Kuk Kaiserjäger

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The kuk Kaiserjäger (official name of the kuk military administration : kuk (1st-4th) Tyrolean Jäger-Regiment "Kaiserjäger" ) were four normal infantry regiments of the Joint Army of Austria-Hungary from 1895 . Despite the country team's reference to "Tyrol", the relatives were not only recruited from the Kronland Tyrol (including Vorarlberg ), but also from other parts of the monarchy. The regiments were dissolved in 1918 with the end of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy .

prehistory

Emperor Franz Joseph I in the parade adjustment of the hunters' troops
Kaiserjäger barracks in Hall in Tirol

The Tyrolean Land Battalion , established in 1703 from Tyroleans, must be regarded as the first standing force in Tyrol . This was replaced in 1745 by the Tyrolean field and land regiment , which received the rank and prerogatives of an imperial regiment and was carried under the trunk number 46. Due to the political conditions during the Napoleonic era , the regiment was permanently transferred to the (then still) Austrian Veneto in 1801 , whereby it lost its original name.

As a successor in Tirol was built from a Tyrol Hunter corps and the battalion the short's Hunter the Tyrol Hunter regiment no. 64 . After Tyrol fell to the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1805 , the name Tiroler Jäger was withdrawn and made vacant . After Tyrol returned to Austria in 1814, the reorganization of a Tyrolean Jägerkorps began immediately, which initially consisted of one battalion, but was later expanded to three battalions. The corps was owned by Lieutenant Field Marshal Franz Philipp Fenner von Fenneberg (1762-1824), from which the temporary name Fennerjäger was derived. From 1843 to 1861 Feldzeugmeister Peter Pirquet von Mardaga and Cesenatico was the owner of the Kaiserjäger Regiment.

Regimental formation

In the spring of 1815, Emperor Franz I ordered the establishment of a Kaiser Jäger regiment of four battalions with a total of 16 companies . The formation of this regiment began on January 16, 1816. In contrast to the hunter troops of Old Austria, which were otherwise organized in the independent Feldjäger battalions ( kuk Feldjäger ), this was the only (kk) hunter regiment of the empire (Austria) until 1895 (division of the "Great Regiment of the Tyrolean Kaiserjäger").

The soldiers of this regiment with a strength of 5,000 men were recruited through conscription - until the introduction of general conscription in 1868, the position was determined by lot -, further through the takeover of 1,400 men from the former Fennerjäger Corps and 600 Tyrolean soldiers who came after Returned to their homeland at the end of the Napoleonic Wars . If the period of service was initially 12 years, it was later reduced over 8 to 6 years, with the soldiers being paid appropriately.

Organizational changes

The organization of the regiment remained unchanged for 33 years, until in 1849 it was reformed into six battalions of four companies and one battalion of six companies. In 1859 an additional 8th battalion was set up. In 1863 there was another restructuring, the regiment now had six battalions of six companies each and a depot battalion , from which a seventh battalion should arise in the event of mobilization.

After the introduction of general conscription in 1868, the regiment consisted of seven battalions, seven reserve companies and a supplementary battalion cadre. In 1880 the regiment was brought to a level of ten battalions through the allocation of disbanded Feldjäger battalions.

By May 1, 1895, the staff was reinforced by assignments from the military police to 16 battalions and the regiment was divided into four hunter regiments of four battalions each. The newly established regiments were given the name Imperial and Royal 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Tyrolean Jäger Regiment "Kaiserjäger" .

The regiment owner was always the emperor personally, the second owners and the commanders were personally appointed by him.

structure

Kaiserjäger in parade adjustment

On May 1st, 1895, the 16 battalions of the "Tyrolean Jägerregiment Kaiser Franz Joseph" were ordered to set up 4 regiments, which were set up as follows:

  • The 1st regiment with staff / II. / III. and IV. Battalion in Innsbruck , I. Battalion in Bregenz
  • The 2nd regiment with staff / I. / II. And IV. Battalion in Vienna , III. Battalion in Brixen
  • The 3rd regiment with staff / III. and IV. Battalion in Trento, I. Battalion in Riva , II. Battalion in Rovereto
  • The 4th regiment with staff / II. / III. 1st and 4th battalion in Lienz , 1st battalion in Hall in Tirol

Due to the frequent changes of garrisons, which is common in Austria-Hungary, the units (official abbreviation: TJR = Tiroler Jäger Regiment ) were in garrison in the following cities of the three Tyrolean regions ( North , South and Welschtirol ) in 1914 :

  • 1st Austro-Hungarian Tyrolean Jägerregiment (Kaiserjäger)
Established: 1895 - XIV Army Corps - 8th Infantry Division - 121st Infantry Brigade
Ethnic composition: 58% German - 38% Italian - 4% other
Regimental language: German, Italian
Supplementary district command, replacement battalion cadre: Innsbruck
Complementary district: Innsbruck, Brixen, Trient
Garrison: Staff, I., II., IV. Baon: Trient - III. Baon: Innsbruck
Commanding officer: Colonel Karl Hollan
Staff officers: Otl . Paul Gschliesser, Major August Preindlsberger, Major Guido Blaas, Major Emanuel Leuprecht, Major Maximilian Ritter Barth von Barthenau, Major Friedrich Fössl
  • 2nd kuk Tyrolean Jägerregiment (Kaiserjäger)
Established: 1895 - XIV Army Corps - 8th Infantry Division - 15th Infantry Brigade
Ethnic composition: 55% German - 41% Italian - 4% other
Regimental language: German, Italian
Supplementary district command, replacement battalion cadre: Brixen
Complementary district: Innsbruck, Brixen, Trient
Garrison: Stab, I., II. Baon: Bozen - III. Baon: Meran - IV. Baon: Brixen
Commander: Colonel Alexander Brosch Edler von Aarenau
Staff officers: Otl. Friedrich Kreschl Edler von Wittigheim, Otl. Viktor Freiherr von Schleinitz, Otl. Gebhard Scherrer, Otl. Theodor Ritter von Zeyneck, Major Ernst Devarda, Major Johann Ritter von Bézard , Major Friedrich Graf Meraviglia-Crivelli
  • 3rd Austro-Hungarian Tyrolean Jägerregiment (Kaiserjäger)
Established: 1895 - XIV Army Corps - 8th Infantry Division - 96th Infantry Brigade
Ethnic composition: 59% German - 38% Italian - 3% other
Regimental language: German, Italian
Supplementary district command, replacement battalion cadre: Trento
Complementary district: Bozen, Brixen, Trient
Garrison: Staff, II., III., IV. Baon: Rovereto - I. Baon: Trento - one company in Ala
Commanding officer: Colonel Heinrich Vonbank
Staff officers: Otl. Johann Lercher, Otl. Josef Poletilović, Major Ignaz Fürmkranz, Major August Planiseig, Major Franz Bauer, Major Karl Köbe
  • 4th kuk Tyrolean Jägerregiment (Kaiserjäger)
Established: 1895 - XIV Army Corps - 8th Infantry Division - 94th Infantry Brigade
Ethnic composition: 59% German - 38% Italian - 3% other
Regimental language: German, Italian
Supplementary district command: Trento
Replacement battalion squad: Hall in Tirol
Complementary district: Cavalese , Bolzano, Trento
Garrison: Staff, II., III., IV. Riva - I. Baon Hall in Tirol:
Commanding officer: Colonel Gustav Rubritius
Staff officers: Otl. Rudolf Ritter von Kriegshaber, Otl. August Fischer vom See, Major Karl Kreiner, Major Varius Graf Lavaulx Freiherr von Vrécourt

history

Early combat missions

Kaiserjäger in the battle of Novara

Among the missions of the Kaiserjäger in Italy in the Revolutionary War of 1848 are the participation in the street fighting in Milan (March 18-23, 1848, storming of the Porta Comasina), in the battles of Pastrengo and Curtatone, in the battle of Santa Lucia (6. May) and the storm on the village of Pregasina on June 16. The 2nd Battalion then fought with special distinction at Sommacampagna and Custozza (July 24th and 25th) and in the night battle in Volta (July 26th). In the following spring campaign in 1849, on March 24, 1849, Field Marshal Radetzky took part in the decisive victory in the battle of Novara (defense of Olengo).

In the campaign of 1859 in Lombardy , a French cannon was captured in the Battle of Magenta on June 4, followed by the participation of 5 battalions in the Battle of Solferino . During the battle of Custozza on June 24th, 1866, Oliosi was stormed. During the occupation campaign in Bosnia in 1878, the Kaiserjäger took part in the relief of Stolac and in the assault on an insurgent position near Kremenac (August 21).

In addition to direct military combat missions, the Kaiserjäger are said to have also been involved in the expansion of military and civilian infrastructure. Allegedly they laid out the " Kaiserjägerstraße " from Levico Terme (Löweneck) in the Suganertal in the 70s and 80s of the 19th century , which leads to the plateau of Lusern and the seven municipalities and at the Malga Monterovere (1,255 m) ends.

During World War 1914–1918

During the First World War , the four regiments fought with heavy losses, initially as part of the XIV. Corps (3rd and 8th ITD. ) In Galicia and the Carpathian Mountains against Russia, until after the start of fighting on the Italian front on the plateau of the Seven municipalities east of Trento and on the Isonzo were established. The Kaiserjäger were not a mountain troop, but regular infantry. The well-trained peacekeeping staff was literally sacrificed during the battle in Galicia and could no longer be replaced to the same extent.

Kaiserjäger cemetery in Hiiche / Ukraine near Rawa-Ruska

The Austro-Hungarian 4th Army under General von Auffenberg's Cavalry was able to repel the Russian forces at Komarow at the end of August 1914 , but had to regroup after the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army at Zloczow . The north-facing army had to turn around to the south. The so-called second battle near Lviv ended in disaster. The 2nd Tyrolean Kaiserjäger Regiment suffered 80% failures. The regiment lost its flag at Hujcze-Zaborze on September 7th after all the men from the flag command and the regiment commander Brosch von Aarenau had died. On January 22nd, 1915, the regiment in Dobno was given a new flag by the emperor.

In the battle of Gorlice-Tarnow , the 2nd regiment lost almost 80% to the fallen, wounded and missing - on May 2nd and 3rd, 1915 alone 26 officers and over 600 NCOs and men . The 4th regiment lost 1,300 men on these two days.

In autumn 1915 the Kaiserjäger and Landesschützen were transferred to the front against Italy in order to support the standing riflemen and small regular forces who were desperately defending themselves against the Italian attacks and to stabilize the front.

A high percentage (approx. 40%) of the Kaiserjäger consisted of Trientines (Welschtirolern). The rest was made up of Tyroleans and members of the rest of the monarchy . Despite the many Italian-speaking hunters , very few desertions occurred during the fighting against the Kingdom of Italy , although in Italy it was firmly expected that the "brothers from the unredeemed territories ( Irredenta ) will joyfully strive into the lap of Mother Italia" ( Gabriele d'Annunzio ). The disappointment was all the greater when the men of Trentino showed no inclination to change front. On the contrary, as early as 1916 the Fanti (infantrymen) and Alpini used the phrase:

"Dio ci liberi degli Irredenti!"

"God deliver us from the unsaved"

Because of possible unrest, the 2nd TJR was moved with garrison (or the replacement battalion cadre ) to Beneschau in Bohemia in 1916 .

Order of an emperor hunter

The medals and handwritten notes on the picture of a platoon leader of the Kaiserjäger testify to the missions during the First World War : This Kaiserjäger (later High Mountain Company No. 30) fought:

For this he was awarded the following medals:

  • the great silver medal of bravery (silver medal of bravery 1st class)
  • the silver medal for bravery (silver medal for bravery II. class, colloquially called "small" silver medal for bravery)
  • the bronze medal for bravery
  • the Karl-Troop Cross
  • the wounded medal for single wounding (on September 20, 1918 at the Zigolon - Adamello-Presanella)
  • the medal of honor of the state of Tyrol to its defenders

A little more than 20,000 members of the Kaiserjäger troops died in World War I, 6542 of them in the east.

Uniformity

Major of the hunter troop in parade adjustment

The uniforms were the same for the hunters, apart from minor details. The hat made of matt black, waterproof felt served as a parade headgear . It consisted of the neck and brim and was equipped with a green round cord, the hunter's emblem and a plume of black rooster feathers. The hat string was made of sheep's wool, had a push button and at each end an acorn covered with green wool and braided over like a net at the ends. The two acorns were attached to the back of the hat lintel. The cord for officers was made of black woven gold thread.

The lintel was in the shape of an oval cone with a moderately bulged bottom. The brim was laid flat at the back and front, but turned up on both sides. The edge of the brim was edged with black, lacquered calfskin.

On the left side of the lintel there was a backward sloping sleeve made of hat felt to attach the spring bush. The hat emblem - made of gold-colored metal - consisted of the hunter's horn. In the meandering light of the Kaiserjäger the Tyrolean eagle made of silver-plated pakfong was attached. The emblem was attached over the spring sleeve so that the eagle showed the same oblique direction as the bush sleeve. The plume was tied in the shape of a cock's tail on a 1.5 mm thick piece of iron wire. The length of the plume was 29 cm. The bush was put into the sleeve on the hat so that the feathers hung down in an arched manner.

The infantry field cap was used as a field march .

The tunic of the hunters was - among the men and officers - on average like the infantry. The team's skirt, made of pike-gray cloth, had armpit clasps, shoulder pads, collars and cuffs of a grass-green color. The buttons of all the hunter formations were yellow and marked with the battalion number.

The hunter's blouse was the same color as the tunic. The troop category was indicated by grass-green parolis. With regard to the other equipment, there was no difference to the line infantry .

Often the Kaiserjäger are confused with the Tyrolean Kaiserschützen , who, however, belonged to the Imperial and Royal Landwehr and were also part of the regular Austrian-Hungarian armed forces. The confusion arose from the decree of April 1917, in which Emperor Karl I awarded the Tyrolean riflemen the title Kaiserschützen . (Also the Landesschützen / Kaiserschützen as a mountain troop no longer wore a peace uniform, but always their field uniform.)

tradition

Year badge "Kaiserjäger" of the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt

In keeping with tradition, the year 2004 who entered officer training at the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt took the name “Kaiserjäger”. In 2004 the 82 graduates were taken on as professional officers in the Austrian Armed Forces .

Monuments

The fallen Kaiserjäger monuments were erected in Bregenz and in the Amras district of Innsbruck during the First World War and in the interwar period . The Kaiserjäger memorial, created by Karl Ernstberger in Bozen in 1917/18 but not completed, was torn down by the fascist regime in 1926/27 to make room for the Italian victory memorial . The sculptures of the former Bolzano monument designed by Franz Ehrenhöfer are now on Innsbruck's Bergisel .

Others

It was a curiosity of the hunter troop that the common soldier was called "hunter", while the first rank of sergeant was called "Unterjäger".

literature

  • Anton Graf Bossi-Fedrigotti: Kaiserjäger - Fame and End . Leopold Stocker Verlag , Graz 1977.
  • E. Wißhaupt: The Tyrolean Kaiserjäger in World War 1914–1918. (2 volumes, 1935 and 1936)
  • Major General Kasimir Freiherr von Lütgendorf: The historical development of the national defense system, the Kaiserjäger and state riflemen. Vienna 1914.
  • Bernhard Wurzer: Tyrol's heroic days. Innsbruck 1959.
  • Austro-Hungarian War Ministry : Dislocation and division of the Austro-Hungarian Army, the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the Imperial and Royal Landwehr and the Imperial and Royal Landwehr. In: Seidel's small army scheme. Seidel & Sohn, Vienna 1914.
  • Christian Haager among others: Tiroler Kaiserjägerbund: Tiroler Kaiserjäger since 1816 - the history of the Tyrolean elite regiments; Foundation - missions - equipment. Published by the Tiroler Kaiserjägerbund and Alt-Kaiserjägerclub Innsbruck. Innsbruck 1991 and Cremona 1996²
  • Franz Huter : Ein Kaiserjägerbuch 1 - The Kaiserjäger and their weapons deeds. Bergisel Museum, Innsbruck 1980.
  • Franz Huter: Ein Kaiserjägerbuch 2 - Short story of the Bergisel Museum. Bergisel Museum, Innsbruck 1985.
  • Guido Jakoncig: Tyrolean Kaiserjäger in the World War. Wagner, Innsbruck 1935.
  • Ludwig Potschka: History of the Tyrolean Jäger Regiment Emperor Franz Joseph. Wagner, Innsbruck 1885. (4 volumes)
  • Karl Raschin Edler von Raschinfels: The Einser Kaiserjäger in the campaign against Russia: 1914–1915. Excerpt from the regimental adjutant's diary. Teutsch, Bregenz 1935.
  • Viktor Schemfil: The Imperial and Royal 3rd Regiment of the Tyrolean Kaiserjäger in the World War 1914–1918. According to the regiment's war files. Teutsch, Bregenz 1926.
  • Maximilian Ehnl: The Austro-Hungarian land power according to structure, structure, peace garrison , division and national composition in the summer of 1914 (Austria-Hungary's last war, supplement 9). Vienna 1934. [1]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The term "Kaiserjäger" was an honorary nickname and not part of the language of the military chancellery. The official name was "kuk (1st-4th) Tiroler Jäger Regiment". However, the term "Kaiserjägerregiment" had become more and more popular in everyday language, so that it was and is used as the only valid one in common parlance.
  2. ↑ Trient also belonged to Tyrol at that time
  3. ↑ In various sources the percentage of Tyroleans (including Trentino) and Vorarlbergers is estimated at or over 90%. As the war went on, replacement could only be ensured through increased access to the other parts of the monarchy.
  4. ↑ These details refer to August 1914.
  5. ↑ Ehnl speaks of “nationalities” several times in his work, for example on pages 14 & 15
  6. ↑ The Kaiserjäger, who were just a normal infantry unit, are credited with building several mountain roads in secondary literature, although they were technically incapable of doing this.
  7. ↑ Further details can be found in the specific articles
  8. ^ Anton Graf Bossi-Fedrigotti: Kaiserjäger , Stocker Verlag , Graz 1977, p. 40.
  9. ↑ Already at the beginning of the war there were many volunteers from other parts of the monarchy who joined the highly respected troops
  10. ^ CH Baer: The battles for Tyrol and Carinthia. (The parliamentary battle and the winter fights) Hoffman Verlag, Stuttgart, p. 11.
  11. ^ "Die Tiroler Kaiserjäger" Persico Edizione, ISBN 88-900107-1-1 , p. 132.
  12. ^ "Die Tiroler Kaiserjäger" Persico Edizione, ISBN 88-900107-1-1 , p. 235.
  13. ↑ Sabrina Michielli, Hannes Obermair (Red.): BZ '18 –'45: one monument, one city, two dictatorships. Accompanying volume for the documentation exhibition in the Bolzano Victory Monument . Folio Verlag, Vienna-Bozen 2016, ISBN 978-3-85256-713-6 , p. 80-83 .

Web links

Commons : Kaiserjäger  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Kaiserjäger  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations