Military ceremonial
Military ceremonial refers to the ceremonial appearance of uniformed soldiers on specified occasions.
Origins
In military ceremonies, the respective state appears in front of its citizens or representatives and citizens of other states in a solemn form with its armed forces. The military state rituals in their current form only emerged together with the modern statehood and the modern military, the triumphal procession of the Roman legions are comparable predecessors. Even in antiquity , the Roman army had an organized military music system that was used in the fight for the transmission of Commands and signals was responsible, but also played an integrative and identity-forming role up to celebratory appearances such as the playing of the Classicum in honor of a general in front of the troops who appeared - an early forerunner of today's great tattoo .
In the Middle Ages and modern times , the importance of military music and ceremonies steadily increased. In Prussia , from 1730, with the introduction of lockstep, the military march with musical accompaniment, the pacing of the front as a form of troop inspection and the mourning ceremony , from 1817 onwards, for the first time, certain pieces of music ( army march collection ) were specified as ceremonial accompaniment. With the wars of liberation in Germany in the 19th century, fixed forms of parade , guard parade and big tattoo emerged as a celebration and expression of the bond between the people and the army. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Imperial Navy introduced the flag parade, which is still celebrated today .
Different types of military ceremonies
The sometimes spectacular military ceremonies have a high public value , are geared towards the participation of the audience and the large, uplifting gesture, speak to the feeling and to the eye, which has recently been reinforced by the mass media . Each of these forms itself contains all the essential characteristics of a military ceremony. The specific effect of each of these forms, however, is based on the special meaning or expression of each certain characteristics.
Protocol receptions
Every state guest is received and bid farewell with military honors. The honorary formations form the framework for the public presentation of the meeting with state guests. The military state reception is a protocol-based ceremony in which not only mutual respect , but also the respective sovereignty - symbolically represented by formations of honor and military bands playing the national anthems - are demonstrated. The flag parade , for example, is also held in this context .
Honor and funeral ceremonies
- Special personalities of high state politics get a guard at their residence on special (national or international) occasions . Depending on the importance of the personality and the occasion, two to many soldiers are clearly visible, but only with an incidental protection mission, e.g. B. in front of the main entrance. Such a guard has only the function of deference .
- In addition, people who have rendered outstanding services to the state in the course of their lives - for example by successfully pursuing state policy or by falling as soldiers on duty for the state - receive a state funeral with military participation.
- At certain anniversaries and at certain recurring events find wreaths instead. The focus is on the history of the place and the date, for example in the form of the speeches given or the public discussions surrounding the Memorial Day .
Peculiarities of different nations
Germany
For historical reasons, military ceremonies play a more modest role in Germany than in other countries. In particular, military parades were largely dispensed with or were instead called march past . For example, the farewell parade was held for Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer at the Wunstorf air base . Federal Chancellor Kohl, with Defense Minister Manfred Wörner at his side , marched past the 3rd Panzer Brigade. The Bundeswehr takes part in the military parades on July 14th in Paris with large delegations.
In most of the military ceremonies for state guests, the guard battalion at the Federal Ministry of Defense plays a central role as a force specially trained in formal service .
The ceremony of swearing-in and pledge rallies usually included a parade formation and the marching-in of a musical corps.
The same applies to the handover of commands. However, the respective date has no significance for the actual change of office, since only the dates of the transfer orders are relevant for this.
The Great Zapfenstreich , a military celebration with musical and religious elements on very special state or military occasions, goes in its current form to the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. back.
In the GDR the great tattoo of the National People's Army was practiced.
Austria
The swearing-in takes place in Austria's armed forces . Traditionally, units are sworn in on the national holiday , October 26th, at Heldenplatz in Vienna as part of a troop show and ends with the Austrian version of the Great Zapfenstreich .
Switzerland
In Switzerland, the Swiss flag march is played on state visits and other protocol-related events .
United Kingdom
Trooping the Color is the name of the annual military parade on the second Saturday in June in honor of the birthday of the British kings and queens.
United States of America
A special ceremony by the US Air Force is the Missing Man Formation , which is used to mark the loss of a pilot. The well-known Steuben Parade, on the other hand, is held privately and is not part of the military ceremony.
literature
- Hans Ehlert / Military History Research Office (Hrsg.): Military ceremony in Germany (= Potsdam writings on military history. Volume 6). 1st edition. Military History Research Office, Potsdam 2008, ISBN 978-3-9808882-8-8 .
- Markus Euskirchen 2004: The Aesthetics of State Power. Critique and analysis of an instrument of rule in its historical-systematic context. Dissertation, Free University of Berlin. Full text available online
- Markus Euskirchen 2005: Military rituals. Analysis and criticism of an instrument of rule , Cologne, PapyRossa-Verlag. ISBN 978-3894383299
- Hans-Peter Stein 1993: Symbols and ceremonial in German armed forces: from the 18th to the 20th century , Augsburg, Weltbild-Verlag [second, revised edition] ISBN 3-89350-341-2
Individual evidence
- ↑ Adenauer's speech on his farewell. Retrieved January 29, 2018 .
- ↑ March past PzBrig 3. Accessed January 29, 2018 .
- ↑ BUNDESWEHR parades on the Champs Elysees. Retrieved January 29, 2018 .
- ↑ For an example see Werner Weisenburger