Rotation of Garrisons within Bavaria
 

This page consists of the following sections:


I've recently been made aware of the fact that Bavarian units at least quite regularly changed their garrisons. This data has been kindly given to me by Dr Benedikt Hammer, whose pages - „Bayrische Waffen" – deal with the arming of the Bavarian Army and the role that the Royal Bavarian Arsenal, Amberg Gewehrfabrik, played in this. Take a look!

The Garrisons shown in all lists in these pages are a ‚snapshot' taken around 1913-14, I believe. The Bavarian Army however seems to have rotated garrisons fairly regularly, up until the start of the Great War at least. Any regular routine must have been able to take into account the growth of the army. From the time of Unification until 1900 the Bavarian army consisted of  two Corps, after which a third was formed. These were allotted corps districts which were administered and garrisoned independantly. So any rotations probably took place within these districts only (I'm presuming so far.) If this was so, then the redrawing of areas in 1900 must also have affected the rotations to some extent.

Large Headquarters towns might host quite a few separate units or parts thereof. Some smaller towns hosted only a battalion or companies instead of a whole regiment. Although towns or cities are given as garrisons, it's also probable that smaller detachments were stationed in outlying areas of these districts(?).
If we look at the way that that the armies were spread at the time these pages represent there seems to be only a few towns that were garrisoned by units from more than one Army Corps - the 1st and 2nd. It occurs at München, Germersheim and Speyer if you compare the available lists of garison locations. Speyer is listed as the garrison location of the 1st Infantry Regiment in 1866.

 Kgl. Bayer. I. Armee-Korps (circa 1913)
Jäger Etappe Pionier Fussartillerie Feldartillerie Kavallerie Infanterie Standort
  L.S., T.1. 1. 1. 1.,7. 1.s.R. Leib-I.R., 1.,2. München*
        4. 4.Ch. 3. Augsburg*
      I./1.     12. Neu-Ulm
            15. Neuburg
            16. Passau*
          2.s.R. I./16. Landhut
            17. Germersheim
            20. Lindau
            II./20. Kempten*
          8.Ch.   Dillingen
        9.     Landsberg
  Fl.           Oberschleißheim
  E.           ?
  1., 2. T.           ?
1.             Friesing
1 Btl.
6
1 Btl.
1 Regt.
4 Regt.
4 Regt.
9 Regt.
 (Totals)
 Kgl. Bayer. II. Armee-Korps (circa 1913)
Jäger Etappe Pionier Fussartillerie Feldartillerie Kavallerie Infanterie Standort
      2.     4.,8. Metz
          1.U. 5. Bamberg*
  T.2.     2.,11.   9. Würzburg*
        5.,12.    18.,II/23. Landau*
            22. Zweibrücken*
          5.Ch. II/22. Saargemünd
  T.2.         III/23. Germersheim
            23. Tr. Übplz.Lechfeld
               
          2.U.   Ansbach
          3.Ch.    Dieutze
        3.     Tr.Übplz Grafenwöhr
    2.          Speyer
    3.         München
2.             Aschaffenburg
1 Btl.
1Btl.
2 Btl.
1 Regt
5 Regt.
4 Regt.
8 Regt.
 (Totals)
*Principal Garrison Towns -German Army Handbook, June, 1918.
Garrison Tables
For the moment we can supplement this with some earlier dates and garrisons for some of the Bavarian regiments and units, which may show to be part of a regular pattern.

Kgl. Bayer. 1. Infanterie-Regiment König.
 

Bataillon.
1866
1871
1873
1875
  I.
Speyer
?
?
?
 II.
?
München
Augsburg
München
III.
?
München
Fürstenfeldbrück
München

Kgl. Bayer 6. Infanterie-Regiment Kaiser Wilhelm, König von Preußen.
 

Bataillon
1849
1850
1855
1858
1866
1881
?
1893
1897
1919.
  I.
Sulzbach?
?
?
Amberg
?
?
?
?
?
disbanded
 II.
Bamberg bis1855
Sulzbach
Amberg
Sulzbach
?
Amberg
Sulzbach
?
Amberg§
disbanded
III.
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
disbanded
IV.*
        
Raised...
    
...Re-raised
to 21.I.R.
---
*A IV. Battalion was at certain times created as a means of forming new Regiments.
§Until 1919.
 

Kgl. Bayer 7. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Leopold.
 
Bataillon
1786
1800
1826
1840
1848
1849
1852
1853
1855
1858
1859
1863
1866
.
?
Neuburg
Ingolstadt
Occupation
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Bamberg
  I.
Neuburg
?
Ingolstadt
of Veste
?
?
Landau
Germersheim
Ingolstadt
?
?
?
?
 II.
Eichstatt
?
Ingolstadt
Wülzburg
?
?
?
?
?
?
Neu-Ulm
?
?
III.
        
Raised...
?
?
?
?
Germersheim
?
Landau
?
*After 1866 the 7th was stationed permanently(?) in Bayreuth
 

Kgl. Bayer 10. Infanterie-Regiment König.*
 
1799 1800 1824 1831 1849 ?
Amberg Amberg ? Amberg Regensburg Ingolstadt

 

Kgl. Bayer 15. Infanterie-Regiment König Friedrich August von Sachsen, I. Armee Korps
1824-1828 was stationed at Amberg, ~1913 was located at Neuburg a.D.

Kgl. Bayer 23. Infanterie-Regiment, II. Armee Korps
period unknown. 4.Kompanie Landau; 8.Kompanie  Saargemünd.

Kgl. Bayer 26. Infanterie-Regiment*
period unknown. Neu-Ulm.

Kgl. Bayer 3. Jäger Bataillon

1825 1826 1828 1831 1847 1855 1891
Ingolstadt Eichstätt Amberg Bamberg Afschaffenburg Eichstätt Afschaffenburg
*Bredow-Wedel
BJB 3 was formed on 1st Dec., 1825 from the then 16.Linien-Infanterie-Regiment. It was renamed BJB 2 on 1 Oct 1890 consequent to the original BJB 2 becoming
II./I.R.19.

Served under:
10.Infanterie-Brigade 1825-1849 1855-1859
7.Infanterie-Brigade 1847-1855
11.Infanterie-Brigade 1859-1866
 
 Kgl. Bayer. 4. Jäger-Bataillon
1825 1826 1828 1839 2.1.1851 1.7.1851 1856 1862 1867
Ingolstadt Neuburg a.D. Landshut Straubing Regensburg Lindau Zweibrücken, Speyer, Ludwigshafen München Landshut
*Bredow-Wedel
BJB 4 was formed on 1st Dec., 1825 from II/.16.Linien-Infanterie-Regiment. It became III./I.R.19 on 1st Oct., 1890.

Served under:
2.Infanterie-Brigade 1828-1849 1862-1878 1885-1890
3.Infanterie-Brigade  1848-1851 1853-1855
6.Infanterie-Brigade 1855-1862
1.Infanterie-Brigade 1878-1885
11.Infanterie-Brigade 1825 and 1851-1853

K.B.1.Chevauxleger-Regiment*
Between 1831-1849 Nr. 3.and 4.Eskadron were stationed in Amberg.

K.B.5.Chevauxleger-Regiment*
Between 1849-1852 the Nr. 7. Eskadron was stationed in Amberg.
1855-1870 2 other Eskadronen were stationed in Amberg..

K.B.6.Chevauxleger-Regiment*
1871 on: 2 Eskadrons in Amberg, (one being the 3rd).
1892 on: the 3rd was stationed in Neumarkt.

K.B.3.Train-Abteilung*
Period unknown. Nr. 1.Kompanie in Ingolstadt, Nr. 2.Kompanie at Fürth
 

*Heribert Batzl, "250 Jahre Garnison in Amberg"

Units Raised Post-1914.
One day I hope to get comparable lists up on these pages of the Reserve, Ersatz and finally all the other Units formed during the Great War years. If that does happen it's still a long way off. For the moment we can add these, all raised in Amberg during 1914:*
 

Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr.14.,  raised 1914 in Amberg.
III.Bataillon des Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiments 8,  raised 1914 in Amberg.
Brigade-Ersatzbataillon 12,  raised 1914 in Amberg.
Ersatz-Abteilung des 3. Feldartillerie-Regiments,  raised 1914 in Amberg.
Fuhrparkkolonne 12,  raised 1914 in Amberg.

Sources

K.B.1.IR: O.Illing, Das Königlich Bayerische Infanterie-Leib-Regiment 1814 bis 1914, München, 1914.
K.B.7.IR: M.Götz, W.Bergmann / Geschichte des Kgl.Bayer.7.Infanterie-Regiments Prinz Leopold von Bayern 1816 - 1865, Kirchenlamitz ,1993.
*Heribert Batzl / 250 Jahre Garnison in Amberg, Verlag Lassleben, Kallmünz 1965.