Leibgendarmerie (Prussia)
The body gendarmerie designated orderly departments in the Prussian army , which the king had special disposal.
Foundation and history
By the year 1820, presented Cavalry - regiments the mounted orderlies for the king and the royal princes, the generals and the command authorities.
On February 12, 1820, the Highest Cabinet Order (AKO) ordered the formation of an "Army Gendarmerie". This army gendarmerie consisted of 150 cavalrymen . Each Provincial Army Corps received one non-commissioned officer and 13 men, the Guards and Grenadier Corps received one non -commissioned officer and 14 men. These formed the Army Gendarmerie Command or Guard Army Gendarmerie Command. Each commanding general received one sergeant and three men, each division general two and each brigadier general one man. The later staff orderly emerged from the army gendarmes.
The remaining 23 posts (a sergeant , two non-commissioned officers and 20 men) were placed under the command of an officer available to "His Majesty the King". At first they were experienced men from the country gendarmerie, later men from the active cavalry. Two army gendarmes each had to be able to speak French, Russian, Polish, and one each of Dutch and Wendish . Economically, the team was assigned to the regiment of the Gardes du Corps and was referred to as the "Guard Reserve Army Gendarmerie Command". The Leib-Gendarmerie arose from this.
tasks
His tasks were: orderly service, such as delivering letters and orders from the royal cabinet, carrying and keeping important documents ready and accompanying Her Majesty on state visits, maneuvers and trips. When foreign rulers stayed at the court, they also provided orderly service there. But in order to prevent a widespread misunderstanding, police duties or personal protection in today's understanding were not among their tasks.
Furthermore, the participation of the body gendarmerie in all parades of the guard corps and in the imperial maneuvers belonged to their tasks. The standards of the emperor and empress were carried along. At the annual imperial maneuvers, a trumpeter from the body gendarmerie blew the signal at the end of the exercise: "Stop the whole thing!"
history
With war ministerial orders of May 18, 1820 and February 2, 1823, all army gendarmes were given the rank of non-commissioned officer. In 1835, in addition to the Führer, the command was given a commander in the person of one of the serving wing adjutants, S.M. of the King. The first in command was the wing adjutant Major von Thümen.
Until the dissolution of the garrison companies in 1835, the replacement was drawn from them. After that, all cavalry regiments of the army were called in to deliver suitable men. According to AKO of November 11, 1837, the sergeant of the Guard-Reserve-Army-Gendarmerie Command received the title of "First Sergeant" and an officer's streak on the epaulette holder to distinguish it .
On July 6, 1843, the Guard Reserve Army Gendarmerie Command was renamed Leib Gendarmerie.
According to the AKO of July 20, 1850, the Leib-Gendarmie was to be dissolved on October 1, 1850. The dissolution took place on January 1, 1851. Each squadron of the guards and line cavalry regiments was assigned a body gendarme as sergeant, some of them were retired. The previous tasks were carried out by orderly non-commissioned officers who were to be seconded by the Guard Cavalry. They were called "Royal Ordinances". By war ministerial order of September 18, 1850, the royal ordinances were combined in a special command. The previous body gendarmes should remain at the very highest disposal if they were fit for duty. The royal orderlies were placed under the command of the Leib-Gendarmerie, the wing adjutant Lieutenant Colonel Gebhard Karl Ludolf von Alvensleben .
In order not to burden the guard cavalry too much, the AKO of March 14, 1851 determined that the guard provided the sergeant and seven orderlies, the line cavalry had to provide two orderlies per army corps. They had to be of impeccable leadership and sergeants . They stayed in their regiments' rations and continued to wear these uniforms. This increased the number to 24 including the sergeant. As early as the AKO of July 22, 1852 it was determined that the royal orderlies would have to put on the uniform of the former body gendarmerie again. On July 20, 1854, the name Leib-Gendarmerie was reintroduced and it was listed again in the army's ranking, in front of the Guard Sergeant Company. From 1820 to 1848 she was at the head of the Land-Gendarmerie and from 1849 until it was dissolved immediately behind the Reitende Feldjäger-Korps. It was also determined that if a mobilization occurred, she should form the staff guard of the Great Headquarters.
The Leib-Gendarmerie did not take part in the campaign against Denmark , but in the campaign against Austria , in which the twelve Leib-Gendarmes who were fit for field service transferred to the staff guard. During the campaign in 1870/71 , too , only a few personal gendarmes were handed over to the cavalry staff guard.
After the Fuehrer Lieutenant Colonel Krug von Nidda died in 1881, no new Fuehrer was appointed, but instead a cavalry officer was appointed to serve each year.
In October 1898 body gendarme accompanied the imperial couple on their Palestine trip . Field Marshal Alfred von Waldersee's personal staff as Commander in Chief of the Army High Command in East Asia included two personal gendarmes, a deputy sergeant of the 1st platoon and a corporal of the 2nd platoon.
Formation of the 2nd move
With AKO on June 28, 1889, the Leib-Gendarmerie was reinforced by a second platoon , consisting of an officer (premier or secondary lieutenant) from the Cuirassier Regiment "Queen" (Pomeranian) No. 2 , two non-commissioned officers and 24 men. This train was at the special disposal of the Empress. The officer was always assigned to the Cuirassier Regiment No. 2 for a year. At the beginning the teams from different cuirassier regiments were provided, later the "Pasewalker" were preferred. This cuirassier regiment "Queen" (Pomeranian) No. 2 was headed by the respective Prussian queen as head of the regiment from the beginning of the 19th century, and thus at that time IM Empress and Queen Auguste Viktoria .
garrison
The two trains of the Leibgendarmerie were from July 31, 1889 to spring 1894 in the former Garde du Corps barracks in Berlin, Charlottenstrasse. 39–41 (at Charlottenburg Palace, Egyptian Museum until 2005 ), previously they were housed in civic quarters near the palace. From April 1, 1894, they were housed in Potsdam . They moved into the former barracks of the 3rd Squadron of the Garde du Corps regiment (until September 19, 1893). This barracks in the Brandenburg suburb of Potsdam, located at Luisenplatz 9, was their domicile until the old army was disbanded in 1918/19. The barracks are still preserved and today houses a branch of the Mittelbrandenburgische Sparkasse .
First World War
During the First World War, the 1st platoon was commanded by Lieutenant Walzer from the Uhlan Regiment "Graf zu Dohna" (East Prussian) No. 8 to the main headquarters . During this time, Rittmeister a. D. von Götz and Schwanenfließ before. The peace uniforms were retained by this troop until the end of the war. The body gendarmerie was the only German unit that was not equipped with a field-gray uniform.
Uniformity
The commander (usually a staff officer , two commanders were promoted to major general in their position as commander ) wears the uniform of the royal wing adjutants. The uniform of the captain general, who wore a gala uniform in the Frederician style on special occasions, which was probably designed by Wilhelm II and introduced shortly after 1904, was a unique item in the Prussian army in terms of military and uniform knowledge.
The uniform consisted 1820-1843 from a dark green Kollett (tails) with cornflower-blue, red pre initiated pointed Lancers -Aufschlägen and collar and light blue pants stripes. A leather helmet with a black caterpillar served as headgear, buttons and braids were gold. Yellow lace, epaulettes covered with red cloth with a golden crescent moon and scales on the slider, white cavalry belt and bandeliers with black leather cartouche and a dark green saddle cloth similar to the dragoons with light blue, red stripes. From 1827, in contrast to the guard corps in the field, a brass star was added in the epaulette field. The Führer, always a lieutenant, cavalry officer or staff officer, wore a tunic instead of a collar. Basic color and badge as with the teams. On the epaulettes a silver guard star with an enamelled middle field.
The helmets were made of leather with a brass-studded front and rear visor, a brass scale chain and a comb of black horsehair, in front a brass plate with a nickel-silver guard star. Originally it was Russian helmets that were modified by re-stamping the helmet shields.
Instead of Kolletts came 1843, the tunic . The basic colors and badges were retained. With AKO v. April 25, 1867, the collar flaps were removed, instead a cornflower blue collar with a red protrusion. With AKO v. On January 21, 1889, the epaulettes were replaced by cornflower-blue shoulder boards with the king's name and crown. When they are ordered to serve with the King and Emperor and at large parades with His Majesty present, they put on white armpit cords (thread, silk for the first sergeant), interwoven with silver and black threads (AKO of December 9, 1873) and from 1889 suede riding breeches .
From 1820 to 1873, gray cavalry pants were worn with a red push and cornflower blue stripes. From 1873 to 1890 dark blue riding breeches with a red front and cornflower blue stripes. After that (AKO of January 21, 1889) the cuirassiers' trousers, i.e. H. White Kirsey trousers with gauntlets and buckle spurs. The light blue stripes on the long trousers fell away.
In 1843 a steel helmet was introduced (AKO of July 28, 1843). Brass fittings, scale chain and point with a nickel silver guard star (like GdC , only with an enamelled eagle), white bushes of hair for parades. With AKO of October 7, 1862, a lighter model was introduced and the currency ribbon was added to the star . A newer and even lighter model was introduced with AKO on January 21, 1890 made of nickel-plated steel. Front and rear visors with a kink in the middle. Fittings and scale chain made of tombac, a tombac eagle was introduced for the parade , the wings were raised steeply.
A simple bow saber was used until 1890, after which the light cavalry sword 89 was worn as a pallasch . The only unit she had on the belt lock was the guard star.
The officer commanded to reinforce the 2nd platoon, always from the Queen's Cuirassier Regiment (Pomeranian) No. 2, continued to wear his regiment's uniform. As parade and orderly suit, tunic made of white kirsey with a crimson collar, lugs and lapels. The skirt tails are lined with crimson red and are hooked together sideways to form a parade uniform. Otherwise it corresponds to the uniform and armament of the 1st platoon. The service uniform was the normal dark blue tunic with white buttons, armpit flaps, etc. as in the parade skirt . Furthermore, the 2nd train got for its orderly and honor guard service in the royal. Locks in a gala uniform (AKO of June 28, 1889). This historical uniform had its origins in the old Bavarian Dragoon Regiment No. 5 , which later bore the name Cuirassier Regiment Queen (Pomeranian) No. 2.
A trumpeter was assigned to each of the two trains. They could be recognized by the swallow's nests and the three rafters on the sleeve, the 1st train yellow with blue stripes, the 2nd train white with crimson. The four corners were each adorned with a crown embroidered in yellow and a guard star emblazoned in the middle.
Tropical uniforms were worn during the emperor 's trip to Palestine in 1898 and in Asia .
swell
- German Society for Army Studies
- Frank Bauer, Hartmut Knitter, Heinz Ruppert: Destroyed, Forgotten, Repressed. Military buildings and military monuments in Potsdam . Mittler, Berlin 1993, ISBN 3-8132-0413-8 .
- Friedrich Herrmann: The captain general of the castle and bodyguard . In: Zeitschrift für Heereskunde , vol. 26 (1962).
- Friedrich Herrmann: The Royal Prussian Leib-Gendarmerie . In: German Soldier Yearbook . Vol. 25 (1977), p. 312 ff.
- Eberhard Hettler: Four illustrations of German naval and colonial uniforms . In: Zeitschrift für Heereskunde , vol. 8 (1936).
- Carl Jany: History of the Prussian Army. From the 15th century to 1914 . Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück (4 volumes, here especially volume 4)
- Vol. 4. The Royal Prussian Army and the German Imperial Army . 1973, p. 129 ff. And 144 ff.
- Martin Kiesling: Organization and clothing of the Royal Prussian Leib-Gendarmerie 1820–1890 . Mittler, Berlin 1890.
- Jan K. Kube (Ed.): The Tradition, Part 10 . Auction house Kube, Sugenheim 1983.
- Ulrich Schiers (ed.): The pith helmets of the imperial navy, the East Asian troops and the protection troops (special issue of the "Zeitschrift für Heereskunde"). German Society for Military Studies, Berlin 2007, p. 43 ff.
- Hermann Vogt, Hanns von Zobeltitz : The book of the German army . 2nd probably edition. Archiv-Verlag, Braunschweig 2001, pp. 21–24 (reprint of the Bielefeld 1891 edition).
