Kaiser Alexander Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 1

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Kaiser Alexander Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 1

GGrenR1 A.jpg
active October 14, 1814 to 1919
Country Prussia Prussia
Armed forces Prussian Army
Branch of service infantry
Insinuation Guard Corps
Former locations Berlin
Nickname Alexandrians
Anniversaries October 14, 1814
Flag of the 1st Battalion
Flag of the IV (half) battalion

The Kaiser Alexander Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 1 (also Alexandriner or Alexander Regiment ) in Berlin was one of the regiments with the oldest tradition of the Prussian Army . This tradition lasted from May 1, 1626, when Elector Georg Wilhelm von Brandenburg established the 3,000-strong predecessor regiment of Colonel Hillebrand von Kracht , to May 8, 1945, when the traditional Alexandrian regiment, the 67th Grenadier Regiment , with the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht "Colonel-General von Seeckt", was dissolved.

history

Guard, probably at the Brandenburg Gate (north side of the southern gatehouse)

In October 1814 an AKO was issued to form two grenadier regiments. One of them was the Alexander Regiment. It was formed from the Leib Grenadier Battalion (of the Leib Grenadier Regiment King Friedrich Wilhelm III. (1st Brandenburg) No. 8; former name: 1st Brandenburg Infantry Regiment), the 1st East Prussian Grenadier Battalion ( of the East Prussian Brigade; until September 7, 1807: Bataillon von Schlieffen) and the 2nd East Prussian Grenadier Battalion (of the West Prussian Brigade; until September 7, 1807: Bataillon v. Fabecky). Foundation day is October 14, 1814. When the Prussian Army was reorganized after the Wars of Independence , only tribes and formations of the old army were used that had performed well in 1806 and had proven themselves in the Wars of Independence. The 1st battalion was formed from the Waldenfels battalion known from the siege of Kolberg in 1807 , the II and III. from the oldest regiments of the Brandenburg / Prussian army. The chief position was given to the Tsar of Russia , after whom the regiment was named "Grenadier Regiment Kaiser Alexander" on October 19, 1814. From November 27, 1819 it was called "Kaiser Alexander Grenadier Regiment". The list of officers from October 1814 includes 59 names, including 14 civil ones. 40 officers, almost all of them civil, wore the Iron Cross 2nd class, three 1st class and five the order Pour le Mérite . On February 18, 1820, the regiment received the rank of Guard . The last name change took place on July 14, 1860 in "Kaiser Alexander Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 1".

Barracks of the Kaiser Alexander Grenadier Regiment in Alexanderstraße in 1840

The regiment garrisoned the entire time of its existence in Berlin . His barracks were initially located in the artillery barracks at Alexanderstraße 56, which was built before 1772, near Alexanderplatz . It is reported from 1848 that the members of the fusilier battalion were housed in private quarters near the barracks. Since the old barracks building was no longer sufficient in the 19th century and the units of the regiment had to be distributed to other locations in Berlin, the artillery barracks at Kupfergraben, built by Johann Boumann in 1773 , was demolished and from 1898 to 1901 under the direction of building officer Wieczorek and government architect Julius Boethke built new buildings on both sides of the newly laid out Prinz-Friedrich-Karl-Straße (today Geschwister-Scholl-Straße), on Weidendamm and on Kupfergraben, which parts of the regiment moved into. The old barracks in Alexanderstraße remained another location until 1919.

The National People's Army of the GDR named the barracks complex after Friedrich Engels , who had done his military service as a one-year volunteer in 1841 with the Guard Artillery Brigade 1–3 at Am Weidendamm. The NVA guard regiment was located there until 1990 . Today the barracks complex is partly part of the so-called museum courtyards of the German Historical Museum (DHM) and the State Museums Berlin - Prussian Cultural Heritage . Other buildings are used by the Humboldt University of Berlin . The parade ground of the Alexander Regiment, popularly known as the "Alter Exer", was located on Schönhauser Allee in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg district , where Hertha BSC played its first games until 1905. Today the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark is located here .

The first watch lift with a chime in front of Schinkel's " New Guard " took place on September 18, 1818 on the occasion of the visit of the regiment chief , Tsar Alexander of Russia, by the Alexander regiment.

German Revolution 1848/49

In the street fighting during the March Revolution in Berlin, a premier lieutenant (first lieutenant ) and three grenadiers were killed. It is not known whether and how many Berlin citizens fell victim to the regiment's armed intervention. On April 23, 1848 (the Fusilier Battalion was deployed) two lieutenants and three fusiliers died near Schleswig . From May 5th to 9th, 1849 the regiment (1st Battalion and Fusilier Battalion) was used in Dresden in street fighting. Two lieutenants and two fusiliers were killed. Again, there are no figures on the dead and wounded among the civilian population. The Alexandrians were able to capture a cannon from the rebels. This cannon later adorned a memorial in memory of those who fell in the regiment in the Dresden street fights in the garden of the officers' mess.

German War 1866

On June 28th with thrush and on July 3rd in Königgrätz the regiment fought. At Königgrätz the Alexandrines faced the Austrian Alexander Regiment (Infantry Regiment Emperor Alexander of Russia No. 2). Grenadier Plitzko from the Brigade Regiment "Elisabeth" captured the flag of the 2nd Austrian Battalion. The flag later came to the garrison church in Potsdam . The losses in this campaign were relatively small, with one sergeant and seven men.

Officer and grenadier 1824

Franco-German War 1870/71

On the day of St. Privat , August 18, 1870, 13 officers were killed and 14 wounded, including two battalion commanders. The teams suffered losses of 820 men (killed and injured). On this day the oldest volunteer of this war also fell. The Sergeant Christian Raspe, 10 Company , a 53-year-old restaurant owner, who was born in the district of Mansfeld , who had served in the regiment in 1837 and 1848 was eliminated as a semi-invalid, had reported again in the mobilization. He marched into France on foot, but later had to be driven on the company cart due to sore feet. On the day of the battle, he insisted on fighting and was shot in the chest.

The regiment had no further officers killed in the course of this war; the number of NCOs and men killed is not known.

Hoboist Franz Rümpler, 1st company

The regiment played a central role in the capture of Le Bourget on October 30, 1870. One picture shows the commander of the 2nd Guards Infantry Division, Major General Rudolph Otto von Budritzki (previously commander of the Alexandrians) with the flag of the 2nd Battalion of the "Elisabeth" regiment, which he had snatched from the falling standard bearer during the assault. In this attack, a 23-year-old Second Lieutenant at the head of 8th Company decided the battle for the station. Already awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class for St. Privat, he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class. During the victory march in Berlin he was given the honor of marching in front of all the guards at the head of the 89 captured French flags and these at the equestrian monument of King Friedrich Wilhelm III. that was revealed that day. During the battle for the gas factory, the tambour of the 7th Company, Friedrich Wilhelm Bümsen, tumbled forward to his company commander, drumming to the storm. When the eardrum burst, he turned the drum over and kept beating. He was one of the first in the courtyard of the gas factory. It was immortalized in poetry as the drum of “Le Bourget”. " Figaro " bought the story from Daheim magazine and had the picture of the drum on the first page.

Further participation in battles:

  • August 18th Gravelotte-St. Private
  • 0September 1st Sedan
  • September 19, 1870 - January 29, 1871 Enclosure and siege of Paris
  • 23 September Battle of Le Bourget (5th Company)
  • October 30th Le Bourget (1st and 2nd Battalion)
  • December 21, Le Bourget (1st Battalion and Fusilier Battalion)
  • January 15, 1871 Le Bourget (1st Battalion and Fusilier Battalion)
  • January 15, 1871 Drancy (10th and 11th companies)
Kaiser Wilhelm II walks down the front of the regiment with the Crown Prince and his entourage Unter den Linden (in the background the city palace)

First World War

Participation in the First World War took place as part of the 2nd Guard Division . During this war four of six majors and eleven of 16 captains fell; one died in British captivity . The reserve officers of the regiment were mainly recruited from merchants, teachers, architects and lawyers and were all bourgeois.

A total of 3,728 members of the regiment died in World War I, of which 167 were officers (51 in other units) and 3,561 NCOs and men. The peacetime strength of the regiment was 2,058 men.

Battle calendar

1914
1915
1916
  • Fouquescourt August
  • Summer battle August / September
  • Laucourt September / October
  • Somme October to January 1917
1917
  • Behind the front January / February
  • Somme February to March
  • Quiet around Vervins March / April
  • Defense against the French spring offensive at Chemin des Dames , April / May
  • Argonne May / June
  • Breakthrough in Eastern Galicia June to early August
  • Conquest of Riga from August to early September
  • Battle of the Laffaux corner , September / October
  • St. Mihiel October to January 1918
1918

Whereabouts

On November 27, 1918, the regiment was demobilized . All reserve officers and born before the year 1897 teams was dismissed and the entourage disbanded the regiment.

On 30 November 1918 the regiment was a volunteer battalion set up from the remains, which the Border Patrol East , to secure the eastern border of Germany, especially against Polish nationalists and the Russian Red Army , after Gliwice in Silesia was promoted. The commanding officer of the battalion was the former regimental commander Colonel Kundt. The battalion took over the security of the Lublinitz section within the framework of the 2nd Guard Division for the next four months . During this time, many volunteers joined the battalion.

On April 17, 1919, Reichswehr Minister Gustav Noske ( SPD ) decided to deploy Reichswehr associations against the "Red Army" of the Bavarian Soviet Republic in Munich . On April 24, 1919, the battalion was relocated to Bavaria and arrived there on April 30, 1919 in the staging area north of Munich. In Munich there were sometimes violent street fights, some involving heavy weapons, and numerous deaths on both sides. Deputy Sergeant Lauterbach and the youngest grenadier, a 16-year-old volunteer from Lublinitz, fell from the battalion. A greater number were wounded. On May 2, 1919, the troops of the Munich Soviet Republic were defeated. Two other soldiers were killed in shootings after the uprising ended.

In mid-May, the battalion was again deployed to the Eastern Border Guard in the Tarnowitz section in Silesia. After a few weeks, the battalion moved to Fürstenwalde / Spree .

From the battalion the 1st Battalion of the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 51 was formed in July 1919. The battalion was deployed during the Kapp Putsch in Berlin and had the task of disarming an armed technical formation.

From May to December 1920, the battalion was downsized several times and soldiers were dismissed. On December 31, 1920, the badges of the Alexander Regiment were discarded. The remnants of the battalion came to Garrison in Spandau-Ruhleben and from them the 9th and 12th companies of the 9th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment were formed, which took over the tradition of the former Alexander Regiment in the Reichswehr on August 24, 1921 .

In the Wehrmacht , the III. Battalion of the 67th Grenadier Regiment “Colonel General von Seeckt” continues the tradition. Here, too, a saber tassel with a juchten leather strap was traditionally worn with the side arm in memory of the battle of Cassano . In addition, the golden "Alexander-A" with a crown was allowed to be attached to the handle scales of the extra side rifle or saber .

Heads of regiments

Surname date
Alexander I of Russia October 19, 1814 to December 1, 1825
Alexander II of Russia 0March 3, 1871 to March 13, 1881
Alexander III from Russia March 27, 1881 to November 1, 1894
Nicholas II of Russia from November 20, 1894

Commanders

Rank Surname date
Major /
Lieutenant Colonel /
Colonel 		Karl von Schachtmeyer October 14, 1814 to March 27, 1825
Colonel Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Pfuel March 30, 1825 to September 26, 1829
Colonel Alexander Trützschler von Falkenstein September 27, 1829 to January 13, 1833
Major /
Lieutenant Colonel /
Colonel 		Ferdinand von Voss-Buch January 14, 1833 to September 6, 1840
Colonel Wilhelm von Thümen 0September 7, 1840 to December 13, 1841
Lieutenant Colonel /
Colonel 		Eduard von Bonin December 14, 1841 to March 8, 1848
Lieutenant colonel Friedrich von Waldersee 0March 9 to May 6, 1848 (in charge of the tour)
Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel Friedrich von Waldersee 0May 7, 1848 to December 26, 1849
Colonel Ludwig von Rauchhaupt December 27, 1849 to October 12, 1854
Colonel Hans Paulus Herwarth von Bittenfeld October 26, 1854 to August 13, 1856
Colonel Heinrich Adolf von Zastrow August 14, 1856 to July 7, 1858
Colonel Louis von Alvensleben 0July 8, 1858 to January 15, 1859
Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel Friedrich von Clausewitz 0August 3, 1858 to January 17, 1859 (in charge of the tour)
Colonel Friedrich von Clausewitz January 18, 1859 to September 19, 1861
Colonel Constantin von Alvensleben September 20, 1861 to June 24, 1864
Colonel Hermann von Tresckow June 25, 1864 to April 17, 1865
Colonel Rudolph Otto von Budritzki April 18, 1865 to May 19, 1866
Colonel Otto Knappe von Knappstädt May 20, 1866 to July 17, 1870
Colonel Barnim von Zeuner July 18, 1870 to December 1, 1873
Colonel Botho von Wussow 0December 2, 1873 to October 31, 1879
Colonel Hugo von Winterfeld 0November 1, 1879 to September 19, 1881
Colonel Hans von Kaltenborn-Stachau September 20, 1881 to March 21, 1884
Colonel Rudolph von Unrest March 22, 1884 to January 11, 1886
Colonel Benno von Henninges January 12, 1886 to September 18, 1888
Colonel Hermann von Rauchhaupt September 19, 1888 to January 26, 1890
Lieutenant colonel Ernst von Bülow January 27 to March 23, 1890 (in charge of the tour)
Colonel Ernst von Bülow March 24, 1890 to April 17, 1893
Colonel George of Sausin de Montanières April 18, 1893 to September 11, 1896
Colonel Helmuth Johannes Ludwig von Moltke September 12, 1896 to March 24, 1899
Colonel Reinhard von Scheffer-Boyadel March 25, 1899 to April 17, 1901
Lieutenant colonel Dedo von Schenck April 18 to May 17, 1901
Colonel Dedo von Schenck May 18, 1901 to January 26, 1905
Colonel Otto von Plüskow January 27, 1905 to May 1, 1908
Colonel August von Bauer 0May 2 to October 26, 1908
Colonel Friedrich Wilhelm Ewald Leopold von Kleist October 27, 1908 to March 21, 1910
Colonel Hans Schach from Wittenau March 22, 1910 to July 3, 1913
Colonel Bernhard Finck von Finckenstein 0July 4, 1913 to September 9, 1914
major Left September 10th to 19th, 1914 (in charge of the tour)
major Cord thread September 19 to October 6, 1914 (in charge of the tour)
Colonel Alexis von Stein-Liebenstein zu Barchfeld December 28, 1914 to January 2, 1917
Colonel Hans Kundt 0January 3, 1917 to March 1, 1918
major Fritz von Wedekind 0March 1, 1918 to January 19, 1919
Colonel Hans Kundt January 20, 1919 until dissolution

  • Colonel Count Finck von Finckenstein

  • Major Linker

  • Major Kortegarn

  • Colonel von Stein-Liebenstein zu Barchfeld

  • Colonel Kundt

  • Lieutenant Colonel Freiherr von Wedekind

uniform

Schematic representation of the uniform (1890)
Shoulder flap with name

The Alexander regiment wore a blue skirt with a ponceau red collar, the epaulets were white with a red cord name (ornate Latin "A" under a tsar's crown, including an Arabic 1). The tunics had Brandenburg lapels with dark blue flaps and three horizontal strands. The guard eagle with a star was worn on the helmet; A white plume was put on for parades, the fusilier battalion donned a black plume. The regiment's hoboists (military musicians) wore a red plume helmet.

From January 18, 1834, the regiment was allowed to put the guard braids on the collar of the men (officers had an embroidery since its establishment). Since March 22, 1874 and April 14, 1874 embroidery or braids on the sleeve flaps.

In March 1894 the emperor awarded the regiment the grenadier hats that had previously been worn by the 1st Guard Regiment. In 1824 these grenadier caps were awarded to the 1st Guard Regiment by Tsar Alexander I. The hats of the Russian bodyguard regiment "Pavlov" served as a model; only the embossing of the brass cap plate was different: here it was the star of the Order of the Black Eagle and above it the Prussian royal crown, for teams made of white metal, for officers made of silver.

When the regiment paraded in front of the Kaiser with the new hats for the first time on March 14, 1894, he gave the following address:

“I gave you these grenadier hats as a token of thanks for the regiment's firm attitude so far, for the excellent performance in the war and for my house, and also for the reason that the Alexander regiment consists almost entirely of grenadier battalions of the old Frederick Army is composed ... "

- Wilhelm II.

In recognition and in memory 1842, the 7th and the 8th Company contributed from 13 December a saber tassel with juchtenledernem straps on the side arm as the grenadiers of the regiment Schoening for the battle of Cassano had been awarded.

Monuments

On the garrison cemetery in Berlin-Neukölln , Columbiadamm , there is a memorial to the fallen soldiers of the regiment. The memorial has been at this location since 1957 (previously it was in Berlin-Hasenheide ), the artist is Kurt Kluge . The memorial shows a kneeling bareheaded soldier, who fell on September 8, 1914 in the Battle of the Marne and who was friends with Kluge, Eberhard Freiherr von der Recke von dem Horst at the time of his death, holding a flag. The regiment's name on the sides.

In the garden of the resource (officers' casino) there was a memorial with a cannon captured during the Dresden street fighting in memory of those who fell in May 1849. In Amanweiler , Lorraine, there is a memorial to commemorate the fallen of the day of St. Privat and in the garrison church in Berlin on Neue Friedrichstrasse there was a plaque for the fallen of the regiment.

  • Monument at the old Hasenheide site

  • Memorial at the new location of the New Garrison Cemetery Columbiadamm

  • Memorial plaque in the Garrison Church Berlin

  • Monument in the resource (officers' casino) in memory of those who died in Dresden in 1849

Examples of the regiment's reservists

  • Reservist image

  • Glass cup

  • Protective cover for military passport

  • Reminder tape at reservist meetings

  • Silver mug with engraving

literature

  • Thilo von Bose : The Emperor Alexander Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 1 in the World War 1914–1918 (= From Germany's great times. Volume 45) . Zeulenroda 1932 ( digitized version of the Württemberg State Library ).
  • Michael Elstermann: The Emperor Alexander Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 1. in: Magazine for Heereskunde. No. 428 April / June 2008.
  • von Etzel: Kaiser Alexander Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 1. Berlin 1855.
  • von Kries, von Renthe: History of the Emperor Alexander Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 1. Berlin 1904.
  • Claus von Lettow-Vorbeck: Commemorative sheets for the ranking list of the Emperor Alexander Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 1. For the centenary on August 17, 1914. With an appendix: The ranking lists 1818–1914. W. Moeser, Berlin 1914.
  • Klaus Schlegel: From the history of the Emperor Alexander Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 1. In: Zeitschrift für Heereskunde. 1971/72.
  • Olof von Lindequist : commemorative sheets on the rank list of the Kaiser Alexander Garde Grenadier Regiment No. I. 1884.

Web links

Commons : Kaiser Alexander Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 1  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b military . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1895, part 4, p. 65 (also the different locations of individual companies).
  2. ^ Gerd Heinrich (arr.): Karl Ludwig von Prittwitz. Berlin 1848. The commemorative work of Lieutenant General Karl Ludwig von Prittwitz and other sources on the Berlin March Revolution and the history of Prussia around the middle of the 19th century . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1985, ISBN 3-11-008326-4 (= publications of the Historical Commission in Berlin, vol. 60. Quellenwerke, vol. 7), p. 157
  3. ^ Volker Wagner: The Dorotheenstadt in the 19th century . 1st edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-11-015709-8 , p. 89 . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  4. ↑ Alexanderstrasse 56 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1920, part 3, p. 13.
  5. ↑ Garrison . In: General housing gazette for Berlin, Charlottenburg and surroundings , 1841, part 2, p. 488.
  6. ↑ hu-berlin.de
  7. ↑ Historical folk and popular songs of the war from 1870 - 1871, Volume 2, p.166f , no.114
  8. ^ Günter Wegmann (Ed.), Günter Wegner: Formation history and staffing of the German armed forces 1815-1990. Part 1: Occupation of the German armies 1815–1939. Volume 2: The staffing of the active infantry regiments as well as the hunter and machine gun battalions, military district commands and training managers from the foundation or list until 1939. Biblio Verlag. Osnabrück 1992, ISBN 3-7648-1782-8 , p. 15.
  9. ^ Günter Wegmann (Ed.), Günter Wegner: Formation history and staffing of the German armed forces 1815-1990. Part 1: Occupation of the German armies 1815–1939. Volume 2: The staffing of the active infantry regiments as well as Jäger and MG battalions, military district commandos and training managers from the foundation or list until 1939. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1992, ISBN 3-7648-1782-8 , pp. 16-17 .