Depictions of Hamburg Uniforms before 1867

At the beginning of the history of the city of Hamburg stands the eponymous Saxon noble residence Hammaburg, which arose in the 8th century.

Hamburg had military sovereignty since the end of the 13th century. As a consequence of the town charter, Hamburg had the right to fortify itself and to raise a military force. The defense was based on citizens obliged to military service.

Already in the late Middle Ages, mercenaries were recruited as a supplement.

In connection with the Thirty Years' War, however, the need arose to permanently raise a larger regular municipal military as a garrison.

In addition, the militia-capable citizenry (= citizen guard) was reformed into companies within five regiments.

In the uniform of the Hamburg city military, the color red dominated in the 18th century.

Th. Muhsfeldt describes the infantry uniform as follows: "The privates and non-commissioned officers wore red coats without collars with blue cuffs and skirt facings, red camisoles, brass buttons, pale yellow leather breeches, white gaiters, straw-yellow (paille) leather equipment; the musketeers wore hats with a black cockade, the grenadiers (since 1711 about one fourth of each company) grenadier caps, which differ from those customary in other states in that they have only 2 braid strips at the back instead of 3. Later, on the left side of the grenadier caps colored tufts were worn as company insignia.... The pipers and drummers of the grenadiers, the drummers of the musketeers and the oboists had braid trim on the uniform; the oboists also had red breeches like the officers. The non-commissioned officers were distinguished from the ranks by gold instead of yellow braid on the hats and caps and by white knee bands. The grenadier NCOs carried fusils, the musketeer NCOs halberds."

Officers also wore red coats with light-blue collar patches, lapels and cuffs.

The buttons and epaulettes were yellow.

A silver stand-up collar was worn with this. It displayed the coat of arms of the city of Hamburg.

The headdress was a hat with a black cockade and a gold agraffe.

Undergarments were also red.

The Hanseatic Legion was formed after the occupation of the city by Russian troops on the initiative of the Russian General Tettenborn (Friedrich Karl von, * 19.02.1778 in what was then the Baden part of the County of Sponheim; † 09.12.1845 in Vienna) in 1813. It consisted of volunteer citizens, and volunteers from the Hanseatic sister cities Bremen and Lübeck soon also joined.

The Hanseatic Legion was dissolved again in 1814. At the same time a regular garrison force was formed, from which later the federal contingent mentioned below emerged.

The citizen militia is to be distinguished from the city military or the garrison. The so-called night watch also developed along its own line.

The arming of Hamburg citizens had a long tradition.

Until 1806 the citizens of Hamburg were obliged to the citizen watch. Weapons had to be procured at one's own expense.

For the night watch, however, substitutes (paid guards) could be sent, of course for a fee.

During the French occupation the Hamburg citizen military was dissolved and re-established in 1814.

The citizen guard now comprised 8 battalions. Six of these battalions were located within the old ring of fortifications. The 7th and 8th battalions were located outside it.

The aforementioned battalions were assigned to the following parishes (city districts): 1st Bn. - St. Petri, 2nd Bn. - St. Nicolai, 3rd Bn. - St. Katharinen, 4th Bn. - St. Jacobi, 5th Bn. - St. Michaelis, 6th Bn. - Klein Michaelis, 7th Bn. - St. Georg and 8th Bn. - St. Pauli.

If one wanted to practice a craft in Hamburg or run a business, (before 1867) citizenship was required. Citizenship and admission to the citizen military conditioned each other. All citizens aged 20 to 45 were liable for service. From 1854 the service obligation was limited to ages 22 - 40. Certain professions were exempt from service obligation, e.g. professional soldiers or night watchmen. In 1841 the number of conscriptable guardsmen amounted to 7,366. Of these, 1,497 lodged objections, i.e. they appealed to the relevant commission. Ultimately 1,149 of these were exempted from service obligation, 348 applications were rejected (Fahl, pp. 230/231). In 1865, according to Bauche, of the approx. 200,000 inhabitants only 12,550 citizens were liable for service or contributions. Of these, 8,800 citizens performed active service.

Manoeuvres were held annually. The artillery practiced shooting at a target within the outer works. After the summer drills a large review followed. New Year's morning regularly saw the march of the drummers to the residences of the commanders.

The primary task of the citizen military was to ensure peace and order, i.e. an inward-directed function. This became acute, for example, in the years of the revolution 1848 - 49. A daily guard duty at the gates and on the ramparts was obligatory. For this about 80 members of the citizen military were required at any one time. Fighting fires was also among the duties of the citizen military. In emergencies the artillery proved particularly effective in this role.

In addition, the citizen military also carried out a number of administrative tasks, e.g. in the census of inhabitants, in determining rents as a basis for calculating property tax, investigations in connection with the preparation of voter registers, etc.

According to Onken, the relatively uniform uniform of the Hamburg citizen guard "consisted of a knee-length, closed-over coat (caftan) in dark blue; the matching pointed cuffs and narrow shoulder straps were piped in light blue, the high collar was also light blue. The dark-blue trousers had broad light-blue stripes; in summer white linen trousers were worn. The black cartridge pouch with brass coat of arms and the bayonet were worn on a white cross belt. A double brass chain across the chest served to secure a clearing pin tucked in on the left. The rather wide Russian-style shako with a curved top made of black felt had a top, its trim and the peak of black leather. The brass scaled chain was formed into a round pompon in the battalion color, from which a short tuft (probably uniformly red) projected. Only the officers wore high boot-tops for parade ("lamp-cleaners"), lower part in battalion color, upper part white. At the front an eight-pointed star ("full sun"), within it a white cockade with red Hanseatic cross" (p. 53).

The jägers wore a green frock coat with a light-green collar, piping and shoulder rolls. The trousers were light gray and had a broad green facing. The green cap had a light-green rim and a crown with the Hanseatic cockade. Above it a pompom and for parade a plume were worn. On the rim one could see a silver hunting horn. As armament the jägers carried a short rifle and a hunting dagger. A chain with the clearing pin was visible on the frock coat.

The artillery was equipped with a dark-blue frock coat. This had a dark-blue lapel with brass buttons. The pointed sleeve cuffs were also blue with red piping. The collar and the fringed epaulettes were red. The blue trousers had red stripes at the sides. The shako corresponded to that of the infantry. As ornamentation crossed cannon barrels were used and above them the Hanseatic cockade. In addition to the rifle, the artillery was armed with a sabre.

In the 1840s the tunic and the pickelhaube in the Prussian pattern were introduced.

Later the infantry replaced the pickelhaube with caps.

The uniforming of the citizen guard was splendid and impressive, but there were also critical voices. Thus the commander of the artillery expressed himself to the head of the citizen military in 1841 as follows: "No hint is needed regarding the many merely costly adornments of the artillery uniform, which, according to current military views, are completely superfluous and even to be regarded as counterproductive. The very conspicuous red on the uniform is entirely inappropriate; it usually becomes dirty already at the first service at the guns, indeed even at the first rainy weather, and cannot be cleaned again. The double leather equipment hanging over the shoulders constantly ruins the uniform and is more usefully replaced by a bandolier worn around the waist. The shako, especially as we wear it, causes head complaints in everyone without exception, and is a headdress from which almost every soldier has already freed himself" (Fahl, p. 247).

For the federal army the Free City of Hamburg had to provide a federal contingent (1,268 men). The financial contribution to the federal matriculation fund amounted to 0.43% of the total revenue. In succession to the Hanseatic Legion an infantry battalion with 6 companies, an artillery company and a squadron were raised (Ortenburg). To these 1,050 men (professional military) were added another 400 men of a so-called night watch. In parallel, the relatively strong citizen guard mentioned above existed. The professional soldiers were composed mainly of recruited soldiers. After 1834 Hamburg provided a jägers unit for the federal army instead of the artillery.

The federal contingent of the Free City of Hamburg also included a squadron of horsemen. These were initially mounted as uhlans.

Already in the 18th century there had been Hamburg dragoons. They wore long-tailed red coats with blue insignia. The unit was dissolved in 1811 — like the rest of Hamburg's military. Its usable personnel served to form the 30th Jäger Regiment on horseback, which was later reorganized into the 9th Chevauleger-Lancers Regiment.

The cavalry of the Hamburg contingent long retained the dark-blue uhlan uniform of the former Hanseatic Legion. The insignia were carmine red. From 1835 the Hamburg cavalry was reorganized into a dragoon formation. This was reflected in the uniforming as well.

The Hanseatic riders wore a green tunic with a red collar and corresponding sleeve cuffs. The headdress was a helmet in the style of the Prussian cuirassiers made of nickel silver. The scale chains, the star, the trim and the crest were made of tombac. In the silver central field of the star a united coat of arms of the three Hanseatic cities was displayed until 1851, from 1851 only the Hamburg coat of arms. The dragoons were armed with an iron-mounted, three-piece sabre and from 1853 additionally with rifled holster pistols.

Schulz, Allwill, Das Hamburger Bürger-Militär, in: Mittheilungen zur Geschichte der militärischen Tracht, 1893, No. 8.

Bauche, Ulrich, Hamburger Leben. Das Hamburger Bürgermilitär 1868.

Eckert, H. A./ Monten, D., Das deutsche Bundesheer. Vol. IV. Hannover - Braunschweig - Oldenburg - Hanseatic Cities - Holstein, edited by Georg Ortenburg, Dortmund 1981.

Fahl, Andreas, Das Hamburger Militär 1814 - 1868, Berlin - Hamburg 1987.

Dietrich Kausche, Quellen zur Militärgeschichte im Staatsarchiv Hamburg.

Knötel, Richard and Herbert/ Sieg, Herbert, Handbuch der Uniformkunde. Die militärische Tracht in ihrer Entwicklung bis zur Gegenwart, Hamburg 1971, pp. 99 ff.

Th. Muhsfeldt, Hamburgische Militair 1755, in: Mittheilungen zur Geschichte der militärischen Tracht. 1897, No. 1.

Walter Onken, Hamburger Bürgerwehr. Essay.