Organization of the kk gendarmerie from 1868
LGK no.	Crown land	LGK no.	Crown land
1	Nieder- u. Upper Austria, Salzburg	6th	(abandoned)
2	Bohemia	7th	Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, coastal country
3	Tyrol and Vorarlberg	8th	Croatia Slavonia
4th	Moravia and Silesia	9	Dalmatia
5	Galicia	10	Transylvania

In the wake of the regulations issued in 1873, according to which the structure of the kk gendarmerie had to follow the political division of Cisleithania , there was another reorganization:

Organization of the kk gendarmerie from 1876
LGK no.	Seat	Crown land	LGK no.	Seat	Crown land
1	Vienna	Lower Austria	9	Zara	Dalmatia
2	Prague	Bohemia	10	(1876 to the ku Honvédministerium )
3	innsbruck	Tyrol and Vorarlberg	11	Linz	Upper Austria
4th	Brno	Moravia	12	Laibach	Carniola
5	Lviv	Galicia	13	Chernivtsi	Bucovina
6th	Graz	Styria	14th	Klagenfurt	Carinthia
7th	Trieste	Istria	15th	Troppau	Silesia
8th	(1876 to the ku Honved Ministry)		16	Salzburg	Salzburg

Uniform and equipment

The adjustment of 1849

A decree of the Ministry of War of February 14, 1849 defined the regulations of the gendarmerie adjustment valid for the entire monarchy. Interestingly, the model formation of the kk remained excluded from the provisions. Gendarmerie, the gendarmerie regiment in Lombardy.

Instead of the uniform dress coats one occupied the same color with yellow buttons, dark green double breasted been tunic with rose-colored piping on the collar, cuffs , placket, hem and waist pleats provision. The rose-red Paroli (collar tabs) was adorned with a button with a raised regimental number; In addition, the distinction stars were sewn or embroidered for officers on the paroli (see below). On the shoulders were shoulder strips lined with red and made of yellow wool (for officers of gold), which served as a holder for the epaulettes and the lanyard. The “imperial yellow attachment cord” hung on the left shoulder consisted of four cords (two double-twisted and two single), the four free ends of which were to be passed under the part and to be attached to the chest buttons two to five. The right shoulder was decorated with an imperial yellow counterpaulette in the form of a three-leaf clover; Officers could be recognized by a gold embroidered epaulette without hangings (fringes, bouillons) that was identical for all officer ranks .

In winter light gray pantaloons with rose-red seams were worn, the summer pants were made of white linen. In addition black ankle boots; A special feature were the black leather gaiters worn by the mounted gendarmes instead of riding boots.

The black spiked bonnet with double-headed eagle and scale chain made of yellow metal was new ; In contrast to Germany, the helmet was also called the “Pickelhaube” in the regulations. The tall, bell-like shape was based on the equipment of the National Guard cavalry from 1848/49 and was more like the Russian than the Prussian model. The mounted gendarmerie also ran a bush of red horsehair.

On an interim basis, enlisted men and NCOs wore a hat in the style of the black officer's cap, but made of dark green cloth as well as a cap rose and cords made of black-scratched imperial yellow wool. "White leather gloves" were the rule for all gendarmes on duty.

The saber flip strap and cartridge strap made of white chamois leather were to be worn crosswise over the skirt. The brass grenade based on the emblem of the grenadiers on the black cartridge (cartridge pouch) became the characteristic "corps badge", which - with interruptions - was in use up to the present day.

The armament of the foot gendarmes consisted of a short, yellow saber with a simple brass bow basket; The model was the French "Saber briquet" (AN IX) of the Napoleonic era. The mounted gendarmerie wielded a longer saber with a buckle basket; also a percussion pistol to the left of the saddle. The short percussion carbine with spout bayonet was mandatory for all gendarmes; it was followed in 1854 by the Extracorps rifle with percussion lock . Officers wielded the saber of the German light cavalry with a shiny metal scabbard.

According to the rescript of January 13, 1850 , the gendarmerie used the "rank badges of the army"

The six-pointed stars of distinction for the senior officers, introduced in the army in 1849, as well as the collar and sleeve trims for the staff officers followed the button color of the regiment. Accordingly, the collar sections of the senior gendarmerie officers were embroidered in gold, those of the staff officers were silver. The collar sections of the teams consisted of white cloth stars. Private and vice corporals were marked with one star, corporals two, and sergeants three stars. All men’s ranks wore the imperial yellow, black interwoven portepee of the Army NCOs. The portepee as well as the yellow ledges (see above) were made of silk from the rank of vice-corporal upwards, and wool for the lower grades.

Since 1851 gendarmes and corporals wore two, sergeants three cloth stars; Corporals and sergeants were also identified by a yellow patterned braid that ran around the entire lower edge of the collar. The small regimental button behind the distinctions could not be missing for any rank. With the introduction of the rank of platoon leader in the Imperial and Royal Army in 1857, the corporal changed his name to Postenführer and could now be recognized by three cloth stars; the collar was dropped and was now a privilege of the sergeant.

The adjustment of 1860

At the beginning of 1860 the adjustment was changed as follows: The heavy helmet gave way to a felt hat in the style of the kk hunter troop , with the hunter's plume and the double-headed eagle (instead of the grenade from 1863) on the raised left brim. The brim of the hat was turned up on both sides in 1861; at the same time a grass-green hat string (officers: gold with black incisions) was introduced.

The leveling color changed to a light madder red. The tunic was given shoulder bulges, the yellow or gold strips were omitted. The armpit cords were replaced by a simple, grass-green signal whistle cord , similar to the marksman award introduced by the kk hunters in 1868.

From now on, foot genders wore the cartridge strap, which was now completely black lacquered, as a belt around the middle of the body; attached to it were bayonet and saber pouches . The officers also put on the cartridge, but lined with madder red velvet.

The adjustment of 1868

The military defeat against Prussia in 1866 triggered new changes in the adjustment. The tunic was single-breasted with six buttons, the stand-up collar was now completely madder-colored. The army took over the newly introduced blouse with a concealed button placket , two breast and lap pockets with curly flaps, and the armpit clasps from the basic cloth. The pocketless "Leibel" was taken out of service.

The new “camp hat” was made from the blue-gray, almost black fabric of the pants.

Captain of the Imperial and Royal Bosnian-Herzegovinian Gendarmerie in summer adjustment

The peace adjustment from 1899 to 1918

In 1899 a new adjustment was ordered, which was then used regularly until the end of the Habsburg Monarchy. While retaining the characteristic dark green color, the tunic was again double-breasted; the eight yellow metal buttons each had the number of the respective state gendarmerie detail. In addition to the collar, the cuffs and armpit flaps were now completely madder red for the first time. The imperial yellow lanyard, which was to be attached to the left shoulder for parades, was reintroduced.

The hunter's hat with plumage was replaced by a helmet with a double-headed eagle and a scale band made of yellow metal (brass, tombac). All of the officers' fittings were gold-plated. The headgear made of black lacquered leather, similar to the German spiked hat, proved to be sensitive to moisture and heat and had to give way to a cork helmet with a waterproof, impregnated khaki brown fabric cover as early as 1902; the shape of the pimple hood was retained. After the outbreak of the First World War, the cork helmet distinguished the regular gendarmes who were assigned to the military police and the auxiliary gendarmes who were recruited from among the army soldiers; these wore the usual field cap. A black and yellow band to be worn on the left sleeve was mandatory for all.

The summer trousers were made of light gray cotton; the winter trousers remained theoretically blue-gray, but were almost black in practice. Although the carbine was now an effective primary weapon, the uniformed gendarme always had to wear the curved gendarmerie saber (which is short for foot gendarmes); this once served as an auxiliary weapon, but now primarily as a status symbol. The function of the service badge was taken over by the cartridge carried in front of the stomach (cartridge pouch); this had to be buckled on during duty even if the carbine was not carried. The cartridge had to be adapted for the new 8-mm carbine ammunition and now received the double-headed tombac eagle instead of the grenade; so the grenade emblem was put out of use by the gendarmerie until further notice.

Rank designations and distinctions 1918/1919

The ranks and the rank insignia ("Distinctions") (worn on the collar) followed the model of the Austro-Hungarian Army , but showed deviations from this. The table shows the status on January 23, 1919, when the previous military rank designations were "civilized" with the decree of the German-Austrian State Office of the Interior (sic).

Change of adjustment by the German-Austrian State Office of the Interior
Old rank designation	Old distinction sign	New rank designation	New distinctive mark
Trial colon	a six-pointed white star made of edgewise pressed celluloid (until 1900/02 made of cloth)	Trial colon	13 mm wide patterned silver braid, at the rear end of which a small silver-plated metal button on the collar paroli; Above the border a 0.5 cm narrow silver braid at a distance of 0.2 cm
Gendarme	two stars	Gendarme	like trial bowel, but two narrow strips
Führer (until July 1914 'Titular-Postenführer ”; 1857 renaming of“ Gendarmerie-Korporal ”<two stars, imperial yellow collar border> to“ Postenführer ”)	three stars	??	??
Vice -sergeant (until 1914 "titular sergeant")	three stars, since July 1914 additional. 20 mm wide, patterned sergeant braid made of imperial yellow silk at the collar attachment seam and the front collar edges	Gendarmerie patrol chief	like trial bowel, but three narrow strips
Sergeant II and 1st class (until 1914 "titular Wachtmeister-Postenführer" and "Wachtmeister-Postenkommandant")	three embroidered stars of white silk; 13 mm wide sergeant braid made of silver wire (until 1907 imperial yellow sergeant braid); Wm I. Kl. Additional. Officer saber in steel scabbard (1895) with open silk portepee (1907), silk lanyard of the officer, cap in the style of the army cadet officer deputy and their map pocket (1907)	Gendarmerie post chief	like trial bowel, but in gold
District sergeant until 1914 "Wachtmeister-Bezirksgendarmeriekommandant" staff sergeant (former Adjutanturs auxiliary worker or invoice auxiliary worker )	three stars made of white silk embroidery; Sergeant braid made of silver wire, above it a 6 mm narrow silver braid at a distance of 3 mm	Gendarmerie district manager economic officer II class	like gendarmerie post chief, but two narrow gold stripes
Lieutenant accounting officer / invoice processist	a six-pointed embroidered silver star	Gendarmerie Economic Official, 2nd class	like gendarmerie district chief
First lieutenant accounting officer / accounting officer	two stars	Gendarmerie economic official, 1st class	as above, but three narrow gold stripes
Rittmeister captain accounting officer / chief accounting officer	three stars	Gendarmerie Department Inspector Gendarmerie Economics Commissioner	2.2 cm wide patterned gold border; behind it a gold-plated button with a diameter of 1.3 cm
Major gendarmerie accountant	an embroidered silver star; 3.3 cm wide gold-patterned staff officer border on the collar and on the cuffs	Chief Gendarmerie Inspector II. Class Chief Gendarmerie Chief Commissioner	like gendarmerie department inspector, but an additional 0.5 cm wide gold braid 0.2 cm above the wide gold braid
Lieutenant Colonel Gendarmerie Chief Accountant II class	like major, two stars	Chief Inspector of the Gendarmerie, 1st class, Gendarmerie Wirtschaftsrat	as above, but with two narrow gold braids
Colonel Gendarmerie Chief Auditor, 1st class	like major, three stars	Gendarmerie Regional Director Gendarmerie Economic Inspector Gendarmerie Central Director (Head of the Gendarmerie Department in the State Office of the Interior)	as above, three narrow gold braids

Notes: The ranks of the general career are in bold for the sake of readability , those of the administrative career are in italics .

The portepee of the trial gendarme (in the private ranks of the army) consisted of imperial yellow wool, that of the other ranks was in the yellow and black version of the NCOs of the k. (U.) K. Army; on horseback the band was lined with yellow chamois leather.

literature

Leopold Kepler: The Gendarmerie in Austria 1849-1974: 125 years of fulfilling duty , Graz (Leykam) 1974.
Helmut Gebhardt: The Gendarmerie of the Habsburg Empire During the First World War , in: Jonas Campion / Laurent López / Guillaume Payen (eds.): European police forces and law enforcement in the First World War, Cham (palgrave macmillan) 2019, p 157-167. ISBN 3-030-26101-8 . ISBN 978-3-030-26101-6