The German Imperial Army in the World War - Structure and Organization - Engineers
During the First World War the engineer arm experienced an unforeseen rise in importance and, as the daily reality of war increasingly resembled that of fortress warfare, became an important support arm for the infantry.
In 1914 there were a total of 35 engineer battalions, each with 4 companies.
Some engineer battalions had searchlight detachments, others were fortress engineer battalions.
2 battalions (No. 12, 22) belonged to the Saxon contingent, 1 to the Württemberg contingent (No. 13), 1 to the Baden contingent (No. 14) and 4 to the Bavarian contingent (No. 1-4).
At the outbreak of the First World War, each of the existing engineer battalions formed 2 reserve companies and 2 field battalions.
At mobilization there were then 379 engineer companies with 70 battalions.
Subsequently individual engineer battalions were expanded into regiments (Engineer Regiments Nos. 18 - 20, 23 - 25, 29 - 30), as the need for and the importance of the engineer arm steadily grew.
Later these were dissolved again and new numbers were assigned to engineer battalions. Furthermore, more and more independent engineer companies were formed.
In total, during the First World War 425 engineer companies, 176 searchlight detachments, 70 bridge trains and 4 engineer siege trains were newly established. There were now 170,000 engineers.
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