The Guards Fusilier Regiment () or Guards Fusiliers was an infantry unit of the Guards Corps of the Prussian Army garrisoned in Berlin. In keeping with the genteel nature of the unit, most of its officer corps were nobility. At the time of the German Empire it commanded soldiers guarding the Wache.
History In 1826 the Guards Reserve Infantry (Landwehr) Regiment (Garde-Reserve-Infanterie (Landwehr) Regiment) was founded. In 1851 it was renamed the Guards Reserve Infantry Regiment (Garde-Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment) and, as part of the 1860 expansion of the army under Roonsch, given the name of Guards Fusilier Regiment (Garde-Füsilier-Regiment). The regimental staff and the Ist Battalion were initially based in Potsdam, whilst the IInd Battalion were stationed in Spandau. From 1851 to 1918 the whole regiment was moved to a garrison in Maykäfer Barracks in Berlin.
Austro-Prussian War In 1866 it fought in the Austro-Prussian War at the Battle of Königinhof and Battle of Königgrätz.
Franco-Prussian War In the 1870/71 war against France the regiment participated at Gravelotte and Sedan as well as the Siege of Paris.
First World War
At the onset of the First World War the regiment was mobilised and was assigned to the newly formed 6th Guards Infantry Brigade of the 3rd Guards Division. The unit remained in this formation for the course of the war. Initially the fusiliers took part in the invasion of neutral Belgium and were involved in the capture of Namur. They were then deployed to the Eastern Front and fought there in the Battle of the Masurian Lakes. After suffering heavy losses at Brzeziny the remaining members of the regiment had to be gathered into a battalion. On 1 December the unit was regrouped into 2 battalions of 3 companies each. From 22 December the battalions were reorganised into four companies each. In January 1915 the IIIrd Battalion was reformed and the regiment redeployed at the end of that month to the Carpathians. They took part in the months that followed in trench warfare at Zwinin, the ridge finally being taken in April. After further fighting on the Eastern Front the regiment was sent to the West in April 1916, taking part in trench warfare in the Champagne and on the Yser, and participating in the Battle of the Somme. From September to November 1916 it deployed again briefly to the Eastern Front before returning to the West and engaging in trench warfare in Lorraine (region). Here, in December 1916, the regiment was reinforced by a 2nd and 3rd MG company. 1917 saw the unit engaged during the battles of Arras, Passchendaele and Cambrai. At the start of the 1918 German Spring Offensive the fusiliers suffered heavy casualties at Beaumetz and subsequently formed itself into 2 battalions of 3 companies each. On 5 April the regiment was reorganised into 3 battalions again and joined on 14 September 1918 by a MW company.
Post-War Following the end of the war the regiment was demobilised on 14 December 1918 in Berlin and finally disbanded. Elements of it were used to form two Freikorps units that were later incorporated into the Provisional Reichswehr.Jürgen Kraus: Handbuch der Verbände und Truppen des deutschen Heeres 1914-1918th Teil VI: Infanterie. Vol. 1: Infanterie-Regimenter. Verlag Militaria. Vienna, 2007, , p. 27
The regiment's tradition was transferred in the Reichswehr by a directive of the Chief of the General Staff (Chef der Heeresleitung), General of Infantry Hans von Seeckt, dated 24 August 1921, to the 7th and 8th companies of the 5th (Prussian) Infantry.
Commanders RankNameDateLieutenant colonel/ColonelKarl August von Esebeck1826 to 29 March 1829Lieutenant colonelErnst Ludwig Otto von Zieten30 March 1829 to 29 March 1832Lieutenant colonel/ColonelAlexander von Knobelsdorff30 March 1832 to 29 March 1838Lieutenant colonel/ColonelAugust Alexander von Zenge30 March 1838 to 1841Lieutenant colonelWilhelm von Doering14 December 1841 to 25 April 1842 (appointed to command)Lieutenant colonel/ColonelWilhelm von Doering26 April 1842 to 12 July 1848Lieutenant colonel/ColonelEduard von Schlichting13 July 1848 to 31 May 1850Lieutenant colonel/ColonelGustav von der Schulenburg-Altenhausen3 October 1850 to 9 May 1855Lieutenant colonel/ColonelEugen von Le Blanc Souville10 May 1855 to 21 May 1858Lieutenant colonelLudwig von Loewenfeld22 May 1858 14 April 1859Lieutenant colonel/ColonelLudwig von Loewenfeld15 April 1859 to 6 March 1863Lieutenant colonel/ColonelHugo von Obernitz7 March 1863 to 19 May 1866Lieutenant colonel/ColonelBernhard Franz Wilhelm von Werder20 May to 16 September 1866 (appointed to command)ColonelBernhard Franz Wilhelm von Werder17 September 1866 to 6 November 1869Lieutenant colonel/ColonelViktor von Erckert7 November 1869 to 18 August 1870Lieutenant colonel/ColonelOtto Friedrich Wilhelm von Papstein21 August 1870 to 12 March 1875ColonelHeinrich Wilhelm von Sannow13 March 1875 to 17 January 1878ColonelArthur von Lattre18 January 1878 to 11 April 1881Lieutenant colonelHermann von Stülpnagel12 April 1881 to 12 November 1882 (appointed to command)ColonelHermann von Stülpnagel13 November 1882 to 25 May 1887ColonelHermann Blecken von Schmeling26 May 1887 to 21 March 1889Adolf von Keller22 March 1889 to 27 July 1892Lieutenant colonel/ColonelMax von Krosigk28 July 1892 to 29 May 1896ColonelRemus von Woyrsch30 May 1896 to 31 August 1897ColonelDietrich von Hülsen-Haeseler1 September 1897 to 24 March 1899Lieutenant colonel/ColonelKurt Heinrich Wilhelm von Knobelsdorff25 March 1899 to 1901ColonelHoyer von Rotenheim1901 to 30 May 1904ColonelMagnus von Eberhardt31 May 1904 to 4 April 1907Lieutenant colonel/Colonelvon Bonin5 April 1907 to 1911Lieutenant colonel/Colonelvon Hammerstein-Equord1911 to 2 January 1913Lieutenant colonel/ColonelErnst Armin von Nostitz3 January 1913 to 1914Lieutenant colonel/ColonelKarl von der Schulenburg-Wolfsburg30 September 1914 to 21 February 1918N.N.
See also List of Imperial German infantry regiments
References
Literature von der Mülbe: Das Garde-Füsilier-Regiment. Zweite Auflage. Verlag R. Eisenschmidt. Berlin 1901. Carl H. von der Schulenburg-Wolfsburg: Geschichte des Garde-Füsilier-Regiments. Erinnerungsblätter deutscher Regimenter (preuß. Anteil, Band 157). Oldenburg. Stalling. 1926.