The Internal Structures of the Imperial Army

The Imperial Army was a social formation and therefore exhibited informal as well as formal structures. With regard to the valuation of the different branches of service, there was a clear hierarchy in prestige. Cavalry occupied first place, followed by infantry, the technical troops and, last of all, the train. The social standing of the individual branches did not follow objective criteria and ignored the new dimensions of technology. The result was the complete overvaluation of the lance-armed cavalry—which, against the background of modern machine weapons, already appeared anachronistic.

The ranking of individual units also followed traditional motifs. Thus the Guard was always considered superior to the Line, and generally an older (= more tradition-rich) formation more than a younger one. At the top of the value pyramid were the Prussian Guard regiments, although other contingents also had regiments with Guard status. A contemporary recalls: “I believe I can say that we Guard cavalry officers led a life like hardly any other class on the face of the earth. The service was taken very seriously, but after all it lasted only 5–6 hours daily. The rest of the day belonged to pleasures in every degree. Whoever wanted to stay at home had a charming, comfortable club in the mess; whoever wanted to go out was honored in a way the outsider can hardly imagine. That of course went to many people’s heads. If one met line officers somewhere, perhaps infantrymen or even pioneers, one not only felt significantly more important in one’s innermost heart, but this superiority was more or less also acknowledged by the others”¹. Similar relations existed with the Guard infantry. The special position in the vertical structure of superiority and subordination, however, also obligated and motivated members to special performances, a desired result of the fostered esprit de corps. The downsides were a tendency toward exclusivity and lived arrogance.

Recruitment of recruits for the Guard formations was carried out by all district commands. Volunteer enlistments were of course possible.

Applicants had to be the physically and mentally most gifted conscripts. Impeccable conduct and a minimum height of 1.70 m were prerequisites.

For the light Guard cavalry a lower minimum height was required: 1.67 m. Otherwise a minimum height of 1.54 m applied for the Line.

The popular appeal of many Guard units cannot be denied and is reflected in many—partly peculiar—nicknames.

The Guard regiments/battalions were garrisoned primarily in Berlin, Potsdam and Spandau. The middle and high point of military life in Potsdam was the spring parade².

Parade grounds in Potsdam were, among others, the Lustgarten, between the New Palace and the communal buildings (called Mopke), and the Bornstedt field.

Larger exercises took place on the Döberitz grounds—a high plateau between Potsdam, Wustermark and Spandau.

Berlin was the capital of Prussia and, from 1871, of the German Empire. The Prussian king, who since 1871 in personal union was also German Emperor, resided here. Berlin also housed the empire’s largest garrison.

The administration of the German army counted a total in 1914 of 438 generals, 721 regimental commanders, 3,274 staff officers (battalion commanders etc.), 8,184 captains/rittmesters and 17,429 first lieutenants/lieutenants.

There were 438 generals in 1914 across all services, namely in Prussia: 345, in Bavaria: 50, in Saxony: 28 and in Württemberg: 13, as well as 2 at the Imperial Military Court.

The ranks of the generality were: Major General, Lieutenant General, General (of Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery), Colonel General and Field Marshals.

The officer corps³ was supplemented by cadets and other officer aspirants entering the army (Fahnenjunker). In addition to physical fitness and a minimum age of 17–23 years, the required scientific education was a prerequisite. The Abitur or the final certificate of a Realschule of first order was required (in Bavaria the Abitur was indispensable). Qualification could also be demonstrated as part of the so-called Fähnrich examination before the Upper Examination Commission. Acceptance of aspirants was decided by the regimental commander.

After promotion to Fähnrich (= non-commissioned officer rank) and attendance at the war school, an officer examination had to be taken. The exam primarily covered military-scientific subjects, namely weaponry, tactics, fortification theory, army organization, as well as military business style, terrain studies and plan drawing. The certificate of maturity for officers was the first step; another prerequisite was a favorable assessment by the respective unit and the proposal for promotion to lieutenant. This generally took place in the second year of service.

Educational institutions for officers included the cadet schools, the war schools and the War Academy.

To the existing eight war schools, three further institutions (Hersfeld, Danzig, Bromberg) were added by 1914. Bavaria had its own war school (Munich).

At the War Academy in Berlin primarily future general staff officers were trained, namely three cohorts with finally 480 officers. Since 1907 the War Academy also had a riding establishment.

Quotation about the conditions at the war school. From the memoirs of Prince Krafft zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen. Taken from: Fundamentals of German Military History. Volume 2. Workbook and Sourcebook, p. 151.

Already in the 17th century there were cadet companies in Prussia in which military Nachwuchs were trained⁴. In 1816 the institutions were reorganized.

Since 1818 the Upper Military Examination Commission was responsible for the final examination of the cadets. New institutions were established in Wahlstatt (1838), Bensberg (1840), Plön (1868), Oranienstein (1868), Karlsruhe (1892) and Naumburg a. S. (1899).

The Berlin cadet house was moved to Lichterfelde in 1878 and now counted 880 cadets organized in 2 battalions.

The main cadet institute (Berlin-Lichterfelde) comprised at the beginning of the 1890s 960 cadets organized in 8 companies. Later the number rose to 1,000.

The preparatory institutions in Potsdam, Köslin, Wahlstatt, Bensberg and Oranienstein each had 220 cadets, as did Karlsruhe.

The total number of cadets amounted to about 2,500 cadets and thus 15% of officer posts (1890).

In 1903 the main cadet institute Berlin-Lichterfelde counted 2,370 cadets, as well as 196 officers, 120 teachers and 288 civil servants. Before 1914 about 320 cadets were discharged annually.

A privilege of the noble cadets of the main cadet institute Berlin-Lichterfelde was membership in the page corps. Especially at court festivities in winter they served in the imperial palace.

The page corps was subordinate to the page governor—a first lieutenant—who instructed them and regulated the service.

The personal pages were assigned personally to a member of the imperial house.

Quotation from the memoirs of a former cadet of the main cadet institute Berlin-Lichterfelde (v. Papen). Taken from: Fundamentals of German Military History. Volume 2. Workbook and Sourcebook, p. 218 ff.

The Bavarian cadet corps was founded in 1756 and established as a military educational institution. The establishment initially comprised 20 cadets. From 1778 24 pupils were envisaged; by 1789 the number had already grown to 200. The numbers fluctuated: in 1805 there were 210. From 1851 there were for a time two special classes for artillery and engineering sciences. These were later separated. The location was Munich.

The Saxon cadet corps was founded on 03.10.1725, although there had already been a company of noble cadets since 1672. In 1867 a reorganization along Prussian lines took place.

From 1876 it consisted of two companies. From 1900 an Unter- and Oberprima were added, whose learning objectives were oriented toward those of the Realgymnasien.

Since 1725 the Saxon cadet corps has been based in Dresden.

Since the 17th century the rank groups of officers and non-commissioned officers had been separate. The former were originally called senior officers. In the Imperial Army the non-commissioned officers were filled from suitable corporals and privates who had re-enlisted and from NCO students. Promotion to non-commissioned officer was made on the proposal of the company/squadron/battery chief by the regimental commander. For independent (e.g. Jäger/pioneer) battalions the relevant battalion commander was responsible. Further promotion of non-commissioned officers generally followed seniority. For sergeants only suitability was decisive.

Non-commissioned officers included corporals, sergeants, deputy sergeants/deputy warrant officers and sergeants/warrant officers. Non-establishment non-commissioned officers/sergeants could be appointed from Fahnenjunker, NCO students, capitulants, military musicians, oboists, trumpeters, horn players. Medical non-commissioned officers were trained only from enlisted men in the lower medical service. For this a prior seven-year service was required.

Flag smiths were only enlisted men with the corresponding prior training (= blacksmith trade). Flag smiths could be promoted to senior flag smiths and after twelve years of active service to deputy warrant officers.

Military bakers could, after at least three years’ service as military bakers, be promoted to military senior bakers and after seven years of active service to military senior bakers 1st class (= sergeants).

There were also non-commissioned officers in the reserve status. In the Ersatz/Landwehr/Landsturm formations suitable non-commissioned officers could be appointed to field sergeant-lieutenants upon mobilization.

The expansion of NCO schools in the relevant era was mainly due to Major General Karl Wilhelm Eduard von Jena (1834–1911); from autumn 1888 he was inspector of the infantry schools⁵. In Prussia there were seven NCO preparatory schools with two companies each; Bavaria and Saxony each had one NCO preparatory school (Fürstenfeldbruck and Marienberg respectively). The Bavarian NCO preparatory school had only one company. The aim of the NCO preparatory schools was to develop suitable candidates for the NCO career. Candidates had to be between 15 and 16 years old, at least 1.51 m tall, have a chest circumference of at least 70–76 cm, be healthy and physically well disposed and be able to show impeccable conduct. Furthermore, sufficient elementary knowledge was required. Training lasted two years. NCO preparatory students were not counted among military personnel. They had to commit to subsequent military service of a specified duration; otherwise the costs of training had to be reimbursed (465 marks/year). In principle, NCO preparatory students served two active years in the troop for each year spent at the preparatory school.

Furthermore there were seven NCO schools: Biebrich, Ettlingen, Jülich, Prussian Marienwerder, Potsdam, Treptow a. R. and Weißenfels. The NCO schools prepared young men aged 17 to 20 for entry into the NCO corps.

The minimum height was 1.54 m.

The stay at an NCO school usually lasted 2–3 years.

NCO students took the oath of allegiance and belonged to the military personnel of the peace establishment.

Afterwards NCO students were transferred as privates or non-commissioned officers to an infantry regiment, Jäger battalion, etc.

Each regiment (or independent battalion) of the old army had a music corps. In the mounted troops (not the train) it was called the trumpeter corps. The music corps were led by staff oboists or staff trumpeters. In the military hierarchy they were comparable to sergeants or warrant officers. Members of the music corps were called oboists, and in the mounted troops trumpeters. They were composed of volunteers with musical ambitions who entered the military for a certain number of years. In addition to their duties in the music corps, they received only reduced training (rifle service, riding service).

In the infantry, alongside the actual military musicians, there were also musicians equipped with drums, flutes and horns. They were to give signals or accompany training and marches with music. They were drawn from the regiment or the battalion and were not considered military musicians, although they did work together with the music corps—for example on parades. According to the 1913 staffing table, the infantry included a total of 226 (18) senior music/music masters, 660 (11) battalion drummers and 2,196 (180) oboists and horn players.

The medical personnel of the German army before the World War consisted of medical teams, stretcher-bearers, military orderlies, as well as medical officers, medical officer candidates, military pharmacists and hospital administrative officials. The former were attached to the individual formations and were drawn from the ranks. The stretcher-bearers and military orderlies belonged to the train. Stretcher-bearers existed in peacetime only for exercises and maneuvers. They have existed since 1813.

Medical officers were licensed physicians with various rank levels. Military pharmacists and hospital administrative officials belonged to the military administration. Medical teams had been regarded as combatants since 1867; for them the Red Cross armband on the left upper sleeve was made mandatory from 1869. It was probably first worn in the 1866 campaign. According to the 1913 staffing table, the infantry included a total of 1,318 medical officers and 1,433 medical non-commissioned officers. Among the Jäger (and shooters) there were at that time 36 and 53 respectively.

In peacetime health and nursing care were the responsibility of the medical officers, who were supported by orderlies.

To prevent contagious diseases as much as possible, the accommodation rooms in the barracks had to be inspected regularly, as did the drinking water and the food.

The troops were to be examined for their endurance before the start of major marches—e.g. during maneuvers. There were sick bays in the barracks and hospitals in the garrisons.

Convalescent homes were established for non-commissioned officers and privates in the various army corps.

The military included an extensive administrative apparatus. Military and civilian officials operated here. These were also uniformed; characteristic were general civil-servant insignia and special rank insignia. Military officials were divided into upper (senior and middle) and lower officials (from sergeant downward); the former held officer rank. Civil servants were ranked only according to their civil service rank. In war—with mobilization—the civilian officials transferred to the military officials. Paymasters handled the service matters of the units in connection with provisioning, pay, clothing etc. They also kept the cash. Each regiment, battalion etc. had a paymaster, supervised by the intendancies. It was a military civil-service career. Prerequisites included, among other things, two years of active service (one-year volunteers were preferentially accepted). After some internships—among others nine months at an intendancy—a paymaster examination had to be taken. Each army corps kept a list of paymaster aspirants. Promotion to paymaster aspirant initially took place in the rank of sergeant according to vacancies, as did promotion to paymaster. Here seniority was of importance. According to the 1913 staffing table, the infantry included a total of 880 (18) senior paymasters and paymasters and 665 (18) junior paymasters.

Religious care was already provided in peacetime⁶. In 1914 the Imperial Army included among Protestant clergy: 1 field provost, 21 senior military pastors, 101 military pastors and 98 sextons; among Catholic clergy: 1 field provost, 9 senior military pastors, 60 military pastors and 54 sextons. In 1918 there were about 3,500 field clergy in the German army, including field rabbis on a voluntary basis. Even during the First World War religion was on both sides an important moral factor, although the stark contrast between Christian values and front-line life could also give rise to serious conflicts of conscience.

From 1888 uniforms and equipment were no longer made by the individual units but were produced by the clothing offices. These were to be established gradually at the individual army corps. From 1890 special craftsmen’s companies were formed here. They wore the uniform of the line infantry, but with a red sleeve patch and without trimming. The shoulder straps bore the respective corps color and showed its Roman numeral. Foremen had a V on the left sleeve from 1892